5 weeks jail and S$1.5K fine for man who tapped EZ-Link card on bus driver’s face

SINGAPORE: A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to five weeks in prison and fined S$1,500 after he drunkenly made a scene on board a public bus, pushed an elderly commuter, and tapped his EZ-link card on the bus driver’s face.

The incident occurred at around 7 p.m. on Mar 18 this year, on board a bus plying route 195. The court heard that the defendant, Wilson Loh, consumed eight bottles of beer from noon that day, then boarded the bus at 6 p.m. to get home.

He wanted to alight at the next stop, but when the driver stopped, Loh did not alight even though other commuters got off and on the bus. The driver then drove off, and Loh kicked up a ruckus, blaming the driver for making him miss his stop.

The driver explained that he had opened the door earlier, but Loh refused to listen and tapped the driver’s face with the EZ-Link card in his hand. He continued to shout inside the moving bus as it made its way to the next stop.

A 75-year-old passenger also stepped forward to persuade Loh to calm down, but Loh pushed him away, causing the elderly man’s mobile phone to fall. Fellow commuters called the police after seeing this, leading to Loh’s arrest.