A French student has been fined 600 Singapore dollars (€400, $458) after licking a drinking straw and returning it to a dispenser in a prank filmed for social media.
The 19-year-old, Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, pleaded guilty to a public nuisance charge.
He avoided a possible prison sentence, but it remains unclear whether authorities will revoke his student pass. The French national studies at Singapore’s ESSEC Business School.
What did the student do and why?
Maximilien removed a straw from a freshly squeezed orange juice vending machine in March, licked it and placed it back in the dispenser.
He filmed the stunt for an Instagram story, and the video later went viral.
An employee of the company operating the machine saw the footage and contacted police. As a result, all 500 straws in the dispenser had to be replaced.
The direct cost amounted to just 5 Singapore dollars, or around €3.30, according to court documents, but the case attracted nationwide attention.
Maximilien could have faced several months in prison, a fine, or both after being convicted of disturbing public order.
His lawyer told the court that he was remorseful and now understood that an apparently harmless prank could have far-reaching consequences.
Singapore’s strict public-order laws
The wealthy city-state is known for its strict laws and rigorous enforcement, with cleanliness and tightly regulated public spaces forming part of its image for decades.
The import of chewing gum, for example, remains largely prohibited as part of efforts to prevent littering and vandalism.
Singapore also retains judicial caning for certain serious offenses, although the punishment was not applicable in the student’s case.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
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