Drunk man fined $3,000 after refusing to pay for porridge and threatening police officers

A man was handed a $3,000 fine after refusing to pay for a bowl of porridge while intoxicated and later verbally abusing police officers at Orchard Plaza.

Wu Guojie (transliterated), 36, faced one charge each under the Protection from Harassment Act and the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act, reported Chinese publication Shin Min Daily News.

Wu pleaded guilty to one of the charges, while the other was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The incident occurred on Dec 9, 2025 at around 7am, when Wu refused to pay a female stallholder for a bowl of porridge he had ordered.

The stallholder subsequently reported him to police officers. When officers asked Wu to produce identification documents to verify his identity, he refused to cooperate.

Despite repeated attempts by an officer to engage him, Wu, who was intoxicated, continued shouting, behaved aggressively and even challenged the officers to arrest him, Shin Min reported.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to Woodlands Police Division Headquarters.

During the journey, he repeatedly muttered to himself and allegedly made a threatening remark to an officer in the police vehicle.

"You better watch out, my people don't want to see you in public," he reportedly said to the officer, before hurling vulgarities at him.

Blood test results from the Health Sciences Authority revealed that Wu's blood sample contained 168 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood — exceeding the limit of 80 mg.

Pleading for leniency, Wu said that he had been going through divorce proceedings after ending an eight-year marriage and was also facing financial difficulties at the time. 

[[nid:742107]]

dana.leong@asiaone.com