Hotpot restaurant fined for serving alcohol after 10.30pm during COVID-19 pandemic, eatery has closed down

SINGAPORE: A hotpot restaurant that served alcohol after 10.30pm during the COVID-19 pandemic was fined S$5,000 by a courtroom on Wednesday (Nov 24), with a authorized consultant for the eatery saying that the closures ordered by authorities was "already worse than a fine".Tangmen, the restaurant in Orchard Plaza, has shut down, with the house owners shedding round S$300,000, he added.The consultant pleaded responsible on behalf of Tangmen to 2 counts of breaching COVID-19 rules by failing to cease consumption of liquor on its premises after 10.30pm.The courtroom heard that Singapore Tourism Board (STB) enforcement officers went to the restaurant at about 3.40am on Dec 19, 2020.They noticed two prospects consuming drinks poured from a inexperienced tea bottle on the store, and commenced conducting investigations there.The two prospects had arrived on the restaurant at 2am to eat and drink, and ordered beer from the waitress and supervisor there.The employees poured the liquid from the beer bottles into inexperienced tea bottles and cups and served it to the purchasers.The enforcement officers returned to the restaurant once more previous midnight on May 1 this yr and noticed three prospects with three cups full of "foamy yellow drinks" on their desk.They investigated and discovered that the purchasers had arrived on the store between 8pm and 9pm to eat and drink.At round 10.30pm, there was beer leftover of their bottles, so an worker transferred the liquid right into a teapot and three teacups for the purchasers to proceed consuming.The prosecutor requested for a nice of no less than S$5,000, saying that the courtroom ought to ship a powerful sign to meals and beverage retailers to stay vigilant during the pandemic and to stick to measures.He mentioned that there have been makes an attempt to hide the alcohol on each events - with the liquid being served in inexperienced tea bottles on the primary, and in a teapot and cups on the second.The consultant, who had no lawyer, mentioned the tea cups have been the standard cups used to serve drinks at the restaurant.He mentioned the restaurant was ordered to shut for 10 days for the primary breach and 20 days for the second."To us, this is already worse than a fine," he mentioned by way of a Mandarin interpreter. "It is very tough to keep our food and beverage business going on during the pandemic. While we cannot say that this case is the reason why our shop closed down, but it is a major contributing factor."He added that the house owners have already misplaced about S$300,000."For us to be punished again with a court fine is fatal. We are on the brink of bankruptcy," he mentioned.The decide mentioned it's clearly identified that many meals companies have been affected by the pandemic and that many have suffered monetary losses, however careworn that COVID-19 measures have to be adhered to strictly.He allowed the consultant to pay the nice in instalments by January.