A French teenager has been formally charged in Singapore after a viral social media video showed him licking a straw from a vending machine and returning it to the dispenser, prompting widespread condemnation and a police investigation.
Incident Details
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, filmed himself licking a straw and placing it back into an iJooz vending machine at the Goldhill Centre on 12 March, according to court documents. He then shared the footage on Instagram Stories with the caption “city is not safe”.
The unhygienic act provoked intense disgust online, with many users describing it as both childish and dangerous due to the potential spread of diseases. One social media user commented: “Ugh! Why lick a straw and put it back in the dispenser! That is a lack of respect for others who would use it without knowing! That person could have transmissible diseases! It's a good lesson for him and an example for the others!”
Another user wrote: “He is contaminating the straw and doing it on purpose to trap someone. Who does he think he is? Would he like it if someone spat in his food? Because to me, it's exactly the same thing. It disgusts me, freaks like him.”
Legal Charges
The teenager was formally charged on 24 April with mischief, an offence that carries a potential jail term of up to two years, as well as public nuisance, which can result in imprisonment for up to three months or a fine, or both.
In its complaint, iJooz argued that the charge of mischief was warranted as Mr Maximilien knew his actions were “likely to cause wrongful loss or damage” to the business. The company stated it had replaced all 500 straws in the affected machine’s dispenser and launched additional sanitisation protocols and inspections across all its machines.
Institutional Response
Mr Maximilien is a student at the Singapore campus of ESSEC Business School. A spokesperson for the institution said: “ESSEC takes matters of conduct and community responsibility seriously, and internal investigations are under way.”
The teenager’s lawyers, Kanthan Raghavendra and Kalidass Murugaiyan, reportedly confirmed that his parents are travelling to Singapore from France and that a representative from his school will act as the bailor.
The case is scheduled to be mentioned again in court on 22 May.
