Bedok Clinic Fined $1k For Leaving Chairs Outside, Town Council Wants To Waive Fines After Backlash

WAN Medical Clinic, located at Bedok North, recently became the talk of Singapore after their Facebook post on 8 July brought into the spotlight that they were fined $1,000 by the East Coast Fengshan Town Council for leaving the chairs outside the clinic overnight.

The Clinic clarified that the chairs are meant for the elderly and the sick to sit on while they wait for their turn to see the doctor. The post also alleges that the Town Council have been finding fault with the clinic about the chairs since they were opened 7 years ago, and that the fine was the result of the Town Council finally catching the clinic out. The fine was issued during the Hari Raya period, when the clinic was closed, and the fine specifically stated that the clinic had been fined for placing objects “on common property or open space”, and for “overnight placement of items in [a] yellow box” outside the clinic’s shopfront.

However, the doctor at the clinic had been hospitalized during the period, and he posted a video to show him removing the chairs while still attached to drips, at the behest of the Town Council. This received wide condemnation of the Town Council from netizens for what is seen as heavy handed policing, even though the chairs were not meant as profit making business purpose, but instead to help the elderly and the sick.

The Town Council have since clarified, and even said that they were willing to waive the fine, should the clinic comply with the rules not to leave chairs after business hour. They also denied asking the chairs to be removed urgently, and claimed they had no knowledge that the doctor of the clinic was in hospital when the fine was issued.