Security Firm Posted ‘Long’ CCTV Clip of Tanjong Pagar Crash on Facebook; Removed It & Then Apologised for Insensitivity

In case you have been avoiding the news like the plague, you would have heard of the horrific Tanjong Pagar car crash that happened on the second day of Chinese New Year.

Since then, new information about the crash has been uncovered daily.

Although many pieces of the puzzle have been unveiled, a large part of the picture still remains obscure.

That was until two new clips were published by security firm E3N Security Pte Ltd.

CCTV Clips

The CCTV clips show the white BMW, driven by Jonathan Long, losing control before crashing into the empty shophouse.

A fire started and a woman, Raybe Oh, Long’s fiancee, could be seen running towards the fire.

It was said that she was trying to save her fiancée but that attempt failed and left her with over 80 per cent burns to her body.

The CCTV footage also shows the woman blazed, running out of the fire. A person in black tried to put out the fire on her.

It took a long time before the fire went out.

She is still in critical condition at the Singapore General Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).

Full Footage Only Released to the Police and The Straits Times

According to E3N Security’s Facebook post, the CCTV clips were requested by Singapore Police Force (SPF) and The Straits Times.

It gave SPF a high-resolution copy and The Straits Times a low-resolution copy of the clip.

However, it was not paid to release the clips to The Straits Times, and the clips didn’t include footage of Ms Oh in flames.

Although there were other clips of the full video circulating online, these clips were downloaded from the original Facebook posts and shared without the permission of the security firm. You can find the clips almost every: on Facebook, YouTube and even TikTok.

Backlash Regarding the Firm’s Alleged Self-Promotion

While many netizens on Facebook saw this as unethical and a violation of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), some optimistic members from Hardwarezone zone were considering their services.

Praised for having a great video quality, some members even thanked the company for shedding light on the truth.

On the other hand, the others were disturbed by how the security firm used this opportunity to promote their CCTVs.

Utilising the words “the CCTV system installed by us” in three Facebook posts they shared about the accident, netizens called them out for being insensitive.

These Facebook posts have since been taken down.

Apology 

The security firm apologised to the public via their Facebook page.

They clarified that the full clip has only been shared with SPF and The Straits Times, and cited an “administrative error” in accidentally uploading a “full clip instead of a shorter edited cut clip” of the incident.

Although there were other clips with the watermark “E3N Security Pte Ltd”, these clips were not from the security firm.

They also said that they have the rights to take legal action against anyone who distributes the video without authorisation.

Additionally, they have implored netizens to delete the clips and stop their circulation.

“This mistake has caused unnecessary suffering for the victims’ families and we would like to apologise for our mistake and acknowledged that it is insensitive to show the full clip of Ms Oh in distress and we would like to inform all others to refrain from sharing the full clip.”

Feature Image: Google Maps