Judge rejects woman’s plea of guilt after she claims she sneezed at Ion Orchard security guard on smelling an ‘odour’

SINGAPORE — A judge rejected a woman’s plea of guilt after she was charged last month under the Protection from Harassment Act, having sneezed in the direction of another woman at Ion Orchard mall and shouted “shut up” at her.

The court also heard on Wednesday (May 20) that in other offences she allegedly committed, Sun Szu-Yen, a 46-year-old Taiwanese, had flung various items out of her condominium apartment, including a vacuum cleaner.

For the incident at the mall, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Deborah Lee said that Sun was trying to enter Ion Orchard with her 10-year-old son on April 12 when they were stopped by a security guard, Ms Devika Rani Muthu Krishna.

This was because Sun and her son did not wear a face mask.

Speaking through a Chinese interpreter, Sun claimed that she was unaware that they needed to wear one, and she saw many other people walking along Orchard Road without wearing one when she was driving to the mall.

The Ministry of Health made it mandatory for everyone to wear a mask when they stepped out of their homes only on April 14, two days after this incident. It was not stated in court why Sun and her son were required to wear one before entering Ion Orchard.

Surveillance footage played in court showed Sun arguing with Ms Devika before Sun sneezed in her direction.

DPP Lee told the court that Sun was alleged to have said at that point: “You get it. You get it already.”

It was not clarified in court what “it” was.

Sun, who was not represented by a lawyer, told the court that she wanted to plead guilty to her actions, but she then said that she sneezed on reflex because she had smelled a “bad odour”.

“It is human nature,” she added, prompting District Judge Eddy Tham to clarify what she meant.

She said that she had indeed sneezed in Ms Devika’s direction, but it was not deliberate.

District Judge Tham then said that by claiming it was not a deliberate act, she had contradicted the statement of facts.

“I’m going to reject your plea of guilt because you are denying that you committed the offence,” he said.

Separately, Sun has been charged with committing a rash act that endangers human life by throwing a globe, a plastic chair, a vacuum cleaner, a glass bottle and a few pencils from her third-storey apartment at Fifth Avenue Condominium in the Bukit Timah area on June 4 last year. 

DPP Lee said that Sun was in her son’s room around 10pm then and was feeling “stressed and frustrated” before she threw the items out of her apartment. No one was hurt from the killer litter.

While the prosecutor did not state why Sun was frustrated, she told the court that a report from the Institute of Mental Health had tentatively diagnosed Sun with a mood disorder.

The prosecution will thus want to call for a report to see if Sun is suitable for a mandatory treatment order. This is a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence. 

However, DPP Lee said that this may no longer be on the table if Sun claims trial to her first charge. 

Sun is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial conference on June 8.

Under the Protection from Harassment Act, anyone found guilty of using abusive words or behaviour may be jailed up to six months or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

If convicted of committing a rash act that endangers the life or safety of others, a person may be jailed up to six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both.