2 Britons Get Work Passes Revoked For Robertson Quay Gathering, Banned From Working In S’pore
It’s been more than 4 months after large groups of people were seen gathering at Robertson Quay during the ‘Circuit Breaker’ period in photos that concerned many Singaporeans.
Since then, a number of people have been charged, fined and had their work passes revoked for the incident.
The latest to have been punished are 2 British nationals, who have had their work passes revoked and fined a total of $16,500.
Duo gathered at steps to chat & drink
Daniel Olalekan Olasunkanmi Olagunju, 30, and Alfred Jon Veloso Waring, 34, had gathered along with others at the steps near Limoncello restaurant on 16 May to chat and drink alcohol.
Photos of the gathering went viral on social media, leading many to question why they could do so, given that such gatherings weren’t allowed during the ‘Circuit Breaker’.
On Thursday (24 Sep), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement quoted by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that the 2 men have had their work passes revoked.
They will also be banned from working in Singapore again.
The day before on Wednesday (23 Sep), they were fined in court. Olagunju was fined $8,500, while Waring was fined $8,000. They were charged on 16 Jun.
The incident also prompted the authorities to ban alcohol takeaways in the area.
7 others in the group also charged
Earlier, 7 others in the group were also charged for the gathering.
That means a total of 9 people in total who were involved in the Robertson Quay gathering were charged for flouting Covid-19 regulations.
The 7 were charged in court on 2 Jun, and comprise 6 men and 1 woman.
They are:
- Neil Gordon Buchan, 30, British citizen
- Perry Scott Blair, 37, British citizen
- James Titus Beatt, 33, British citizen
- Joseph William Poynter, 35, British citizen
- Jeffrey George Brown, 52, US citizen
- Bao Nguyen Brown, 40, US citizen and wife of Jeffrey George Brown
- Michael Czerny, 45, Austrian citizen/Singapore permanent resident
Fined between $8,000 and $9,000
Buchan, Blair, Beatt and Poynter were fined $9,000 each, reported The Straits Times.
Brown, Nguyen Brown and Czerny were fined $8,000 each.
Furthermore, MOM said in a statement on 25 Jun that it had revoked the work passes of 6 of them.
The only one whose work pass wasn’t revoked was Czerny, as he’s a Singapore PR.
Rules are there for a reason
We hope this incident is a lesson for the 9 of them, as well as a warning for others, not to take Singapore’s laws lightly.
The ‘Circuit Breaker’ was there for a reason, and it’s been proven to be effective in reducing the spread of Covid-19 in Singapore.
Now that’s we’re in Phase 2 and Singapore’s on track to ease the rules, let’s continue to be vigilant and cautions so as not to undo all the hard-earned gains we’ve achieved.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
