3rd man arrested for public urination in a week

SINGAPORE: There has been an unusual spate of cases of public urination recently, with the third man arrested for the offence within a short span of time.

The police picked up a man who allegedly urinated at the Potong Pasir MRT station on Monday (Jan 13).

Previous to this, a man was arrested for urinating at the platform of Tanah Merah MRT station on Jan 8, and another man was caught similarly at Outram Park on Jan 10.

In the latest case, a 57-year-old man named Zhou Hongwei was seen by SBS Transit staff urinating in front of the passenger service centre at Potong Pasir MRT station shortly before 7:30 pm on Monday night.

Personnel at the station acted at once, calling the police and cleaning the area immediately. Zhou departed the station accompanied by the police officers and was charged with public nuisance in court on Wednesday (Jan 15). He is currently out on a $5,000 bail.

SBS Transit is also assisting the police in investigations. Grace Wu, a spokesperson for the public transport operator, is quoted in Mothership as saying, “We wish to remind commuters that such anti-social behaviour is unacceptable as it poses health and sanitation concerns for fellow passengers and our employees.”

According to a CNA report, Zhou told the court that he will be pleading guilty to the charge against him and will do so on Feb 26. He also said he would not engage in a lawyer’s services.

The report added that when the judge issued Zhou a reminder to desist from reoffending while he’s out on bail, Zhou confirmed that he would not.

The charge sheets against Zhou say that he reportedly urinated at the MRT station while aware this could cause a common annoyance to the public.

The Jan 8 incident

On Jan 15, a 53-year-old man named Soo Fook Khan was also charged after he was caught urinating on the platform of Tanah Merah MRT station at about 12:30 pm on Jan 8.

He is currently remanded at the Institute of Mental Health, where he will undergo a medical examination. Soo will appear in court ob Jan 28 for his  case to be heard again.

Soo has also been charged under the Moneylenders Act as he is said to have acted on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, according to a Straits Times piece.

He had reportedly poured out ashes from an urn at a Yishun flat in October of last year, which alarmed the occupant of the flat.

The Jan 10 incident

On Jan 10, a 41-year-old Chinese man named Li Guorui urinated on the handrail of an escalator at the Outram Park MRT station after a business dinner at Westgate. He appeared to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident and has since been slapped with a $2,000 fine.

/TISG

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