Singapore— Lance Lim, the man who helped organise a 13-person party at the home of actor Terence Cao in October last year, was fined S$3,000 on Tuesday (May 18).
He pleaded guilty to a breach of Covid-19 measures while the country was still in Phase 2
Lim could have been fined up to S$10,000 and jailed up to six months.
The 50-year-old former magazine editor invited four people to the birthday party of Cao at the actor’s condominium on the evening of Oct 2, 2021, despite knowing that other guests were coming.
At that time, only five people were allowed to gather together in social settings.
Seven celebrities attended the party, namely, Shane Pow Xun Ping, 30; Sonia Nicola Chew, 30; Julie Tan Shaoyin, 29, Jeffrey Xu Mingjie, 32; Heng Tee Kok, 45; Dawn Yeoh, 34; and Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew, 29.
The four other participants were sales manager Tan Jun Chuan, 30; marketing managers Debbie Lu Shuyi, 33 and Eleanor Wang Chunwei, 34; and part-time model and actress Valnice Yek Jia Hui, 22.
They were all fined S$300 each for attending the party.
Lim’s lawyer, Josephus Tan of Invictus Law, asked for a fine of $2,500 for Lim, saying the breach was out of character for him and that it was a “one-off, isolated incident,” Yahoo Singapore reports.
However, the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mr Norman Yew, wanted Lim to be fined a least $3,000, partly to deter others from breaching the regulations.
DPP Yew is quoted as saying, “His conduct belittles the tremendous efforts and sacrifices of the vast majority, who have, amongst many things, given up the pleasures of social interaction with family and friends for the public good to contain the spread of Covid-19.”
District Judge A Sangeetha set the fine at S$3,000 as urged by DPP Yew.
The judge said: “Tremendous effort and sacrifices have been made by the vast majority of Singapore for the public good to contain the spread of COVID-19. Therefore it is crucial that individuals comply with these measures so that we as country can overcome the pandemic.”
Actor Terence Cao will also be entering a guilty plea for his bigger-than-allowed birthday party when he appears in court on May 25.
The actor had invited Lim, Pow, Xu, Heng and Chan to the party. Lim also invited Lu, Chew, Julie and Wang, who in turn invited Yeoh.
On the night of the gathering, Pow invited Yek to come as well. Both were unaware there would be other guests.
Tan also dropped in later that night, also not knowing there would be guests in Cao’s Daisy Road condominium unit.
Yahoo notes that the guests did not know more than five people would be attending the party.
Xu later posted photos of the party on Instagram Stories, which caught the attention of the public.
/TISG
Terence Cao charged with breaching Covid-19 laws after birthday party with Mediacorp artistes