August 09, 2021, 06:53 PM
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A group of teens was caught on camera stealing slippers from a family at Blk 499C Tampines Avenue 9 on the night of July 31.
"This is not funny": Baey Yam Keng
In response to the CCTV video clip that was uploaded online, Tampines GRC MP Baey Yam Keng said that Blk 499C is a rental block, and that these boys could have added "unnecessary financial burden" on the low-income family by stealing their slippers.
"This is not funny," he added and appealed to the public not to play such pranks in an Instagram post on Aug. 2.
The homeowner, a 47-year-old delivery driver, the Chinese evening paper Shin Min Daily News that he discovered a missing pair of slippers and sandals when he was about to go for work in the morning.
He said that he only installed a CCTV just three months ago after his family found two jackets missing.
Prior to that, his family had their shoes stolen at least 10 times. The missing shoes include school shoes, which resulted in his children having to wear slippers to school or skip the day entirely.
The driver added that he only earned S$1,300 each month, and spending money to replace the missing footwear had put a strain on his finances.
Wanting to put an end to this series of pranks, he purchased and installed the CCTV in hopes of catching the culprit.
Police report made
The resident made a police report subsequently.
On Aug. 3, Baey updated that the police had established the identities of the five teens.
After posting about the incident, five people had come forward to offer help to the family as well, Baey updated.
The MP also said that he had also connected the family to the Social Services Office, which will offer further assistance to the family.
Teens apologised the next day
According to Lianhe Wanbao on Aug. 9, the elder brother of two boys involved brought all five boys to apologise to the homeowner in person on Aug. 1.
The group of boys also promised not to play such pranks again and urged the homeowner to take down the video from the Internet.
The boys admitted that the idea to prank the family came to them when they were feeling bored.
However, the apology came a little too late as the homeowner had made a police report.
The homeowner said that he would have given the teens a chance if they had apologised earlier.
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