All they did was remind him to wear his mask and he reacted badly

A forklift driver lost his temper when he was reminded to put on a mask, by two safe distancing ambassadors.

They were at Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre on Feb 20, last year, when they saw Muhammad Zaid Ariffin, 39, at around 9am and noticed he was not wearing a mask.

So Mr Edrick Chua Wen Long, 35, and Mr Kenrick Woo Min Jian, 33, who work as safe distance ambassadors approached  Muhammad Zaid Ariffin, and Mr Chua reminded him that he had to wear a mask when he was outdoors, except when eating or drinking.

Muhammad Zaid  retorted that he was drinking and did not care, and used profanities in Hokkien and English at the two men.  At this point, Mr Woo, stepped in and asked him again to abide by the rules and put on his mask.

Mr Woo told him they were just doing their jobs. Muhammad Zaid answered him by saying “I see you one time, I beat you one time,” to the two men, while he pushed Mr Woo twice, shoving him  by the  shoulder.

A passerby who saw the encounter alerted the police at around 9.20a, and told them a man was threatening the two safe distancing ambassadors at the hawker centre.

On Tuesday, Muhammad Zaid pleaded guilty to four charges related to harassment, criminal intimidation, and failing to wear a mask. An additional harassment charge  of flicking a lanyard at one of them at him was also considered in his sentencing.

He now has to pay a $6,000 fine. Under current rules, for failing to wear a mask when required, the maximm penalty is a $10,000 fine and six months’ jail. For using criminal force, he could have been fined fined up to $1,500, been hailed for three months, or both.

For abusive words to cause alarm to others, he could have been made to pay a fine of as much as $5,000 or been sent to jail for as long as six months.

The Straits Times reported that he told the court that he is responsible for his 11-year-old son and that he and his fiancée, who is unemployed, are having another child. He also helps his parents, who are sickly.

/TISG

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