Teen fishing at Bedok Reservoir could have been warned more diplomatically: Certis Cisco
Certis Cisco Singapore says that an incident involving two officers and a teen fishing at a non-designated area in Bedok Reservoir could have been better managed in a more “professional and diplomatic manner”.
“Our Protection Officers are assigned to look out for people who engage in inappropriate use of the premise including fishing and endangering their lives. The 16 year old boy has been warned on several occasions not to fish in non-designated fishing areas,” the company said in a statement to Yahoo Singapore on Wednesday.
The explanation came a day after a three minute 44 second clip of the incident was posted on local commentary blog The Real Singapore, stirring debate.
In a post titled ‘2 Cisco officers abusing their authority and harassing me while I was fishing’, the teenager tells how he had felt harassed when being approached by two officers prohibiting him from fishing at that spot.
He said, “I am a regular fisherman and I know the spot I am in is perfectly legal and they asked me not to move my belongings to the area I am fishing…They said that they will look after my belongings, but why do I need 2 CISCO officers to look after my things? Why can't I move my belongings? I suspect these 2 people want to steal my things… .”
The teenager also highlighted the officers’ poor language, “They seem to be lacking Basic English communication skills and I can’t even understand them well. If they can’t even communicate in simple English then how are they supposed to do their job?”
The video has garnered over 2,000 shares since it was published on social media.
The post sparked a debate among readers, with many slamming the young fisherman for complaining about the incident and using “poor communication” to reprimand the officers. Others supported the boy, blaming the officers for “gangster” behavior.
Facebook user Lionel Boey said, “They [officers] handled the situation poorly and perhaps could not express themselves well. However it seems that the boy is trying to undermine his act of fishing at an area where it’s prohibited by using ‘poor communication’ as a cover and worse, being a repeat offender.”
Another user Teo Siew Eng also commented on the post, in which the boy also plead for a complaint to be lodged against the officers, saying, “If you think you have a case against the officer then why can’t you complain to their respective authority rather than asking us to complain on behalf of you. We will not be your scapegoat….”
A Jack Lee, Robin Fwd and a Nelson Sng were among the commenters who said that the officers behaved like “gangsters”.
