Singapore fines French teen $465 for viral straw-licking stunt
The 19-year-old was "truly sorry" for causing trouble, his lawyers said.
A French student has been penalized by a Singaporean court, receiving a S$600 ($465; £348) fine for an incident involving a straw from an orange juice vending machine. The student, Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, licked the straw before returning it to its dispenser.
Nineteen-year-old Maximilien admitted guilt to a single charge of public nuisance.
Maximilien, who is currently pursuing studies in Singapore, uploaded a video of the act to Instagram, accompanied by the caption "city is not safe."
The video garnered significant negative attention online, with many expressing revulsion. It was subsequently shared on a community page and reported by local news organizations.
iJooz, the company operating the vending machine, stated that it replaced all 500 straws in the machine's dispenser following Maximilien's actions.
In Singapore, individuals found guilty of public nuisance can face penalties including a fine of up to S$2,000, a jail term of up to three months, or both.
Both the prosecution and the defense advocated for a fine as Maximilien's punishment.
According to The Straits Times, a defense lawyer stated that Maximilien is "truly sorry for having caused all this trouble and he realises that what appeared to him at that time as something perhaps playful has turned out to be something very consequential."
iJooz vending machines, which dispense freshly-squeezed orange juice at S$2 per cup, are a frequent sight in Singapore's retail areas, train stations, and residential complexes.
Channel News Asia reported that Maximilien licked the straw from an iJooz machine located in Goldhill Centre, an affluent neighborhood in the city-state, on March 12, after completing a boxing workout.