In case you didn’t know, anyone caught puffing on a cigarette on Orchard Road’s No Smoking Zone can and will be fined. The shopping stretch has gone smoke-free, meaning you can only smoke within one of the more than 50 yellow boxes in the area. And the government doesn’t kid about stuff like that, as one man found out the hard way recently.
Claiming he was fined $200 by the National Environment Agency (NEA) for smoking along Orchard Road on Sunday, he maintained that he only had one foot outside the yellow box. According to his post, he was aware of the new law but didn’t realize he had to have, er, both feet in the designated area.
That just raises so many questions. Was the box too small? Was it terribly cramped with people huddling together, desperate for a smoke? Was he just trying to tempt fate by rebelliously sticking one foot out?
The dude reportedly told the NEA officer, whom he referred to as “the clown,” that he would move inside, but alleged that “the asshat didn’t wanna take no for answer.”
“[He] probably didn’t hit the quota today,” the smoker said. “What a joke. Do share this around, don’t give any more money to these fools and be really careful where you smoke, they’re everywhere.”
Well, it looks like netizens listened to him and circulated on social media his post, which has since been taken down.
Alas, even though his Facebook account could no longer be found as of yesterday, the photos and text from his post quickly resurfaced on several news sites. Nothing ever really disappears online, folks, don’t forget that. (Unless you’re Thanos.)
The NEA explained to The Straits Times that the man was actually outside the smoking area, according to video footage and investigations. After the agency reviewed the case, it concluded that the enforcement officers’ actions conformed to its standard operating procedures.
A spokesman for NEA said the man was “cooperative throughout the engagement,” so perhaps he only got riled up when the finality of the punishment hit him later.
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