Couple charged with mischief after they allegedly disrupted lion dance contest
A couple allegedly disrupted a lion dance competition in July 2023, about 1½ years after they were fined for harassing a nurse and his family amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
On March 25, Cheang Eng Hock, 59, was charged with one count each of committing an act of mischief and being a public nuisance.
His wife, Lim Sok Lay, 51, was handed similar charges, but she faces another two counts of using criminal force on others – one for an incident during the lion dance contest and the other linked to a separate case at a coffee shop.
The couple were accused of causing a ruckus at West Coast Community Centre in Clementi West Street 2 on July 29, 2023.
At 3.40pm that day, they allegedly disrupted the Ngee Ann City National Lion Dance Championship.
Cheang is accused of pouring coffee on a lion costume belonging to Times Cultural Arts lion dance troupe.
Lim allegedly poured coffee on the lion’s head and kicked it. She is also accused of hitting a man’s neck with her hand at the community centre.
The Straits Times reported in July 2023 that at the time of their alleged offences, their 25-year-old son was a performer with Times Cultural Arts and was among those taking part in the competition organised by the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation.
Mr Joseph Low, secretary-general of the federation, told ST at the time that the couple tried to stop their son from taking part in the competition after some miscommunication among the three of them.
In an unrelated case, Lim was at a coffee shop in Edgefield Plains in Punggol when she allegedly pushed another man five times shortly before 8am on Feb 3, 2023.
The Singaporean couple first made the headlines after they harassed their then neighbour, who was a hospital nurse, and his family in 2020.
The pair had shouted the words “Covid”, “Covid spreader”, “virus” and “virus family” at them. Lim had also sprayed liquid disinfectant in their direction.
In February 2022, she was fined $4,000 and Cheang was fined $1,200.
The two latest cases have been adjourned to April 17.
If convicted of mischief, they can be jailed for up to two years each and fined.
Lim, if convicted of using criminal force on another person, can be jailed for up to three months and fined up to $1,500 for each charge.
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