Safe distancing officer removed from service after 'disturbing' Century Square staff & soliciting favours

Enterprise Singapore urges all SDAs to maintain their integrity and professionalism as they interact with businesses and members of the public.

Tanya Ong | August 22, 2020, 01:11 PM

CCTV footage of a safe distancing officer talking to a shop staff has been circulating online.

Safe distancing officer caught "disturbing" shop staff at Century Square

According to the footage, a man can be seen entering the shop and asking, "Anybody home?"

He then laughs and sits down on the couch near the staff, before engaging in conversation with her.

Camila Tan/FB

He can be seen taking off what appears to be a "Tiffany" bracelet from his wrist, and showing it to the staff.

According to the Facebook post, the staff was asked to polish his bracelet.

The post claimed that the man comes to the shop every other day to "disturb" the staff.

The post also alleged that the man asked for his ear to be pierced for free, saying that he would "close one eye on them if they violate any rules".

From the audio, their exchange cannot be heard clearly in most portions.

The man is seen leaving the scene after around five minutes.

The CCTV footage is dated July 30, 2020, and the incident happened at Century Square.

This is a screenshot of the Facebook post:

SDA removed from service after investigations

In response to Mothership's query, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) confirmed that the person in the video is a Safe Distancing Ambassador (SDA) who was deployed by ESG to carry out Safe Distancing duties at Century Square Mall.

ESG was alerted to the case on August 19 through the Facebook video that the owner provided, and immediately conducted an investigation.

The SDA was also suspended from his duties on the same day, ESG added.

Preliminary investigation shows that the SDA was found to have behaved unprofessionally and misused his position to solicit favours from a store in the mall, in exchange for preferential treatment during surveillance checks.

Following the notification of suspension, the SDA was removed from service on August 20.

The SDA has also acknowledged the misconduct and apologised to the affected parties, including the staff and owner of the affected store.

ESG will continue investigations and assess if further actions will be taken on the matter.

The agency is also in touch with the affected store and has extended their apologies to them for the inconvenience caused.

ESG also thanked the owner for alerting the case to them so that swift action can be taken to address the situation.

ESG urges all SDAs to maintain their integrity and professionalism as they interact with businesses and members of the public as they take a serious view of any misconduct and will not hesitate to take stern action against those who are found to be in breach of these professional standards.

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Top photo via video screenshots.