A man allegedly breached his stay-home notice (SHN) on two occasions after he was ordered to stay indoors between March 24 and April 7 during the coronavirus outbreak.
Singaporean Ong Chong Kiat, 50, is said to have unlawfully left his Hougang home before going to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building on March 27 and 30.
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In a statement on Wednesday, ICA said Ong allegedly went to the ICA Building in Kallang Road on both occasions to try making an appeal to be allowed to leave Singapore before completing his 14-day SHN.
ICA did not state why he wanted to leave the country and where he wanted to go.
On Thursday, Ong was handed two charges under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 Stay Orders) Regulations 2020.
Ong, who was unrepresented, told the court that he intends to engage a lawyer.
ICA said Ong arrived in Singapore from Indonesia on March 24 and was served with the SHN.
Three days later, he allegedly took a private-hire vehicle to the ICA Building as he wanted to make his appeal.
ICA officers then advised him to return home immediately. He is accused of leaving his home for about three hours that day.
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On March 30, he is said to have left his home and taken another private-hire vehicle to Tan Tock Seng Hospital to obtain medical test reports. ICA did not give details about these reports.
After that, Ong allegedly went to the ICA Building to try and make his appeal for the second time.
ICA said in its statement that on that day, he spent about two hours outside the building.
It added: "ICA will not hesitate to take firm enforcement action against those who fail to comply with SHN requirements."
Ong's pre-trial conference will be held on May 15.
For each charge, offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
