Woman Fined Again for Causing Chaos at Lion Dance Event

 

A woman previously fined for harassing her neighbor during the Covid-19 outbreak has found herself in legal trouble again. On February 26, 52-year-old Lim Sok Lay was fined $4,000 for her involvement in two separate incidents: disrupting her adult son’s lion dance competition and using criminal force on an acquaintance.

Lim’s husband, 60-year-old Cheang Eng Hock, also faces charges related to the lion dance incident and is set to plead guilty on March 19. The couple, who disapproved of their son’s association with the Times Cultural Arts Lion Dance Troupe, decided to confront him and the troupe during a competition at West Coast Community Centre on July 29, 2023.

Upon arriving at the venue, they saw their son and the troupe preparing for their performance. Holding cups of coffee, the couple deliberately poured the drinks over a lion dance costume, permanently staining it. Lim also kicked the headpiece of the costume, causing more than $1,300 in damage. The disruption lasted about 10 minutes before event organizers removed them from the premises.

During court proceedings, Lim’s lawyer, Nichol Yeo, stated that she had paid more than $600 in restitution to the troupe. However, the prosecution emphasized that the act was deliberate and caused significant inconvenience to the event participants.

In another case, Lim was involved in an altercation at a Punggol coffee shop on February 2, 2023. A 60-year-old acquaintance had offered to carry her crying five-month-old grandson while queuing for food. Later that evening, Lim’s family noticed a scratch on the baby’s nose and suspected the man was responsible.

The next morning, Lim returned to the coffee shop and confronted the man, repeatedly shoving him before walking away. Investigations later found no evidence linking the acquaintance to the baby’s injury.

Lim and her husband are no strangers to legal troubles. In 2020, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, they harassed their neighbor, a hospital nurse, and his family. They shouted terms like “Covid,” “Covid spreader,” and “virus family” at them, and Lim even sprayed disinfectant in their direction.

For that offense, she was fined $4,000 in February 2022, while Cheang received a $1,200 fine.

With this latest conviction, Lim’s pattern of disruptive behavior has once again drawn public attention, raising concerns about repeated offenses despite prior legal consequences.