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Woman found guilty of insulting doctor, trying to bite auxiliary cop at Changi General Hospital

SINGAPORE — A 54-year-old woman was on Friday (Nov 5) convicted of calling a hospital doctor “stupid” and “crazy”, as well as hitting and attempting to bite an auxiliary police officer, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

Wang Xuyi's offences took place during her visit to Changi General Hospital in May 2020.

Wang Xuyi's offences took place during her visit to Changi General Hospital in May 2020.

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  • Wang Xuyi repeatedly changed her mind about her treatment and being admitted to hospital
  • She then called her doctor stupid and crazy, once when the other woman was attending to another patient
  • When auxiliary police officers escorted her out, she hit and tried to bite one of them
  • She will return to court on Dec 6 for sentencing
 

SINGAPORE — A 54-year-old woman was on Friday (Nov 5) convicted of calling a hospital doctor “stupid” and “crazy”, as well as hitting and attempting to bite an auxiliary police officer, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

The prosecution called Wang Xuyi’s defence during her trial “unbelievable and illogical”, including her claims that she did not know her words were insulting and that she was unaware of what “crazy” in Mandarin meant.

Wang had claimed trial to two charges of using insulting words towards the doctor at Changi General Hospital (CGH) on the evening of May 16, 2020. The country was in the midst of the circuit breaker period at the time, which limited movements and activities due to the pandemic.

Wang, a Singaporean, also contested one charge each of causing hurt and attempting to cause hurt to an auxiliary cop that day.

She had met Dr Magneline Ang in a consultation room at CGH at about 6pm. The doctor then recommended that certain tests were necessary, and offered to confirm Wang’s diagnosis and ascertain if further treatment was necessary.

Wang initially refused this and insisted on obtaining antibiotics for herself, but accepted Dr Ang’s recommendations about 45 minutes later.

Court documents did not reveal what condition she suffered from.

Shortly afterwards, some nurses told Dr Ang that Wang had once again refused to proceed. Dr Ang tried to persuade Wang again and sought the help of a senior doctor, but Wang refused their medical advice, raising her voice and prompting security staff to intervene.

Despite getting a similar recommendation from a third doctor, she continued to refuse further testing and maintained her desire for antibiotics.

When Dr Ang was seeing another patient at about 9pm, Wang barged into the consultation room. She said she did not want to wait any longer and told the doctor, among other things, that she was stupid before leaving the room.

Dr Ang continued with her duties before the senior doctor told her at 9.30pm that Wang now wanted to be admitted.

The doctor prepared the necessary paperwork but was informed again that Wang was refusing admission, and instead wanted to speak to her.

When Dr Ang made her way to the admissions counter, Wang told her she did not want to be admitted and questioned her on why she had proceeded with the process. Wang then said among other things: “Ni shen jing bing” (“You are crazy” in Mandarin).

Three auxiliary officers then decided to escort Wang out of the hospital as she was creating a scene. As they were doing so, Wang retrieved her phone with the apparent intention of filming them.

Despite several warnings from the officers, Wang raised her phone to record them which was prohibited in the area. The officers then raised their hands over her phone to cover the camera lens.

During the struggle, Wang hit one of the auxiliary officers, Ms Nurul Neeza Mohd Jumain, forcefully on her left shoulder at least three times.

The officers then let Wang sit on a nearby bench but she then pulled down her face mask and lunged at Ms Neeza’s arm in a bid to bite it. Ms Neeza managed to avoid the assault by immediately releasing her grip on Wang.

This incident was captured in closed-circuit television footage of CGH’s accident and emergency department.

In his written submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Eugene Teh said Wang had claimed during the trial that she did not hit Ms Neeza despite her actions being clearly captured on video. She also argued that her raised arms were “just a movement, not hitting people”.

She further alleged that the officers had surrounded and attacked her, making her feel bullied and helpless, and that one of the male officers had molested her when they tussled.

At one point in the trial, DPP Teh had put to Wang that “stupid” was an insulting word, to which she replied: “I do not know about this before this. But now I have learnt this.”

The prosecutor also asked if she knew what “sheN jing bing” was. She responded: “I’m not too sure”, even though she had used the Chinese phrase.

Wang will return to court on Dec 6 to be sentenced and remains out on bail of S$3,000.

For voluntarily causing hurt, she could be jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or punished with both. She could also be jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$5,000, or both, for harassment.

Related topics

court crime CGH verbal abuse doctor

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