With all the voyeurism stories that have recently come to light, I have become slightly warier whenever I head to a public restroom.
I’m sure many would share my concern. While we previously might have the mentality that “ahh well, it probably wouldn’t happen to me”, I think it’s safe to say that we probably don’t anymore.
One 42-year-old Singaporean lady known as Ms Chen said that she frequently brings her two sons to Johor Bahru every weekend along with her husband to do some shopping.
On 21 December, the family continued their weekly tradition and headed over to Paradigm Mall in hopes to catch the latest Ip Man 4 movie at around 6.15pm.
If you’re thinking about why that mall sounds familiar, it’s probably because you read that a Malaysian woman was groped by a molester when she was there just about three months ago.
Anyway, before the movie started, Ms Chen headed to the toilet.
You definitely wouldn’t want to come out of the movie theatre while the movie is still playing because of your bladder!
When she entered the seventh-floor toilet, she noticed that three out of four of the cubicles were occupied. Seeing as to how this is pretty normal in the ladies’ washroom, she entered the last cubicle.
All of a sudden, she sees a hand holding a black Samsung phone reach into her cubicle from the right. Instantly, she knew that it was recording a video.
Trying her best not to panic and make any noise, she quickly put on her pants and unlocked the door. That was when a pair of Singaporean sisters came out of the other two cubicles. She quietly whispered to them that someone was taking a video and that they should keep watch while she called for help.
The pair was shocked but said nothing.
The moment Ms Chen left the toilet, she shouted for help. More than 10 people including cinema staff and security personnel came to see what the commotion was about.
Now that she had the support of her family and others, she mustered up her courage and banged on the cubicle door of her perpetrator for him to show his face.
After two minutes, a man in glasses came out. That was when they realised that he was a cinema staff because of the uniform he was wearing. Ms Chen’s husband then searched his phone for any photos or videos, but seeing as to how there were none, they believed that he must have deleted them already.
The man was later revealed to be a 19-year-old who claimed that he accidentally entered the ladies’ washroom.
He was subsequently arrested by the police for further investigation. He has also been suspended from his duties.
Unfortunately, Ms Chen did not just miss her movie and shopping, she also only went home around 4.30am the next day after having gone to the police station to record her statement.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Ms Chen said, “I hope that by sharing my personal experience, Singaporean women will be more aware and pay extra attention to their surroundings when visiting the toilet in a foreign place. Don’t let Peeping Toms have a chance to strike.”
With that said, Ms Chen should be commended for her ability to remain calm, which ultimately led to her catching her voyeur. I’m sure that it must have been traumatising for her, as it would be for anyone else who gets sexually harassed.
