The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has had enough of our bullshit.
They already have to deal with stubborn residents who would risk getting a $300 fine just to eat some Wanton Mee at the hawker centre, but now they have to deal with this.
Reader: Well, who asked them to arrest people for breaking CB rules?
Who told you that was happening?
Reader: Uh, my friend Ah Hock on Facebook. And he told me on WhatsApp that shooting lemon juice up my butt will prevent me from contracting Covid-19 and I’ve not got it so far, so I believe him.
Ok, dear reader, can you do me a favour?
Reader: Sure!
Kindly take your right hand and slap some sense into that thick head of yours.
Reader: Why are you so mean?
Because fake news like this is exactly what the SPF is trying to combat, but people keep spreading it.
SPF Clarifies They’ve Not Arrested Anyone for Breaking Circuit Breaker Rules; All Arrests Are for Other Offences
The police have urged the public to stop spreading rumours and misinformation about their actions during the circuit breaker period on social media and text messaging platforms.
In a Facebook post on 16 April, the SPF said that “making false claims and spreading unfounded rumours on Police’s actions… resulted in rumour-mongering and misinformation.”
What exactly were these rumours? Well, take a look at this video they posted:
Man In Guardian Not Arrested For Not Wearing Mask
One of the rumours spreading about the police is that they’ve been arresting people who flouted circuit breaker rules.
Take this man:
A video of his arrest made the rounds on social media, and many speculated that he was arrested because he wasn’t wearing a mask.
What evidence did they have for this assumption?
Speculator: Uh, well he didn’t have a mask and was arrested lor
Well, it turns out that the man was actually arrested for shop theft and disorderly behaviour.
But that’s not all.
Aggressive Uncle Not Arrested For Flouting Safe Distancing Measures
Came across this man lately?
A video of this 63-year-old man being arrested by the police also circulated on social media recently.
Singapore Election News Portal, the group that shared the video, claimed the officers arrested the man because he failed to comply with social distancing orders, but this is FAKE NEWS.
While the police were called in by safe distancing ambassadors because the man refused to comply with elevated safe distancing measures, the man was only arrested later on as he had failed to return to the welfare home he was staying in.
Thus, he was arrested for failure to return to a welfare home under Section 16(c) Cap. 78 of the Destitute Persons Act.
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So, you can see why the police are so frustrated with the public at the moment. Why else would the first sentence of their post be “STOP SPREADING FALSE RUMOURS ON POLICE’S ACTIONS” in all caps?
They also clarified that they do not set up roadblocks to enforce safe distancing measures and do not conduct random checks on residential units to enforce circuit breaker measures.
As the post says, such rumours are highly irresponsible, and “hurt public confidence and trust in the Police”.
“It also undermines our officers, who are at the frontlines trying to keep Singaporeans safe and secure during this challenging period”, they said.
So, please stop spreading rumours on social media and text messaging platforms. The last thing we need during this critical phase is more misinformation.
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Reader: Are you saying Ah Hock was lying to me about the lemon juice?
You really need to get some new friends.
