A French student in Singapore has learned the hard way that some countries take their orange juice straws very seriously. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, was fined S$600 ($465; £348) after pleading guilty to one count of public nuisance for licking a straw from an iJooz vending machine and putting it back.

Maximilien, who is studying in Singapore, posted the video of his stunt on Instagram with the caption "city is not safe" - a claim that turned out to be more accurate than he intended. The video sparked widespread disgust online, was reposted on a community page, and eventually caught the attention of local news outlets.

iJooz, the company that owns the vending machine, replaced all 500 straws in the dispenser at the Goldhill Centre location following Maximilien's performance. The machines, which sell fresh orange juice at S$2 per cup, are ubiquitous in shopping districts, train stations, and housing blocks across the city-state.

Public nuisance offenders in Singapore face penalties of up to S$2,000, three months in jail, or both. Both the prosecution and the defense agreed that a fine was appropriate in this case.

Maximilien is "truly sorry for having caused all this trouble," his defense lawyer told The Straits Times, adding that "what appeared to him at that time as something perhaps playful has turned out to be something very consequential." The incident occurred on March 12 after a boxing workout in one of Singapore's more affluent neighborhoods, according to Channel News Asia.