Close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras belonging to the Singapore Police Force are a common sight.

They can be found in many HDB blocks, multi-storey carparks, connecting walkways, town centres, MRT stations and bus terminals, among other places.

The number of cameras and places where they are being installed continue to grow.

While this is generally a good thing, the only problem is that these cameras are being installed everywhere except in private landed estates.

Residents who live in these areas are beginning to feel vulnerable and are asking if they should be accorded some protection in the form of CCTVs too.

Is the crime rate in private estates lower, or do residents in these estates take a lower priority in the country's security blueprint?

I am sure that cameras in public areas are proving very successful in deterring crime.

But I fear that this might force criminals to look at private estates because the residents may appear to be easier targets without the CCTVs.

It is akin to raising the level of the road to alleviate flooding but, inadvertently, the flood water will have to flow somewhere lower.

Are there plans for the police to install cameras in private estates?

Have residents living in private estates been forgotten in the national effort to combat crime?

While others are protected with government funding, are residents in private estates supposed to pay and fend for themselves?

Tan Cheng Chin