SINGAPORE: A man who was not fully vaccinated wanted to go to a food court at a mall when proof of vaccination was still legally required during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He downloaded a screenshot of the TraceTogether application, which contains information of a person’s vaccination status, and showed it to the food court manager hoping to trick her.
However, the guard wanted to verify the vaccination and pressed “refresh” on the application, only to realise it was a static photo.
Singaporean Crystal ES, 52, was fined S$3,000 by a court on Thursday (Mar 2) for one count of attempted cheating.
The court heard that Crystal was not fully vaccinated at the time of the offence. Around November 2021, he heard about the COVID-19 vaccination-differentiated safe management measures imposed in Singapore.
Under the regulations, food and beverage establishments and retail liquor businesses must not allow any unvaccinated individuals to consume any food or drink on their premises.
To abide by the regulations, various businesses implemented the safe management measures.
Crystal knew that entry to certain places was granted only to those who were fully vaccinated. He searched the terms “trace app vaccine status” on Google and retrieved a screenshot of the TraceTogether application indicating that the user was fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
He downloaded the screenshot to his phone.
At about 8.30pm on Nov 9, 2021, he went to the Kopitiam food court at Plaza Singapura to have dinner.
A Kopitiam manager requested to check Crystal’s vaccination status, and Crystal opened the screenshot on his phone, enlarging it so it appeared to be from the TraceTogether application.
The manager decided to verify Crystal’s vaccination status by pressing the “refresh” button on the apparent application.
However, she realised that the handphone screen remained static and that Crystal had not shown her the actual TraceTogether application.
The manager denied Crystal entry to Kopitiam, and informed the shopping centre management, with the police eventually called down.
Crystal admitted to his offence.
His lawyer asked for the fine to be paid in instalments, saying Crystal needed some money for his food. He was allowed to pay S$2,000 first and the balance by the end of May.