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No policy against taking flood photos: Minister
By yahoosingapore – July 18th, 2010
Lianhe Wanbao's cover story on Saturday.
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim says there is no policy against taking photos of floods.
The issue came to light after Singaporeans reacted with a mixture of surprise and outrage over a newspaper photographer being handcuffed for taking photos of Saturday morning’s flash floods.
Responding to a question from Member of Parliament Penny Low during a parliament session on Monday, Dr Yaacob said, “From what we understand, the photographer was warned because of safety issues, not because of privacy issues.”
“There’s nothing private about a flood, and I think based upon the report, that’s what we understood to have happened that morning,” he added.
The Singapore National Union of Journalists has since described the detention, although brief, as a “very unpleasant and humiliating experience” for the photographer.
The issue has also attracted over 2,400 comments from Yahoo! Fit-to-Post users who have questioned why the police arrested the photographer in question when he was simply doing his job.
Yahoo! FTP user, Night Hawk said, ”Was it illegal to take flood photos? Why was he handcuffed? Looking at both sides of the story, the possibility is that the said photographer may have argued and offended the police?”
Another user Roger called for an explanation into the incident.
“Is there any Standard Operating Procedure for this? I believe the MHA and SPF owe the public an explanation.”
Others like zizu also gave the police the benefit of the doubt.
“I guess we only jump to conclusion here. We don’t know the real conversation between the two. I think surely there is something going on leading to the man being detained. Sometimes reporters do go overboard without realising they did anything wrong.”
The strong reactions by Singaporeans arose after Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao’s Saturday evening edition ran a photo of its photographer, with visible handcuff marks still on his wrist, and that of a policeman side by side on its front page, under a headline that said, “Photographer arrested because of taking photos”.
In a Page 5 report, the newspaper detailed how its 57-year-old photojournalist, Shafie Goh, was detained by police for one hour before being allowed to leave.
His detention at about 7am on Saturday took place after a policeman saw the veteran photographer taking pictures of snarling traffic and stranded vehicles along Upper Bukit Timah Road, one of the areas badly hit by Saturday morning’s floods.
After being spotted by an unidentified on-duty policeman who was mobilised to deal with the traffic situation, Mr Goh was asked to leave the scene.
However, he pleaded with the policeman to be allowed to take one more photograph.
Before he could finish talking, the policeman took out his handcuffs and placed them on his right hand. He was also told he would be brought down to a police station.
Mr Goh then asked, “I am not a criminal. Why are you handcuffing me?”
The policeman then brought him to the roadside and told him to wait for an investigator.
He was only released after an hour.
A police statement released on Sunday said that officers had repeatedly asked Mr Goh to move to a safe place as he was taking photos in a dangerous position.
A spokesman said, “As he was causing obstruction to the police officer in the discharge of his duties and causing danger to himself and others, the officers decided to restrain him and move him to safe grounds, but the man resisted and put up a struggle. The officers then had to handcuff him.”
Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any kind of offensive language.
By yahoosingapore – July 18th, 2010
Lianhe Wanbao's cover story on Saturday.
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim says there is no policy against taking photos of floods.
The issue came to light after Singaporeans reacted with a mixture of surprise and outrage over a newspaper photographer being handcuffed for taking photos of Saturday morning’s flash floods.
Responding to a question from Member of Parliament Penny Low during a parliament session on Monday, Dr Yaacob said, “From what we understand, the photographer was warned because of safety issues, not because of privacy issues.”
“There’s nothing private about a flood, and I think based upon the report, that’s what we understood to have happened that morning,” he added.
The Singapore National Union of Journalists has since described the detention, although brief, as a “very unpleasant and humiliating experience” for the photographer.
The issue has also attracted over 2,400 comments from Yahoo! Fit-to-Post users who have questioned why the police arrested the photographer in question when he was simply doing his job.
Yahoo! FTP user, Night Hawk said, ”Was it illegal to take flood photos? Why was he handcuffed? Looking at both sides of the story, the possibility is that the said photographer may have argued and offended the police?”
Another user Roger called for an explanation into the incident.
“Is there any Standard Operating Procedure for this? I believe the MHA and SPF owe the public an explanation.”
Others like zizu also gave the police the benefit of the doubt.
“I guess we only jump to conclusion here. We don’t know the real conversation between the two. I think surely there is something going on leading to the man being detained. Sometimes reporters do go overboard without realising they did anything wrong.”
The strong reactions by Singaporeans arose after Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao’s Saturday evening edition ran a photo of its photographer, with visible handcuff marks still on his wrist, and that of a policeman side by side on its front page, under a headline that said, “Photographer arrested because of taking photos”.
In a Page 5 report, the newspaper detailed how its 57-year-old photojournalist, Shafie Goh, was detained by police for one hour before being allowed to leave.
His detention at about 7am on Saturday took place after a policeman saw the veteran photographer taking pictures of snarling traffic and stranded vehicles along Upper Bukit Timah Road, one of the areas badly hit by Saturday morning’s floods.
After being spotted by an unidentified on-duty policeman who was mobilised to deal with the traffic situation, Mr Goh was asked to leave the scene.
However, he pleaded with the policeman to be allowed to take one more photograph.
Before he could finish talking, the policeman took out his handcuffs and placed them on his right hand. He was also told he would be brought down to a police station.
Mr Goh then asked, “I am not a criminal. Why are you handcuffing me?”
The policeman then brought him to the roadside and told him to wait for an investigator.
He was only released after an hour.
A police statement released on Sunday said that officers had repeatedly asked Mr Goh to move to a safe place as he was taking photos in a dangerous position.
A spokesman said, “As he was causing obstruction to the police officer in the discharge of his duties and causing danger to himself and others, the officers decided to restrain him and move him to safe grounds, but the man resisted and put up a struggle. The officers then had to handcuff him.”
Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any kind of offensive language.
