Watch out! Man spotted taking pictures of school girls in Singapore

40-year-old Fong Poh Kuen has been charged with clicking pictures of several school girls in the Bukit Timah area using his mobile phone, sometimes citing surveys as reasons for doing so.

It is believed that he would ask for and save mobile numbers of the girls and take photos, with some students allowing him to do this.

According to The Straits Times, the case came to light after Fong was arrested by police at Raffles Girls' Primary School, following two police reports that were lodged against him.

Currently, he has been accused of six offences, including criminal trespass, insulting the modesty of a woman, using threatening behaviour, and being a public nuisance. He is at present, undergoing psychiatric assessment at the Institute of Mental Health.

The case is now in the pre-trial stage.

When people take pictures of your children

No matter how much you try to educate, children will always be children, innocent and forever gullible. My little one often makes aww-inducing comments like, "He's a nice man, mummy, see he's smiling." As much as I love her innocence, the mother in me is often a little overprotective, making sure she's not talking to strangers and all that.

Recently, one of the hot topics of discussion at a forum was about a mum getting paranoid when she saw a stranger clicking pictures of her daughter, in a playground. We asked a few mums on their views about this.

Samantha Bek, mother of an eight-year-old daughter, had this to say, "I would confront the person and get him or her to delete the pics. Then take the opportunity to talk to my girl about it, and that she has to be wary of such things, and to the dangers of it."

Mum of two, Minoli Almedia has similar views too,"“I would confront the stranger and ask why they were taking pictures of my kids. Then I would ask them to show me the pictures and delete them. If they refused to comply, I would take a picture of them and alert authorities. I have spoken to my kids about not posing or letting any strangers take their pictures, and to alert me if they do. Thankfully we haven’t faced any such situations yet."

Though we think there's no fool-proof method to prevent your child's photo from being taken, here's what you might want to do:

Watch out for people who don't ask for permission

These are usually the weirdos. Unfortunately, it isn't the age of innocence anymore. Paedophiles and perverts top the list of every parent's worries. An innocent photo taken in any part of the world can end up on a child porn website. It can then be viewed by a million twisted people all over the world. So you might want to confront people who don't believe in asking for permission, and get them to delete the pictures, even alerting authorities if necessary.

Educate your child

Your child must be made aware of the harsh realities of this world. Teach your daughter to be careful with her outfits. There are plenty of perverts who specialise in "up-the-skirt" or "down-the-shirt" shots.

Be aware

Often, such perverts will pretend to talk over the phone while they might actually be taking pictures or videos of yours. It is best to educate your child to be aware, to proceed with caution, and to steer clear of such people.

Source: The Straits Times

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