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SINGAPORE: After trying to buy soy milk for his wife but being turned away at three stores because he was not wearing a mask, a man lost his temper with a supermarket supervisor who prevented him from buying the drink.
In a videotaped tirade, 53-year-old Mohamed Ali Ramly cursed the supervisor and said, “Hey, Chinese, ah. Damn man. All viruses come from you, la. Chino, you.”
He was fined S $ 4,000 on Wednesday (December 9) for three counts of not wearing a mask, hurting racial sentiments and using abusive words to cause alarm.
The court heard that Ali, who pleaded guilty, had left his home on his bicycle on April 17 to buy soy milk, but forgot to wear a mask.
He visited three stores and was rejected because he did not have a mask. When he arrived at the Li Li Cheng convenience store in Block 651, Jurong West Street 61, Ali grabbed a 1-liter box of soy milk and tried to buy it.
The victim, a 32-year-old Chinese national who works as a cashier, apologetically told him that he couldn’t buy it because he didn’t have a mask.
Ali became agitated and began to verbally abuse the victim, who was the supervisor of the minimart. The victim was alarmed and filmed Ali’s actions. Ali was shown exclaiming and pointing the middle finger at the victim, asking the “fucking president of the victim to go to hell.”
He continued to curse the victim, saying “all viruses come from you”.
When the supervisor told him he would upload the video, Ali regretted that he had simply forgotten his mask and wanted to buy the milk. He returned the milk and cycled home.
A day later, a member of the public filed a police report after viewing the uploaded video.
Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Kee requested a fine of S $ 4,000, saying Ali’s “extensive tirade” was neither provoked nor justified.
“It is indisputable that COVID-19 has caused incalculable hardship on the general public,” he said, adding that it is often easy to feel unhappy with the situation.
“However, it is useless and counterproductive to blame any country (for) the virus,” he said.
FORGOT HIS MASK: DEFENSE
Defense attorney Yamuna Balakrishnan said her client rushed to bring his wife a drink on the day of the incident because she had body aches and forgot to wear her mask.
After failing to get it in three stores, he went to the convenience store and tried to run away, begging for understanding, but the victim ignored him.
“Because of that moment of losing his temper, it resulted in those acts,” he said. “Our customer is extremely sorry and pleads guilty today. He even apologized right then and there, said respectfully ‘thank you’ and left the store. He regrets his actions and takes full responsibility.”
He added that Ali is a musician whose income is based on live performances. Due to the pandemic, their income has been completely eradicated.
His wife was a nurse in a hospital, but is unable to work due to an injury she sustained and is on unpaid leave and has been asked to resign.
“Mr. Ali is the only one who supports the hospital bills and also looks after her,” Balakrishnan said. “In the current state, they have no income and are supported by savings.”
He added that Ali had a teenage son about to enter tertiary education.
After hearing the judgment, he asked Ali if he could pay S $ 3,000 up front and the balance later as he only brought S $ 3,000 to court. The judge granted this.
For speaking words with the deliberate intention of hurting racial sentiments, Ali could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
He could have been jailed for up to six months, fined S $ 10,000, or both for not wearing a mask properly outside his home.
For using abusive words, he could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S $ 5,000, or both.
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