It appears that not heeding the call to practise safe distancing is not a problem unique to Singaporeans.

However, instead of relying only on fines and imprisonment as the penalties for non-compliance, the authorities should get creative (Over 7,000 advisories issued to the public for safe distancing breaches, April 8).

Why not assign offenders to work one shift with a healthcare team taking care of Covid-19 cases in a hospital?

They can join the non-medical support staff such as porters and attendants.

The main point here is to let the offender see what happens in an isolation ward - what patients have to go through and what the medical staff go through to provide care to those who are infected.

In some countries, there are regulations that get wrongdoers to show their remorse by meeting their victims.

Not only do they apologise to victims, but they also have to pay for their medical expenses and participate in their convalescence.

In this way, offenders can fully appreciate how their careless action has badly affected another person's life.

An offender paying a hefty compensation and serving jail time does not have the same impact as the offender seeing first-hand the inconvenience and pain suffered by the victim.

Pauline Margaret Chung Pui Lan