On 17 May, Swiss national Oliver Fricker and his suspected accomplice, Briton Lloyd Dane Alexander, allegedly breached the perimeter fence at the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) Changi Depot. The two men are alleged to have then spray-painted graffiti on one of the carriages of the trains. A video of the incident was posted on YouTube the next day and the online community quickly picked it up and the video went viral on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and also on blogs and forums. SMRT's staff only discovered the act of vandalism two days later, on 19 May, after the act was first committed. Fricker was charged in court on 5 June for vandalising the MRT train by spraying graffiti on it and damaging public property by cutting a wired fence. An Interpol arrest warrant is out on Lloyd Dane Alexander. The Briton is believed to have left Singapore and is in Hong Kong. In Singapore, vandalism is punishable by up to three years in jail or a maximum fine of S$2,000, plus three to eight strokes of the cane. Singaporean socio-political blogger, Kristen Han wrote that this incident was a wake up call for SMRT: Singaporean design blogger, Pure Libre, wanted the Singapore government to look at the real issue at hand: Singaporean blogger, Roger Poh, writes that instead of punishing Fricker and Alexander, SMRT should be punished:
Development Journal
Singapore: Swiss national charged over train vandalism
Tags