Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has come out to publicly call out the behaviour of a condominium resident who was caught on camera hurling vulgarities at a security officer working at the private residence as an example of “a sense of entitlement”.

The incident took place on Saturday, Oct. 26, a day before the Deepavali holiday in the Whampoa area.

Tharman said in a Facebook post on Sunday night: “What this resident did and said was wrong -- at so many levels. It is these examples of modern-day bigotry and a sense of entitlement that the light of Deepavali seeks to dispel.”

Praised security officer

The minister commended the security officer for handling “the abuse and a very unpleasant situation in a dignified way”.

Tharman also urged people to avoid threatening and harassing the resident.

He said a police report has been filed by the security officer and that the police will handle the matter.

The Straits Times on Sunday reported that the resident’s employer, JP Morgan, is looking into the matter.

JP Morgan’s Facebook page has been bombarded with angry comments informing them about the resident's conduct and urging stern action to be taken against its employee.

The viral video on Saturday showed the resident shouting repeatedly at security officers after they told him that his guests who arrived in a car at Eight Riversuites condominium have to pay a parking fee of S$10.

Others weigh in

Labour MP Zainal Sapari also addressed the issue earlier on Sunday.

He urged more protection for security officers as these personnel working in condominiums and private establishments are not considered public service workers.

They are not covered under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA), Zainal said.

He added: “Myself and MP Patrick Tay have urged MHA to consider covering all private SOs under POHA regardless of their worksite.”

Raymond Chin, General Secretary of Union of Security Employees, also commented on the incident in a Facebook post.

He said the security officer acted with restraint in the incident, while the resident should seek recourse through his management committee.

This was despite Chin empathising with the resident’s dissatisfaction.

Chin wrote: “We strongly condemn any form of abuse of our security officers. We encourage our officers to report any abuse they experience or witness to the union.”

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