SINGAPORE- A drunk man who boarded a public bus assaulted the driver after he was told to wear his mask properly.
On Monday (Jan 3), Yong Pok Sen, now 68, was sentenced to three weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Saravanan Narayanan, 32.
Yong had earlier boarded the bus with two other drunk men at around 10pm on July 30, 2020.
Noticing that Yong had failed to tap his ez-link card against a reader to pay the fare, Mr Saravanan asked him if he had done so.
The Malaysian driver also noticed that Yong was wearing his mask around his chin and told him to don it properly.
Yong, who insisted he had tapped his ez-link card, was unhappy as he thought the driver was being rude, and a dispute broke out between them.
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Mr Saravanan, who was working for public transport operator Tower Transit, informed the company's headquarters about the incident, and was told to pull over at a bus stop along West Coast Road.
He was waiting in the driver's seat for assistance when Yong punched his left shoulder three times.
The police arrived at the scene soon after.
The next day, Mr Saravanan went to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was found with bruises in places including his shoulder. He was given two days of outpatient sick leave.
For assault, Yong could have been jailed for up to three years and fined up to $5,000.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.