Keyword: CCTV, HDB CCTV, Singapore CCTV, CCTV Monitor Maid

Another news of maid alleged rough handling kids in Singapore! Caught by CCTV cameras installed at HDB houses.

Although her employer’s young daughter was standing before an open fridge, a maid allegedly proceeded to shut its door.

It happened two days after the maid from Myanmar was hired, said Mr Tan Qing Yuan, 37, who has a video clip of the incident from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera he had fitted in his home.

Mr Tan, a driver, also accused Ms Siang Nei Thluai, 24, of mistreating his toddler, two, three times within an hour on a separate occasion. He has made a police report.

“But the police officer told me we don’t have enough evidence, and asked me to look for more evidence,” Mr Tan told The Straits Times on Tuesday night.

A police spokesman confirmed that a report was made a week ago, and that investigations are ongoing. He also said that what the investigating officer told Mr Tan is confidential.

Mr Tan showed The Straits Times several video clips. In one of them, Ms Siang was seen closing the fridge door with one hand while carrying an infant in another arm.

She leaves the kitchen, and the fridge door moves a few times, before a toddler emerges from behind it and follows her.

Another clip shows the toddler, who was lying down in a playpen, being forcefully pulled up by her shoulder.

Mr Tan said Ms Siang was hired to look after his two younger girls, the toddler and the nine-month-old infant, as his wife, a human resource executive, also works during the day. Their eldest, who is four, attends a kindergarten in the daytime.

The news is from The Straits Time, 29 August 2012, By Lim Yan Liang (yanliang@sph.com.sg). The origin URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/cctv-clips-show-maids-alleged-rough-handling-kid-20120829

Keywords: HDB, home security, security cameras, fingerprint locks, CCTV camera

Ever wonder how the high-tech home security products, such as CCTV, fingerprint locks, digital locks, improve the quality of life of those who live in the HDB houses in Singapore? Sunday Times featured the article on 15 July 2012. Read on… (By Desmond Lim; Origin of the article: www.straitstimes.com)

There is no fumbling for her house keys when analyst Jean Tay returns to her Bishan flat each night.

To open the door, she swipes her index finger on a $950 biometric lock.

It can be unlocked by four other people: her husband and maid, through their fingerprints, and her parents, through personal identification numbers (PINs). No more worries about losing their keys.

The 37-year-old mother of two is one of a growing number of HDB residents who do not mind paying up to $3,000 for high-tech security devices such as digital locks, closed-circuit television (CCTV) and peephole cameras with motion sensors.

‘It is to safeguard my family,’ said Ms Tay, who helped organise the bulk purchase of the locks for about 30 residents in the estate seven months ago. A normal lock would cost about $100.

Eight companies selling these products told The Sunday Times that HDB residents now make up at least half of their customers, up from just 10 per cent three years ago.

Like Ms Tay, Pandan Gardens resident Kelvin Tan feels safer after investing $800 in two digital locks a fortnight ago. They can be unlocked only by a PIN.

The impetus came from recent thefts in his neighbourhood.

‘Even kids can pick locks these days. It’s a security measure and long-term investment,’ said Mr Tan, 22, a bartender who lives with his parents in a three-room flat.

Home owners have become more conscious of security, and with more travelling overseas and working longer hours, such devices are in demand, said Mr Salim Mohammad, regional general manager of ADT Security in South-east Asia, which provides security systems for homes and businesses.

Mr Chua Kee Peow, 33, executive manager of Kaplen IT Services, which sells electronic peephole viewers directly and through computer stores, predicts they will become as much a part of a home as ‘a kettle or an oven’.

A viewer costs about $260, and automatically takes a photo through the peephole of anyone standing outside the door when a motion sensor is triggered.

Mr Chua said some 90 per cent of his customers are HDB residents, though he did not have an estimate of how many gadgets have been sold.

Another retailer, Mr Federick Chong, 39, from The Gadget Home, said such devices are well within the budget of home owners.

‘People change cellphones every year and some of these locks cost the same as a phone, but last seven to 10 years,’ said Mr Chong, who has sold about 600 locks to HDB residents in the last three years.

Some security experts say, however, that such high-tech gadgets are generally unnecessary, and that safety is better served by common- sense measures.

Mr Shane Shim, 46, an operations manager at private security company Westminster Investigation and Security Management, said most break-ins occur because residents are careless about locking up properly.

‘The main point of entry for most break-ins is not the main door but the windows, which can be pried open with a simple screwdriver,’ said Mr Shim, who felt that window grilles are enough of a deterrent.

‘Biometric locks are fine if you have the budget, but a good traditional lock will still do the job,’ he added.

Figures from the police show that home break-ins fell from 896 cases in 2010 to 705 last year.

Still, it is not just security that these gadgets provide.

Mr Andre Shori, 38, bought a biometric lock primarily for the convenience of going keyless.

‘I hated fumbling for keys while holding my child and bags,’ said the IT security specialist, who has a one-year-old daughter.

The five-room flat owner added: ‘Also, my friends think it’s the coolest thing because it beeps, lights up and looks really nice.’

keywords: CCTV camera Singapore, fight crime

CCTV cameras help to fight crime. Singapore Police are using the high tech CCTV cameras to assist them. Low crime doesn’t mean no crime – Safer Singapore, we can all expect more!

The below is the report by The Straits Time on 20 April 2012. The source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_790764.html

HIGH-TECH security cameras are being installed in the first phase of a new network that will eventually extend across the island.

More than 10 have been fitted in Jalan Bukit Merah, in a move that will give police a fresh tool to help tackle crime in the estate.

Unlike ordinary security cameras, the new system is designed to capture people both entering and leaving the area.

Residents in Jalan Bukit Merah are hoping that the technology will rid them of the loan shark runners who have defaced debtors’ doors, targeted neighbouring flats and vandalised motorbikes.

It could also prove a deterrent against other crimes. ‘People sell cigarettes illegally here, and sometimes the old people get cheated,’ said odd-job labourer Goh Mia Siang. ‘This gives the people more safety.’

The 62-year-old, who has lived in the area for more than 10 years, added that the cameras could be an extra eye for the police.

Six cameras have been installed in the estate’s carpark, covering four entry or exit points and two stairwells.

The other five are in the lobby and stairwells of a block of one-room flats.

When The Straits Times visited the area yesterday, most people there appeared to be senior citizens.

Some residents said that while they welcomed the move, simply having the cameras would not be enough. They would also need proper maintenance.

Electrician Loh Siew Tuck, 63, said he was glad the devices were being installed in the carpark, adding: ‘It’s a good deterrent against people’s cashcards being stolen from their vehicles, though we should keep a lookout for our own belongings as well.’

Signs will be put up to indicate that the cameras are run by the police. The devices will not be monitored live. However, if a crime happens within the camera zone, footage will be used to help with investigations.

Unused footage will be kept for a month, then overwritten. The police will be responsible for the cameras’ maintenance.

By 2016, the scheme will cover 10,000 HDB blocks and multi-storey carparks across Singapore.

The aim is to have 300 fitted by May in seven areas, including Bishan, Tampines and Woodlands. These locations were chosen to represent different parts of the country and a spread of housing types, said the police. Existing cameras, which were installed in several estates on an ad-hoc basis from 2002, will continue to operate.

The new network was announced in Parliament last month by Second Minister for Home Affairs S. Iswaran as part of a new police strategy that aims to make full use of technology.

Other aspects of the Community Policing System include round-the-clock access to automated services at Neighbourhood Police Posts and a new unit which will see officers patrolling on foot and bicycles in casual clothes.

There have been several cases of cameras helping to solve crimes. In February, a 22-year-old man was arrested a day after breaking into a restaurant and stealing about $3,000. He was identified using security footage.

A 48-year-old dubbed the ‘heartbeat molester’ was caught in November 2010 after pictures of him taken by a security camera were published in the media.

Described as Singapore’s worst serial molester, Martin Tan Chye Guan operated in the heartland, preying on young girls returning home from school. He would ask them to feel his heartbeat then expose himself and force them to touch him.

The parcel courier and part-time property agent evaded capture for more than a decade because his young victims were unable to give a proper description.

Tan was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 21 strokes of the cane last April.

The police said they hope to deter other such criminals, as well as offenders like snatch thieves.