The public transport system is something most of us rely on to get from point to point on a daily basis. It is scary, then, to think that we might not be 100% safe on our buses and trains.
A TikTok content creator in Singapore was on an MRT train when she had her photos unwittingly taken by someone else. She confronted the man who did it after they disembarked, and he claimed to be having problems with his phone.
When pressed, the man reportedly pretended to call his friend to avoid the creator’s questions.
@daizamazze so obviously this is NOT my usual content however I wanted to share this because nasty crusty uncles / tourists / men do this WAY more than we think, this one was just stupid and made it blatantly obvious he was taking pictures of me. But even though it was obvious what he was doing, i STILL questioned what I saw. “Surely he didn’t take a picture?” “I must be seeing things.” “Would he do that?”. I followed him on the platform and he was dumb enough to CHECK the photos he took LOL. To my girls, ALWAYS trust your gut. NEVER be afraid to make noise. CALL THEM TF OUT!!!! This is ILLEGAL. Even if you don’t see proof, YOUR GUT IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING FOR A REASON. So many times have I felt this unease around a man on public transport but didn’t go up to ask out of fear. If this is your uncle, i just wanna talk. #tiktoksg #caughtoncamera ♬ original sound – daisy
This entire confrontation was recorded and posted on TikTok by the creator in question, Daisy Mitchell.
The footage from the TikTok video starts when Mitchell is in the midst of confronting the man who supposedly took the photos. The stranger appeared to be a Chinese man in his 50s.
Mitchell and the man were standing on the staircase of a train station as this interaction went down. According to the text in the video, this happened at Tanah Merah MRT station on Saturday (25 Feb), at 10.21pm.
The man was forcefully pressing the screen of his phone when confronted by Mitchell. “There is no point ignoring me, I saw the photos. You can delete the photos,” she could be heard saying offscreen.
Source: TikTok
He then claimed that his phone had a problem when pressed to delete the pictures he supposedly took of Mitchell.
“Okay, okay, okay! Okay, I delete ah! See ah!” the man hastily said as he deleted the pictures.
The man then explained that he wanted to call his friend, but Mitchell was not having it. She commented on the number of photos he had on his phone, “Wow, that’s a lot of photos.”
Source: TikTok
He said he was not able to get his phone “out of this mode”, only to be directed back to the topic at hand with Mitchell asking if he had any videos.
Finally, when he deleted all the photos, he tried walking away while putting his phone to his ear. He could be heard saying, “Hello? Ah?” when she told him to stop taking pictures of people.
Source: TikTok
“I can see that you’re not calling anyone, you don’t have to pretend. Just don’t take pictures of girls, it’s f–ing weird. If you want to take any more while I’m walking down the stairs, I’m filming you,” Mitchell told the man before walking off and ending the recording.
In the caption of the video, Mitchell wrote that she wanted to share this because similar situations happen more often than we think.
This one was just stupid and made it blatantly obvious he was taking pictures of me.
She also shared that she questioned what she was seeing and wondered if she was seeing things even though it was obvious what the man was up to.
Mitchell urged other girls who find themselves in a similar position to always trust their instincts and stand up for themselves.
“To my girls, ALWAYS trust your gut. NEVER be afraid to make noise. CALL THEM TF OUT!!!! This is ILLEGAL. Even if you don’t see proof, YOUR GUT IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING FOR A REASON.”
Responding to queries from MS News, Mitchell said she did not notice when the man boarded the train. “I only noticed when I stood up to exit the train, he was very near me, and his phone was at a weird angle.”
Even though she takes the same route home daily, Mitchell does not recognise the man. However, she noticed some commenters saying that they do.
Before she started recording, Mitchell shared that she tried to call the man out. However, he just ignored her and kept “pretending to call someone”.
I followed behind him to make sure it was me he was taking pictures of, and they were. I shouted after him, and he suddenly exited the camera roll and pretended to call someone again.
Mitchell had shouted at the man, asking, “Do you like taking pictures of girls on trains?” until she was right behind him on the stairs. It was at that point she started recording.
After she had left the man, she reported the incident to staff members of the station. She said the staff went to speak to the man, but she was not sure what happened next.
Currently, Mitchell told MS News that she does not intend to lodge a police report. However, if the police contacted her, she is open to moving forward with a report.
While Singapore is a safe country, and there should not be much to worry about when it comes to taking public transport, it does not hurt to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings.
The behaviour exhibited by the man in this incident can be considered harassment, which constitutes any words or behaviour that cause alarm or distress.
According to the Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) Community Singapore’s website, if you witness or experience such behaviour, you should:
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @daizamazze on TikTok.
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