Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, a French national charged with being a public nuisance after he allegedly filmed himself performing the straw-licking act and uploaded the clip on social media. (Instagram/Singaporeincidents.sg)
A French teenager charged over a hygiene stunt that drew widespread anger online in Singapore is expected to plead guilty next month, a district court heard on 26 June.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, who turned 19 the day before the hearing, is accused of filming himself removing a straw from an iJooz orange juice vending machine, licking it and returning it to the dispenser, then posting the clip to social media. His lawyer told the court that Maximilien, who was not present, would enter his plea on the afternoon of 13 July. Court records list the case for a guilty plea.
The incident allegedly took place on 12 March at Goldhill Centre on Thomson Road. The video circulated quickly and triggered a public backlash over hygiene and consumer safety that led to his arrest. iJooz, which operates orange juice vending machines across the city-state, replaced all 500 straws in the affected dispenser.
Maximilien faces one count each of public nuisance and mischief. Under Singapore law, a public nuisance conviction carries up to three months in jail, a fine of up to 2,000 Singaporean dollar (1,545 US dollar), or both, while the mischief charge carries up to two years in jail, a fine, or both.
The teenager, who is studying in Singapore, remains out on bail. In late April the court permitted him to leave the country for a three-week internship in Manila required for his graduation, and he has since returned.
The case has become a reference point in Singapore’s continuing public conversation about online behaviour and the gap between a moment of social media bravado and the legal consequences that can follow in a jurisdiction known for enforcing standards of public conduct.
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