Singapore - A couple who entertained open-air diners in Singapore with a naked stroll through an area known for its popular nightspots received Thursday the maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,350 US dollars) each for an obscene act, media reports said. Jan Philip, 21, an exchange student from Sweden, and Eng Kai Er, 24, an ethnic Chinese Singaporean who attends university in Sweden, did what they did "to seek thrills," court papers stated.
Their stroll in the buff on a busy Saturday night through Singapore's Holland Village in January triggered both applause and embarrassment in the conservative city-state.
In mitigation, the couple's attorney said they did try to check whether public nudity was an offence before their stunt, the online edition of the Straits Times newspaper reported.
However, they had not realized that public nudity was considered obscene in Singapore and, hence, was an offence.
The lawyer also tried to explain their actions in the context of their experience in a different culture.
"While certain things are accepted overseas, they may not be in Singapore," the report quoted him as saying. "They are students. Perhaps they were immersed in a different culture."
