students creating nuisance at void deck
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Samseng students torment residents at Bedok Reservoir void deck 'They smoke, gamble, litter and pee there'
RESIDENT: I'll complain to your school
STUDENT: So what? Go ahead
May 02, 2008
NOTHING, it seems, can get rid of them.
Students in school uniform smoke and gamble at an HDB void deck next to their school's compound despite the various CCTVs installed by the town council. Picture: CHOO CHWEE HUA
Not the numerous warnings by their school.Not the countless complaints by residents, even to the police, over the past two years.
The students from a nearby school continue to hang out at the void decks around Block 717 at Bedok Reservoir Road every day after school.
Still in their uniforms, they play cards, ball games and generally make a nuisance of themselves by shouting and running around.
Some of them smoke openly despite being obviously underaged.
As one resident puts it, they behave just like samseng (Malay for gangsters).
They usually congregate there around 2pm, and often hang around till about 6pm. On occasion, they have remained there till after 9pm.
One resident, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim, said he has complained regularly to the school over the past two years, and started emailing the school photographs of the students last year.
CCTVS HAVE NO EFFECT
But the problem just won't go away.
Said Mr Lim, 48: 'The problem has got worse. I don't mind them hanging around, but they are gambling and smoking in their school uniforms.
'It reflects badly on their school.'
The IT consultant said the closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras installed by the town council have had no effect.
'When they leave, you can see cigarette butts, empty drink packets and cup noodle containers scattered all over the place,' he said.
Mr Lim once told a student to pick up his rubbish but he refused.
'I told him I would inform his school and he said, 'So what? Go ahead'. When I threatened to take a picture of him with my phone, he reluctantly picked it up.'
Residents call the police at least once a month when the students get too rowdy. The police were there twice last week, said Mr Lim.
He has called the police several times before, especially when older youths join in the gambling sessions.
Mr Lim said that following his complaints, the school told him it had taken disciplinary action and counselled the students.
'But a few days later, the students were at it again. I have given up complaining,' he added.
This year, the students started gathering at neighbouring Block 718 as well and are usually joined by students from another nearby school.
The New Paper spoke to 10 residents and all but one were annoyed by the students.
Customer service officer Rosita Rasli, 47, who was on medical leave that day, said she had trouble resting because of the noise.
'In the past, some of them even used the staircase landing as a toilet. I work during the day and I'm worried for the safety of my children,' she said.
'STEALING'
Another resident, Madam Gladys, said the students sometimes hang around till 11.30pm.
'We can't go to sleep. They scream, shout and run everywhere. We can't blame the school as they have warned the students.'
Mr Lek Yong Heng, 59, who runs a provision shop, claimed the students have stolen tidbits from his racks outside his shop.
He said the school principal and discipline master occasionally turn up to chase the students away, and have told him to call them if the students cause any problems.
He added: 'They behave like samseng. It's quite a turn-off.'
When The New Paper approached a group of students last week, they ignored us and continued with their card game.
They later said they were there because their co-curricular activity (CCA) had been cancelled. (See report on facing page.)
When contacted last week, the school's principal said he was trying to solve the problem.
'We have stepped up patrols in the neighbourhood,' he said, adding that staff, including himself, take turns to do so almost every day.
He said the school was working with the neighbourhood police post, the residents' committee and town council to stamp out the problem.
'There are times when we request the town council for CCTV clips so we can identify the students. We also work with the NPP to find out the current situation in the neighbourhood and to give talks to our students,' he added.
The school has also told shop owners in the vicinity to alert them of any trouble.
The principal, who was posted to the school this year, said it needed time to resolve the problem through educating its students and gaining their trust.
He said its efforts have been ongoing for the past two years, and there has been a marked improvement in the number of students caught smoking.
Students caught smoking undergo counselling together with their parents.
They also attend the school's smoking cessation clinic to help them kick the habit.
He said complaints from the public have also dropped and stressed that it was only a minority of students who are causing trouble.
He appealed to residents to contact the school to give exact locations andthe timing of the students' misbehaviour so it can follow up on the problem.
'We have invited some of them to work with us in the past, but many want to remain anonymous,' he added.
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STUDENTS: Gamble and smoke? No, we don'tWHEN The New Paper approached a group of students hanging around a void deck last week, they basically ignored us and continued their game of chor dai ti (also known as Big Two in English).
Several boys and a girl sat together at a round table, while another boy was standing.
Most were in their school uniform.
Asked if they knew that residents had been complaining about them, one nonchalantly said yes, without looking up from his cards.
Though he denied that they were gambling, they were later overheard discussing how much they owed each other from their card game.
Has their school warned them?
'They said not to make too much noise,' said the boy who was standing.
And the police?
'They said the same thing,' he added.
The student claimed they were there because their CCA was cancelled for the day.
They preferred to hang around at that void deck as there is a provision shop where they can buy food and drinks.
Although a few were spotted smoking cigarettes earlier, the student denied that they smoked.
When told of this, the school principal said he would obtain the CCTV clips from the town council.
He subsequently told The New Paper that the students captured in the footage had been identified.
'We have brought them in together with their parents over the past few days and have been counselling them,' he said.
Mr Lim, one of the residents who had complained about the students, noticed the change in the neighbourhood over the past week.
He said yesterday: 'I've not experienced such peace in a long time.
'It has been a great change, and I hope it will last
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世风日下 �德沦丧
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Discipline them, teach them manners, teach them etiquette etc, but not at the expense of economic growth. Therefore they still must go to school to acquire the basic skills needed for peddling their labour in future. That is the the quintessential mission of our education system. And not be well rounded social beings. That is left to the parents, who themselves are the product of our education system, that creates this crass of Singaporeans. And undoubtly, they can't.
Nothing astonishing about the TNP report.
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TNP is a tabloid...
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Do their parents even know before they were reported?
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I think the point was more of how come their parents aren't disciplining them. Many reasons exist for that I suppose. Economic reasons, marital problems, blah blah blah and all traced back to PAP etc...
Ok I made that up on impulse. But I think the main point is still why the parents aren't disciplining their kids properly. :)
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wah! samseng! from bookworm gang one....
the hair is one strand, S-shape one rite?
who rber? -
Originally posted by rain-coat:
TNP is a tabloid...
Tabloid refers to the size of the newspaper.
The full size. the Straits Times is a broadsheet.
The New Paper is half size, is a tabloid.
TNP is supposed to be an afternoon paper, catering to specific targets, like young people and kaypos.
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Originally posted by FireIce:
wah! samseng! from bookworm gang one....
the hair is one strand, S-shape one rite?
who rber?me. the most "ah beng" one of the group, good friend with porky.
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Originally posted by FireIce:
wah! samseng! from bookworm gang one....
the hair is one strand, S-shape one rite?
who rber?
i remember. n edison, mimi and smarty -
fat ani, simone
got one louie or wat one oso. -
must be government fault again.
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Originally posted by FireIce:
fat ani, simone
got one louie or wat one oso.
fat ani the pig. simone the tomboy. louie the miser. mimi the vainpot. edison her bro. smarty most clever