On Jan 10, from 7pm to 9pm, Li went for a business dinner at Westgate where he had a large amount of beer and became heavily intoxicated.
At around 10pm, when he was exiting Outram Park MRT station to return to his hotel in Upper Cross Street, he unzipped his pants and urinated on the handrail of a downward-moving escalator.
He then exited the station and returned to his hotel.
DPP Bin said videos of the act were widely circulated online, with one such video garnering over 2,000 “reactions” on social media.
Li was arrested by the police on Jan 12and charged in court the next day.
Seeking a fine of between $1,500 and $2,000, the prosecutor said: “It goes without saying that the accused’s actions here were completely unacceptable and rather disconcerting, and his sentence should reflect that.”
He said Li urinated in an area with high footfall, on the only part of the escalator that members of the public would touch, adding: “His act extends beyond just causing annoyance, and concerns issues of sanitation and disease-spreading.”
DPP Bin said that while a cleaner was sent to the scene shortly after Li’s act, staff at the station were unaware that Li had urinated on the handrail, and only the floor of the escalator landing was cleaned at the time.
The prosecutor also noted that since there were two other public urination cases in the last week, a message should be sent by the court to deter such behaviour.
In mitigation, Li, who was unrepresented, said he had committed the offence on the spur of the moment and has cooperated with the authorities during investigations.
Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Paul Chan agreed with the prosecution that Li’s act did not just cause annoyance to the public, but also brought about issues of health and sanitation.