FRENCH STUDENT FINED FOR LICKING STRAW IN SINGAPORE VENDING MACHINE

A Singapore court has fined Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, a 19-year-old French student, S$600 (£348) after he pleaded guilty to a public nuisance charge. Maximilien licked a straw from an iJooz orange juice vending machine at Goldhill Centre on 12 March and returned it to the dispenser whilst recording the act. He subsequently posted the video on Instagram with the caption "city is not safe", where it was reposted on community pages and picked up by local news outlets, generating widespread online reaction.

The prosecution sought the maximum fine of S$2,000, arguing that the staged social media stunt risked undermining public confidence in the hygiene of a commonly used vending machine. However, prosecutors noted mitigating factors: Maximilien had retrieved the straw himself, no member of the public had used it, there was no evidence of actual harm, he was young and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. A separate charge of mischief was taken into consideration during sentencing. The court did not order any community-based sentence. iJooz, the vending machine operator, filed a police report and replaced all 500 straws in the affected dispenser after sanitising it.

Maximilien's defence counsel stated that the student has expressed deep remorse and was living in Singapore without family support. The lawyer noted that Maximilien had removed the contaminated straw to use for his own drink, meaning it was never intended for public consumption. Prosecutors indicated that immigration authorities will determine whether Maximilien can retain his student pass, with the counsel adding that his parents will ensure he pays the fine himself.