SINGAPORE — "I knew you were trouble when you walked in," belts American pop star Taylor Swift in her song I Knew You Were Trouble.
Trouble was what China national Li Xiaowei, 45, found himself in on March 22, when he was jailed for six weeks over sneaking three people into Swift's Eras Tour concert at the National Stadium on March 4.
Li, who had held the turnstile for three women and pushed them through, pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal trespass.
Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Hairul Hakkim Kuthibutheen noted the offence was premeditated and said: "Foreshadowing Taylor Swift's hit song, I Knew You Were Trouble, the accused entered the National Stadium with the intent of committing the offence."
Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang said that on March 1, the three women — Hu Zhijun, 21, Yang Junhao, 23, and Shangguan Linmo, 25 — left Wuhan, China, to Penang, Malaysia, for a holiday.
While on a connecting flight from Wuhan to Penang, a man asked Shangguan if she wanted to buy three Eras Tour tickets for 4,000 yuan (S$750) each.
This man was not named in court documents.
Shangguan agreed, and the man said he would connect her to someone in Singapore who would help her get free-seating tickets.
He gave her the contact of Yang Chenguang.
The women flew to Singapore on March 4 and met Yang at one of the gates after passing through security checks. One of the women transferred 12,000 yuan to an Alipay account when Yang told her to.
At around 5.30pm, Yang walked towards the row of turnstile gates at Gate Three and noticed there were no security officers at three of the turnstiles.
DPP Ang said this was because three of the four security officers stationed at Gate Three were responding to a commotion nearby.
When Yang alerted Li to this, Li walked towards one of the unattended turnstiles where two concert-goers were queueing to scan their tickets.
Yang approached the lone security officer at the turnstile gates and asked for directions to another gate.
DPP Ang said this was done to distract the officer from Li and the three women, who were about to sneak in.
As one concert-goer entered the venue through the turnstile, Li held onto the bar to prevent it from rotating into a locked position and pushed the three women through it.
Yang then gestured to distract the officer.
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After the women entered the National Stadium, Li and Yang walked away. But a concert-goer who saw what Li had done shouted at the officer to alert him.
Li pushed her on her back, and shook her hands aggressively, asking her why she was shouting.
When another concert-goer asked Li to stop touching her, both Li and Yang left the scene.
The security officer at the gate was told about what had happened, but could not find the three women.
The police arrived and arrested Li and Yang.
Yang's case is before the courts.
Seeking a sentence of between six and eight weeks' jail, DPP Ang said, given the sheer number of concert-goers at The Eras Tour and the fact that the area near the turnstile gates was crowded at the time, Li's offence constituted a serious breach of the public order, for which a deterrent sentence was warranted.
He added: "Fundamentally, this concerned a hugely popular event, generating significant local and regional attention. Safety and security is a paramount consideration on the premises. Consequently, actions which disrupt, or undermine, these efforts must be uncompromisingly dealt with."
In mitigation, Li pleaded for leniency and said he needed to return to China for surgery. He did not elaborate on his medical condition.
Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Hairul noted that Li made unlawful contact with a legitimate concert-goer after committing the offence.
Those convicted of committing criminal trespass can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $1,500, or both.
On March 20, United States magazine Billboard reported that a California judge also quoted Swift, using lyrics from her song All Too Well.
Justice Maria Stratton had rejected heavy metal band Metallica's lawsuit demanding its insurance company pay for more than US$3 million (S$4 million) in losses stemming from concerts that were cancelled due to the pandemic.
Justice Stratton said: "To paraphrase Taylor Swift: 'We were there. We remember it all too well'. There was no vaccine against Covid-19 in March 2020 and no drugs to treat it."
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
