‘Have each other’s back’: Fitness coach among 15 awarded for public spiritedness on public transport

SINGAPORE - Ms Zoe Lalitha, a 56-year-old fitness coach, was waiting at the train platform in Serangoon MRT station on Oct 10, 2024, worried about being late for work when she noticed a young boy moving suspiciously.

Ms Zoe said: “He looked (to be) only about 11 or 12 years old. He kept looking around to see if anyone was watching, and eyeing the lady in front of me.”

When Ms Zoe saw the boy attempt to take an upskirt photo of the lady by holding it near the bottom of her skirt, she went up to him, tapped his arm and sternly told him off.

The victim was on her phone the entire time and unaware of what had happened until Ms Zoe told her about it.

The two women reported the boy to an SMRT staff member, before Ms Zoe had to rush off for work.

For her efforts, Ms Zoe was one of 15 members of the public commended at the Public Transport Security Command’s Public Spiritedness Award Ceremony at the Senior Police Officers’ Mess on Jan 8.

Assistant Commissioner of Police and Commander of Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) Masagoes Idris Hussain, expressed his appreciation to the award recipients for their public spiritedness in making the public land transport network a safer and more secure place.

Ms Zoe explained that she saw the boy open the camera app on his phone and move closer to the woman, attempting to take an upskirt photo.

When Ms Zoe confronted him, he tried to deny it, but eventually, he confessed and pleaded with her not to call the police. However, she did not relent.

Another passenger commended for taking action to stop an upskirter was Mr Chew Kian Leong Daniel, 43. He had noticed a man taking upskirt photos of a woman on the escalator at Woodlands station on July 3, 2024.

The general manager for retail space in Thomson-East Coast Line was off-duty, but confronted the man. He introduced himself as an SMRT staff member, before escorting him to the SMRT staff at the station and contacted TransCom.

Another SMRT employee, Ms Tan How Miang, the senior station manager at Thomson-East Coast Line’s Orchard station, was awarded the Community Partnership Award.

A woman had approached the 55-year-old on Oct 20, 2024, to report a man who had been harassing her on the train.

With the help of her colleagues, Ms Tan was able to calm the victim down, locate the perpetrator and escort him back to the station to await the police’s arrival.

Ms Tan explained that train vehicle numbers can be found at the top of each train cabin. Victims of crime can take note of these numbers where the incident happened to assist SMRT staff in quickly identifying the train cabin’s CCTV camera.

Outrage of modesty and voyeurism were among the crimes of concern in the first half of 2024.

The number of outrage of modesty cases increased by 11 to 708 in the first half of 2024, from 697 in the same period in 2023.

Voyeurism cases increased for the third consecutive year with 257 cases in the first half of 2024, up from 229 cases in the same period in 2023.

Public transport networks were among the top three locations where both outrage of modesty and voyeurism offences were committed, with 71 outrage of modesty cases reported in the first half of 2024 and 169 cases reported in 2023. The first half of 2024 saw 27 voyeurism cases reported, compared with 56 cases in the same period in 2023.

To deter these crimes, the police have been working with public transport operators and partners, including the Land Transport Authority and the National Crime Prevention Council, to raise awareness of such crimes on public transport. 

In November 2023, the police launched the first “police concept train” on the North East Line at HarbourFront MRT station, which featured cautionary messages on the floor and sides of the MRT cabins, warning would-be perpetrators against committing such crimes.

Since April 2024, the police have worked with public transport operators to broadcast anti-voyeurism messages at all MRT stations during peak hours. The messages warn against molestation and taking upskirt photos and videos. 

Those convicted of outrage of modesty can be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three. While those convicted of voyeurism can be jailed for up to two years with a fine or caning. The penalty can extend if it was committed against a person below the age of 14.

Ms Zoe shared that she hopes her story will help bring awareness to such cases.

She said: “In this digital era, most of us are glued to our gadgets. We should look up once in a while and pay attention to our surroundings. I also hope that we can have each other’s back as a nation.”