Navy Regulars Posing As Student Volunteers & Seeking Donations In Hougang Face Penalties
UPDATE (21 Jul, 10.40am): The Ministry of Defence, Singapore (MINDEF) has confirmed that they will be taking action against the navy regulars, who apparently sought donations in Hougang while under the influence of alcohol.
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Most people are understandably wary when complete strangers ring their doorbell.
These suspicions will be raised further if they ask for donations in the wee hours of the morning.
Last month, an MS News reader shared that two men did just that, claiming to be student volunteers.
However, they’ve now been confirmed to be Singapore Navy regulars.
The authorities have looked into the incident and will be taking necessary action against them.
MINDEF will take action against service personnel
The identities of the two men were confirmed by a Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) spokesperson to Lianhe Zaobao.
In a Facebook post on Thursday (21 Jul), MINDEF announced that RSN has finished investigating the incident involving two servicemen “allegedly soliciting a donation”.
They have found that the duo had committed the act “out of mischief and under the influence of alcohol”. Both men have since reportedly expressed remorse over their actions.
After putting the men on trial the day before, MINDEF will be taking action against them, including imposing financial penalties.
However, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) apparently won’t be taking further action after weighing the “facts and circumstances of the case”.
Navy regulars rang Hougang flat doorbell & asked for donations at 1.15am
The case came to light when an MS News reader sent in a video showing the two men, who looked to be in their 20s or 30s, loitering outside his unit in Hougang Street 51 on 25 Jun.
Source: MS News reader
They smoked and looked around before briefly leaving the scene, then returning to ring the doorbell.
This is despite the time being 1.15am, when many people would be asleep.
When a woman answered the door, one of them asked in Mandarin, “Hello, sorry about this, but we’re student volunteers.”
Source: MS News reader
He then told her they were conducting a one-off donation drive.
However, they could not elaborate when asked what school they came from and what the donation drive was for.
When she turned them down, the men said it was okay, and she shut the door.
According to Stomp, the resident filed a police report as they were not convinced that the duo were student volunteers, adding,
This is the first time I’ve seen these two men around my neighbourhood and the very first time having ‘charity’ groups visiting past midnight.
Hougang residents worried after men ask for donations
The resident, a 29-year-old analyst, surnamed Cai, whose mother answered the door that night, said his parents are still wary three weeks after the incident.
They would make sure their front door was shut every night and worry that people would come and harass them.
He hoped the investigations would bring the truth to light soon so that the public could be more vigilant.
When he spoke to MS News, he said he hoped to spread awareness about what happened so others would be more cautious and avoid falling victim to a possible scam.
Incident a cause for concern
Considering the men are actually Navy regulars, it’s definitely a cause for concern that they allegedly posed as student volunteers.
While it’s difficult to say for sure whether this was part of a scam, their actions are even more suspicious now that their identities have been confirmed.
Whatever the motive, it’s still inconsiderate to ring someone’s doorbell in the middle of the night.
Hopefully, more details on this strange incident will be revealed soon.
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Featured image courtesy of MS News reader.
