SINGAPORE - The owner of Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant in Turf City will be charged on Wednesday (Sept 1) with breaching Covid-19 rules. It allegedly allowed 65 people to gather at its premises for a company dinner in February.

The dinner was organised by Asia Piling on Feb 6, during the Chinese New Year period.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 31) that charges have been filed against Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Holdings, which owns the restaurant in Turf City.

Charges have also been filed against Asia Piling for organising the gathering "for a purpose that is substantially recreational or personal in character".

At the time of the offence, the authorities had just stepped up inspections to ensure compliance with safe management measures during Chinese New Year. The rules then prohibited multiple table bookings, unless members seated at different tables were from the same household. Even if there were multiple table bookings, inter-mingling was not allowed.

The dinner held at Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant on Feb 6 comprised one group of 65 people from different households seated across nine tables. The Straits Times understands that at the time, there were other diners at the restaurant too.

The restaurant was ordered by the SLA to close for 10 days from Feb 10 to 19.

Both Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Holdings and Asia Piling will be charged in court on Wednesday with contravening the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020.

If convicted, first-time offenders face a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Subsequent offenders face a fine of up to $20,000, jail of up to 12 months, or both.

"The Government takes a serious view of such violations," said an SLA spokesman.