The Star Online: Metro: South & East

‘Upskirt video’ cases turning up more frequently

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A RECENT spate of cases involving men who filmed "upskirt videos" of women in public places prompted a judge to ask if this crime is on the rise.

The offence of using a variety of high-tech gadgets and cameras to shoot videos up unsuspecting women's skirts is lumped under the law as "insulting a woman's modesty".

No detailed breakdown is available, but reports of insulting a woman's modesty rose last year to 621, up from 598 in 2011 and 579 in 2010.

On Aug 14, District Judge Christopher Goh was hearing the case against Be Keng Hoon, 36, who was charged with taking 264 videos of different women's underwear and thighs.

On the same day, former logistics officer Lim Kwang Yeow, 54, pleaded guilty to six charges of using his mobile phone to record upskirt videos in 2011.

Such cases first began making the news as far back as 2004, though they are turning up in court more frequently now.

Experts said a proliferation of affordable secret cameras has made it easier for perverts to go in search of their prey.

Aside from mobile phones, ever tinier and inconspicuous devices are now easily available.

Surveillance equipment store owner Mervyn Tan, 27, said spy cameras now come embedded in everything from watches to pens and cigarette lighters.

Perverts using these devices may think they can get away because their hidden cameras are hard to spot.

On Aug 6, former Land Transport Authority officer Kew Guozhi, 31, was jailed 15 months for taking at least 423 upskirt video recordings using a camera pen clipped to his shoe.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ken Ung of Adam Road Medical Centre said men who engage in these secret crimes get sexual gratification from them. Factors that predispose some to such deviant acts may include growing up in a very repressive family environment.

"The thrill in such cases is having taken the video discreetly and the element of risk and stealth involved," said Dr Ung.

He said he sees up to five patients a year addicted to such behaviour.

"Most of the patients I've treated are quite intelligent, and can't say they didn't know they had a problem," he said.

"But it's an addiction; just like gambling, they don't want to stop." — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

PIE takes the cake for having most traffic accidents in Singapore

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THE Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) is the highway where the most traffic accidents occurred over the past three months.

Singapore's longest highway, at 42.8km, had at least 441 accidents, with the highest concentration around the Eng Neo Avenue exit. There were 48 accidents there, evenly split in both directions.

The numbers were gleaned from more than 2,000 tweets by the Land Transport Authority's @LTAsg Twitter account between May 26 and Aug 22.

The automated traffic updates are based on real-time surveillance cameras and the Expressway Monitoring Advisory System.

Although the PIE had the highest number of accidents, it fell behind the Central Expressway (CTE) and Seletar Expressway (SLE) when the number of accidents was set against the length of the road.

The 15.5km CTE had at least 164 accidents, or 10.58 per km, and the 12km SLE had 125 accidents, or 10.42 per km, compared with the PIE's 10.3 per km.

On Aug 9, a horrific CTE accident before the Yio Chu Kang exit left a Singaporean, his Korean girlfriend and her parents dead.

Aside from Eng Neo, other hot spots include a stretch of the PIE near Paya Lebar, the CTE near the PIE (Changi) exit and the SLE near Mandai Road. Each recorded at least 25 accidents.

Transport experts had differing explanations for the accidents on expressways. National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said many crash areas were on the PIE because the oldest expressway was not built to handle the high volume of traffic that now flows through daily.

He said there is also some undulation on parts of the PIE, where the road rises and falls, and affects how far ahead a motorist can see.

That, coupled with heavy and fast-moving traffic, is what makes parts of the PIE near Mount Pleasant and Stevens Road dangerous, he added.

Like the Eng Neo Avenue to Adam Road portion of the PIE, large curves – such as the one at the CTE near the PIE (Changi) exit – could also cause a "shockwave", where high-speed traffic meets slower traffic with disastrous consequences.

Dr Park Byung Joon, head of the urban transport management programme at SIM University, agreed with this assessment, but added that most accidents occur as drivers enter or leave the expressway.

"Accidents are prone to happen where there is a criss-crossing in the flow of cars," he said.

"When you change lanes or try to exit, you have to look at the sides and not just in front. If the car in front of you then brakes, your reaction will likely be slower."

He said that accidents can also happen in tunnels, such as the CTE tunnel near Merchant Road, as drivers expect traffic to be fast-moving.

Retired LTA planner Gopinath Menon felt the accident rate reflected heavy use of expressways, and that expressway accidents sometimes result in secondary accidents.

"I wouldn't blame road design for the accidents," he said. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 26 Ogos 2013