Brickbats for man who exposed photo of ICA officer and complained of unprofessional conduct

SINGAPORE: A netizen who was puzzled over the behavior of a customs officer took to social media to post about the incident, putting up photos and videos of the said officer in a post on a local complaint Facebook page on Aug 13. Commenters on the post, however, quickly warned him that this is not allowed.

A user on the platform who goes by Sky Sg wrote that on Monday (Aug 12), at around 12:30 pm, an officer at Woodlands Checkpoint suddenly asked the man, who was talking to his wife about an unrelated topic, if he was commenting about him.

Sky Sg said that the officer then asked him to roll down the window of his vehicle, which was already down at that point.

“Driver seh or officer seh?” he wrote, adding that the officer then asked him to come into his office, which he called a complete waste of time as it lasted half an hour.

He felt that the officer called him in “just for not answering back the way he expected and but explaining it  was not him we are talking about.”

The post has since been shared over 400 times and commented on over 100 times.

Many netizens, however, warned Sky Sg that taking photos and videos of the officer and posting them publicly could get him into trouble.

“You are inviting trouble having such attitude, especially at immigration,” wrote another.

On the website of the Singapore Police Force, it says that some venues places where special measures are needed to control the movement and conduct of persons for public safety and security reasons have been designated as protected areas (PA) / protected places (PP).

While protected areas such as Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints are accessible to the public, unauthorized filming and photography are not allowed.

Some Facebook users urged Sky Sg to delete his post before his problems grow worse or before he gets blacklisted, while others said it would have been better to simply email the Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority rather than publicly post a complaint about one of its officers.

Others told him to give the officer a break.

“This chap has one of the worst jobs in the world. Cut him some slack and be nice. You are going on a holiday and get cheap gas he’s stuck in a 50cm x 50cm booth watching everyone go have fun in JB. Be nice can die meh,” one wrote. /TISG

Read also: Motorcyclists and pillion riders entering or leaving Singapore via land checkpoints may now use QR Code Clearance