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BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

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therat
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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by therat » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 3:52 pm

landlordfromhell wrote:
The truth is the apartment unit does not even belong to him. He rented the whole unit from an owner and simply sublets a common room to me. In the video, you can also see that the owner trespassed into my room with the main tenant.

He owes me about 3 grands according to the order of tribunal.

The enforcement options are expensive on top of what he owes me already.
HDB room or unit are not allow to sublets. It is illegal.

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by landlordfromhell » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 3:53 pm

therat wrote:
landlordfromhell wrote:
The truth is the apartment unit does not even belong to him. He rented the whole unit from an owner and simply sublets a common room to me. In the video, you can also see that the owner trespassed into my room with the main tenant.

He owes me about 3 grands according to the order of tribunal.

The enforcement options are expensive on top of what he owes me already.
HDB room or unit are not allow to sublets. It is illegal.
This is a private apartment

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Post by snowqueen » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:11 pm

That's really weird, what's he taking pictures of. In some places, he's right up to the camera, does he know he was being recorded. At least he didn't 'relieve' himself on your bed.

On the last clip, looks like he's showing possible tenants around your room.

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Post by Strong Eagle » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:20 pm

You need to rent a couple of big Thai guys on a motorcycle to encourage the gentleman to pay up.

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Post by winnoe » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:41 pm

I'm not doubting that the man was doing something dishonest and illegal.

But don't mind if I play devil's advocate here and ask why he was so interesting in taking pictures of the room and a certain place on the table in particular?

Singaporeans by nature are lazy bunch of buggers in their homes, so for him to bother with coming in and taking photos, and then take a picture of his watch (assuming to timestamp his pictures), I think there is more to it than just coming in and taking pictures for sh!ts & giggles.

Was there a dispute? Like.... he says you are not allowed to cook in the room but then you have an induction cooker in the room and are cooking, etc etc.

Again, not doubting that he's an ass, just sense there is more to the story than meets the eye. (TRANSFORMERS!)
~~ I have nothing witty or interesting to add here ~~

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Post by landlordfromhell » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:42 pm

Strong Eagle wrote:You need to rent a couple of big Thai guys on a motorcycle to encourage the gentleman to pay up.
Why Thai guys? Big white guys are easier to find.

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Post by landlordfromhell » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:45 pm

snowqueen wrote:That's really weird, what's he taking pictures of. In some places, he's right up to the camera, does he know he was being recorded. At least he didn't 'relieve' himself on your bed.

On the last clip, looks like he's showing possible tenants around your room.
Obviously he has no idea he was being recorded, otherwise he would have told me about it. I was using my macbook to record him.

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Post by offshoreoildude » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:52 pm

the lynx wrote:I'm really starting to agree with OSOD about the police. Are they really that BAD?! We are already getting stuff about them up here within the last few weeks...
Low crime is a statistical fact, but is it low crime in reality or nbecause of how it is recorded? This is a global problem. It's easier to not record a crime than to reduce crime.

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Post by landlordfromhell » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 4:57 pm

winnoe wrote:I'm not doubting that the man was doing something dishonest and illegal.

But don't mind if I play devil's advocate here and ask why he was so interesting in taking pictures of the room and a certain place on the table in particular?

Singaporeans by nature are lazy bunch of buggers in their homes, so for him to bother with coming in and taking photos, and then take a picture of his watch (assuming to timestamp his pictures), I think there is more to it than just coming in and taking pictures for sh!ts & giggles.

Was there a dispute? Like.... he says you are not allowed to cook in the room but then you have an induction cooker in the room and are cooking, etc etc.

Again, not doubting that he's an ass, just sense there is more to the story than meets the eye. (TRANSFORMERS!)
Before I left my room to go out, I had confidential business documents on my table next to the laptop I was using to record him. I also had my bank statement. I am sure he was interested in those items. I am as curious as you are as to why was he taking photos of my room like a crime scene detective.

Yes, there was disputes about him parading around his apartment completely naked and throwing chewing gum papers in the common toilet. He also had a nasty habit of bringing Geylang prostitutes into his master room at night. He frequently makes a lot of noise around 5am while other tenants were still sleeping. There was also disputes about him not wanting to fix my broken AC unit. The AC was already broken before I moved in and he promised he'll fix it, but he never did. He also frequently knock on my door after midnight to discuss rent issues way before it was due.

About me: I don't cook in my room, I don't smoke and drink and I certainly do not bring guest home for overnight stay. I see no other reason as to why he would be breaking into my room like that while I was taking a shower.

Point is, he's causing multiple inconveniences to tenants.

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Post by offshoreoildude » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 5:07 pm

Non seizable offense = no action from cops

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by offshoreoildude » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 5:56 pm

landlordfromhell wrote:
the lynx wrote:
landlordfromhell wrote: Already been to the police. They did not give a damn. They said trespassing by a landlord in Singapore is perfectly legal, even if the TA says to give notice before enterting a tenant's room.
The underwear bit is more than enough to get police's attention! Did you even show them the video?
Of course, I showed his underwear bit to about 20 police officers at the police station, and they simply laughed at it. Sure, the police report was filed, but they can do nothing about it, since it is not a crime to trespass in Singapore. They asked me to file a Magistrate's Complaint. I went there and the female judge said if no one gets killed, then the case will be dismissed.
I mean no contempt of court but the judges reaction does not surprise me. I've seen similar cases where the judge insisted that the female victim of a stalker shake hands and forgive her stalker - no conviction recorded = no crime.

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by x9200 » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 6:46 pm

the lynx wrote: The underwear bit is more than enough to get police's attention! Did you even show them the video?
Why? This was not a public place and if nobody was around he could have been walking fully naked and this would be of nobody's business.

Actually in any typical civilized country publishing of these videos and his name would push OP in a mile deep s**t worth definitely more than these 3k of deposit so OP, if you are talking already to some lawyers ensure you can safely get away with the youtube videos.

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by offshoreoildude » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 6:57 pm

x9200 wrote:
the lynx wrote: The underwear bit is more than enough to get police's attention! Did you even show them the video?
Why? This was not a public place and if nobody was around he could have been walking fully naked and this would be of nobody's business.

Actually in any typical civilized country publishing of these videos and his name would push OP in a mile deep s**t worth definitely more than these 3k of deposit so OP, if you are talking already to some lawyers ensure you can safely get away with the youtube videos.
Defamation / slander? Not really - his defense is 'truth'.
Invasion of privacy? Illegal recording? Not sure - I'm not that up to speed with Singapore's laws in that regard but there have been a number of prosecutions for use of hidden cameras in toilets and the such.

I agree that the person video'd is within his rights to walk around naked in a private space without the expectation of being filmed.

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by x9200 » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 6:57 pm

landlordfromhell wrote: He owes me about 3 grands according to the order of tribunal.

The enforcement options are expensive on top of what he owes me already.
Check out on the SCT webpage, they have a very comprehensive FAQ about all the bailiff's matters and IIRC at the point you obtain the court order allowing the bailiff to proceed you may ask the court to charge the bailiff's (and related) expenses from what will be seized from the debtor. I would take it at least to that stage what will cost you probably $50 (IIRC). If the judge will not agree to charge it from him then it is probably not worth going further.
Lawyers judge the case also if not predominantly from how much they could get perspective so it may not be worth for them to get engaged but still worth for you if you do it by yourself.

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Re: BEWARE: Shocking Privacy Violation in Singapore Caught

Post by x9200 » Mon, 24 Sep 2012 7:12 pm

offshoreoildude wrote:
X9200 wrote: Actually in any typical civilized country publishing of these videos and his name would push OP in a mile deep s**t worth definitely more than these 3k of deposit so OP, if you are talking already to some lawyers ensure you can safely get away with the youtube videos.
Defamation / slander? Not really - his defense is 'truth'.
Invasion of privacy? Illegal recording? Not sure - I'm not that up to speed with Singapore's laws in that regard but there have been a number of prosecutions for use of hidden cameras in toilets and the such.
In EU it would be:
1. A major violation of privacy
2. This I don't know the English term but you can not publish a photo of a private person if this person is part of a main subject of the image and is recognizable in the image. It's a category falling under privacy protection but covered under IP law.

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