NEA issues warning to woman who defecated outside MRT station

SINGAPORE — The woman who caused an uproar when she defecated outside Holland Village MRT Station last month has been found to have a long history of schizophrenia and intellectual disability.

In view of the circumstances, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said it has issued the 34-year-old Singaporean a stern warning.

On Aug 13, a photo of the woman defecating was posted on the Internet by a member of the public, leading to an online uproar, with many slamming her for the inappropriate behaviour.

In reply to TODAY’s queries, the NEA said urinating or defecating in public was an offence under the Environmental Public Health Act and offenders are liable to a maximum fine of S$1,000 for the first conviction.

The NEA said it has seen fewer offences related to public urination and defecation in the past few years. Between January and July this year, it has taken 528 enforcement actions against such offenders, compared with 989 in the same period last year and 1,566 in 2012.

Since May last year, the NEA has increased its enforcement hours by about 50 per cent to 35,000 man hours a month. NEA officers carry out enforcement action against a variety of public health offences, including littering, smoking in prohibited places and urinating or defecating in public.

When TODAY spoke to Dr William Wan, Singapore Kindness Movement’s general secretary, after last month’s incident, he said he believed such offences usually involved the mentally unsound. He also suspected that patients who committed such offences were not disciplined in taking their medication.

“We, as the public, can be more charitable here, but it’s still not right. I do hope that there can be a care provider to ensure that the patients do not roam around. (Perhaps) they would be more vigilant to prevent such cases from happening,” he added.