Flood photos: S'pore outraged by pressman's arrest
SINGAPORE: Singaporeans are both angered and bemused by a policeman's action to detain a senior photojournalist who was taking snapshots of Saturday's flood. The incident sparked off a raging debate on the Internet, with many citing it as another example of the PAP government's zero tolerance for negative publicity.
The Straits Times reported that the photojournalist with local Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao was arrested for taking pictures of the latest flash flood to hit Singapore.
Shafie Goh, 57, told The Straits Times that he was standing on a manhole trying to get a picture of some partially submerged cars in flood-hit Bukit Timah when he was told by a policeman to leave.
The photographer, who was not wearing any media identification, claimed that he was requested to leave only once and the policeman simply handcuffed him even when he was about to move away.
"I told him (the policeman) to allow me to take one more frame and was about to walk away, when he came from behind and handcuffed me," he was quoted as saying.
However, the police said that Goh was repeatedly warned to move away as he was standing in a dangerous position.
"As he was causing obstruction to the police officer in the discharge of his duties and causing danger to himself and others, the officers decided to restrain him and move him to safe grounds, but the man resisted and put up a struggle," said a police spokesman.
Meanwhile, Shafie also claimed that he had waited an hour for his statement to be recorded even though he was handcuffed only for five minutes.
He was released after the flood waters subsided.
Investigations are still ongoing and police have classified the case under Section 186 of the Penal Code, which involved obstructing a public servant in discharge of his public functions.
Saturday's flash floods, which submerged many low-lying areas from Telok Kurau to Balestier, were the third to hit Singapore in five weeks.
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