An engineer who confronted a 27-year-old man who was taking upskirt videos of a woman has been commended for his public-spiritedness.

Mr Goh Tong En, 26, was given a Public Spiritedness Award at a police ceremony held yesterday at the Public Transport Security Command.

In a statement, the police said that on July 27, Mr Goh was on an escalator at Marsiling MRT station when he noticed that a man in front of him had placed his mobile phone beneath a woman's skirt. He approached the man and managed to detain him at the MRT station.

Mr Goh said he was on his way to work that day when he saw the man linger at the foot of an escalator. "He was blocking everyone and I thought it was weird. Even if he was waiting for someone, people usually don't wait in front of an escalator," said Mr Goh.

"Then, he turned suddenly and shoved past two other commuters to squeeze on a step behind the lady on the escalator. I thought they knew each other, but they did not speak. I found it quite odd, so I continued to observe him."

Mr Goh, who was a few steps behind the man on the escalator, noticed he had his phone on camera mode. He confronted the man and, with the help of another commuter, informed the train station staff about the incident.

Added Mr Goh: "It's quite instinctive for me to help when I see something like that. Even though the man was taller and more well-built than me, I wasn't thinking too much when I approached him.

"I've seen upskirt videos and pictures leaked online... I think it's not very nice and such actions should be stopped."

He urged commuters, both men and women, to be more aware and vigilant of their surroundings.

This is not the first time that an alert commuter has caught a suspect attempting to take upskirt videos.

In May, Mr Fitri Hakim, 27, noticed that a man appeared to be filming up the skirt of a woman in front of him on an escalator at Bishan MRT station.

The man was arrested after Mr Fitri caught him and took him to the authorities at the station.

The award was also given in June to Mr Keith Goldfinch, a British engineer at Rolls-Royce, who caught and restrained a man who had taken upskirt videos of female commuters at Newton MRT station.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Evon Ng, who is also deputy commander of Public Transport Security Command, presented the award to Mr Goh.

She said: "The police are thankful to Mr Goh for his display of public-spiritedness. Such acts go a long way to help deter crime on the public transport network."