When you’re at the airport, there’s a feeling of heightened awareness due to the various security protocols that exist as you go through the airport.
As such, it is probably best to keep things safe to ensure that you do make it on your flight.
However, as report by Shin Min Daily News, a man from Tanzania decided to go against the grain by jokingly saying that he had explosives in his luggage whilst checking in to his flight at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
According to the report, 28-year-old Omar Abdulrehman Aziz and his friend were checking in to their flight to Bangkok from Changi Airport on January 6.
When an airport staff had asked him whether he had prohibited items on him, Omar said no before jokingly claiming that he had a Research Department Explosive (RDX).
It was all just a joke
Following his ‘joke’, Omar and his friend had their bags swept for explosives and were barred from boarding their flight after the duty manager at the terminal had contacted the police.
After the preliminary investigation, Omar’s friend was allowed to board the flight while he was detained in Singapore for further probing.
Pleaded guilty for joking about explosives
At his court hearing on Wednesday (January 25), Omar pleaded guilty but claimed that he was merely joking about having explosives and had apologised to the airport staff which he believed was more than enough.
However, he soon realised the error of his ways after the lead prosecutor explained the entire situation to him.
Omar was eventually charged under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) for uttering words which can cause public alarm and fined S$2,000 (RM6445.13) which was the minimum fine on the basis that it was his first violation.
We hope that this serves as a reminder not to joke around when it matters.
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