Teen gets 9 months’ probation for spitting over Bugis Junction railing in viral video

SINGAPORE — Three weeks after the Government raised Singapore’s outbreak alert response level to Orange in light of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic, Cai Jiaxu was bored. 

And so he spit over the fourth-storey railing at Bugis Junction mall.

His friends posted a video of his actions on their Instagram accounts. They later deleted the video, but not before it had already gone viral online.

Cai, an 18-year-old polytechnic student, was sentenced to nine months of probation on Wednesday (Aug 26). This allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

Cai also has to perform 60 hours of community service and remain indoors from 10pm to 6am daily for the duration of the probation.

His parents posted a bond of S$5,000 to ensure his good behaviour during the probation period.

He had pleaded guilty last month to one charge of public nuisance. Adult offenders can be jailed up to three months or fined up to S$2,000, or receive both penalties.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that on Feb 28, Cai was at Bugis Junction with two of his friends: A 17-year-old boy who cannot be named due to recent amendments to the Children and Young Persons Act, and Jolin Huang Rui Xian, 19.

Apart from telling his 17-year-old friend about his plan to spit over the railing, Cai also asked the other boy to hit his head so as to make the act of spitting look accidental.

Huang overheard them and took out her mobile phone to film the act, egging the other boy to hit Cai’s head.

He did so and Cai spat over the railing towards six or seven diners at a Subway sandwich store on basement level one of the mall. The trio then left.

Later that evening, Huang posted the video in their text-messaging chat group. She and the other boy also posted it on their Instagram accounts.

In the video, Cai’s friend is seen standing next to Cai and looking over the railing before hitting Cai’s head. Cai spits over the railing as the video pans downwards to the diners.

They deleted it around 10.30pm that day, but the video was already circulating online. It had been reposted to the public Instagram account “xiaoypofsingapore”, attracting comments from the public on the public health risks of the act.

As of Wednesday, the post had attracted almost 20,000 views.

On March 3, a representative of Bugis Junction made a police report. The mall did not receive complaints of spittle landing on diners.