Imagine turning up at a childcare centre, wishing to pick up your lovely grandchild. You tell a worker her name, and the girl was swiftly brought out.
Wait, you think. That’s not her.
But before you could say it, the girl starts crying. Everyone looks at you. Startled, and thrown into a state of discomfit, you leave, not wishing to make things worse.
Advertisements
But it did.
Thereafter, news of your unexpected arrival circulated on social media. The police were brought in. As investigations proceed, you’re left with a sense of amazement at how a deed of the purest intentions, somehow morphed into one that’s associated with this guy.
Yep, not the best day for you, I gather. But if you thought that the story I spun was one out of a fictional book…
Think again.
How it all began
On 18 Dec (Tuesday), a post titled ‘Neighbourhood Watch Announcement’ was uploaded to the Tiong Bahru Village Facebook page, in which the user expressed that an unknown man had tried to pick up a child at a Maple Bear childcare centre near Tiong Bahru.
Incidentally, the user proclaims to be a friend of the child’s mother.
“(She) could not recognise him and started crying. He did not manage to pick her up,” the post wrote.
According to the user, the girls’ parents also failed to recognise the man, and a police report was subsequently made.
Advertisements
“The police are aware of an online post regarding an unknown man who allegedly attempted to pick up a child from Maple Bear Singapore childcare centre on Havelock Road on 18 December 2018,” the authorities said in a statement.
“The police confirm a report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing,” they added.
“The police treat such incidents seriously.
“At the same time, we urge members of the public not to speculate or spread unsubstantiated information which may generate unnecessary public alarm.”
But it’s really just a misunderstanding
The next day, the Tiong Bahru Village Facebook page clarified that the incident was but a mere misunderstanding.
Advertisements
“The parent involved has updated me that the police has looked into the matter and related that it was a misunderstanding with no malicious intent,” added the post.
“Kudos to the police for the swift investigations.”
According to The Straits Times, the elderly man had arrived at the childcare centre to pick up his own grandchild. However, his grandchild has already been fetched by the family’s maid.
Because the elderly man did not possess a clear enunciation of the English language, a miscommunication occurred, and the childcare workers thought he was there to fetch another student instead.
You can view the full clarification post down below:
Advertisements
At the end of the line…
Singapore might be a relatively safe place, but the fact remains that no country’s perfect, no matter what Nas Daily says.
As a result, always make sure your loved ones are duly protected, because let’s face it; had the elderly man been a real predator with a particularly slick tongue…
Things must have been a little different.
So stay safe, stay protected.
And together, let’s fight all the pedobears out there.
Advertisements
These five GRCs could see the tightest battle in GE2025; here’s why:
Read Also:
- Trump Exempts Electronics from 125% China Tariffs, Sparing Smartphones and Computers
- Elderly Charity Shop Owner Baffled by Over 50 Boxes of Mystery Donation Blocking Store Entrance
- DNA from Two Men Discovered on Murdered Singaporean Woman’s Clothing as Court Orders Comparison with Main Suspect
- Former Police Officer Convicted in Fatal Maid Abuse Case That Left Victim Weighing Just 24kg
- Teen Arrested in Johor for Selling AI-Generated Fake Nudes of School Peers for RM2 Each
