At least two women were seen openly jeering at children at the conclusion of the National Chinese Creative Reading Competition on Sep. 6, held at Woodlands Regional Library.

The event was organised by Popular Bookstore and National Library Board.

Women with a child competitor

The women were seated in the audience with other parents, accompanying a child who had participated in the competition.

The child they accompanied was apparently one of the five winners invited on stage.

Participants were divided into three groups, pre-school, primary 1 to 3, and primary 4 to 6.

There were about 200 parents and 80 children present.

Tipped off media

A parent who attended the event tipped Shin Min Daily News off about what happened.

She said a person had shared a video in a parents chat group showing two women raising their hands to show the thumbs down and cross signs to boo at the children who went on stage to receive the awards for the upper primary category.

The actions were caught on video as other parents were recording the achievements of their children on their phones.

The two women were apparently booing the first four students who came on stage to receive their awards.

The women then shooed the children away during group photo-taking.

The parent, who spoke to Shin Min, said: "My children and other parents also said the two women showed their middle fingers to those on stage."

"My child told me that he felt angry and confused by the women's actions. Some children were about to cry and had to be comforted by their parents."

The parent said the two women could have raised issues with the organisers if they were unhappy and did not have to be disrespectful and set a bad example for their children.

According to the video, the two women were seen speaking to each other when the children went on stage to receive their awards.

They showed the thumbs-down gesture, before standing up to continue making gestures.

A parent who was shooting the scene on stage inadvertently captured the women's actions on camera even after attempting to stand up so the two women would not be in the frame.

Organisers response

Staff at the scene were apparently unable to react in time.

A spokesperson for Popular Bookstore Singapore confirmed with Shin Min that it had received a complaint from a group of parents and was investigating.

The spokesperson said a comprehensive investigation has been launched to ensure fairness for the students, and also highlighted that Popular Bookstore did not have any prior partnership arrangement with any of the parties involved in the competition, such as schools.

All photos via Shin Min Daily News