Father of primary school kids running on Tampines walkway roof files police report over video

Over the weekend, a video of a group of children running atop a pedestrian walkway roof in Tampines went viral on Facebook, drawing flak from some netizens criticising the children for endangering the safety of others around them.

In the video, the six children, who donned school uniforms, could be seen running along the roof, throwing what looked like floorball sticks and other objects at each other on Friday, July 8.

While some viewers dismissed their actions that it was just some harmless childish antics, others criticised the children for acting dangerously. There were also those who blamed the parents for not taking proper care of their children. 

Angered by the comments, the father of two of the children, Jasper Gan, told AsiaOne that he has since made a police report on July 10 regarding the incident and he wants the authorities to ask the person who took that video to remove that video post. 

Gan also said in that report that he has that person's contact number.

In the report which Gan shared with us, he said that the Facebook post is "spreading false information" that the children are playing dangerously and that the shelter may fall apart.

The police has confirmed that a report was lodged. 

The 35-year-old told AsiaOne that it was all a misunderstanding and the children had climbed onto the roof to retrieve personal items that had gotten stuck in a tree. 

In the report, Gan said that Facebook post has garnered many negative comments from netizens and he is concerned that both his kids may feel "depressed" after reading the comments, fearing that they will be harassed too. 

Speaking to AsiaOne, Gan said that the incident has negatively affected his kids. 

"My daughter has Facebook, she read the comments. Negative people commented that they will chop [the children's] legs."

In fact, his children have been so affected that they feel the need to put on a disguise so that members of the public won't recognise them. 

"My child even asked me if she should wear sunglasses before she goes out because people are looking at her," he elaborated. "If they are an adult, they would know how to settle it, but they are children." 

He explained that on that date of the incident, the children — which consisted of his son, 10, daughter, 12, and his daughter's four friends — had been playing with a ball, which got stuck in a tree nearby the pedestrian walkway. 

The children then attempted to use another ball to knock it out, but this got stuck in the tree too. After which, they tried to fish both balls out of the tree with a badminton racket, which got stuck alongside the balls. 

As they were determined to get the items out of the tree, one child returned home to get some sticks to dislodge the items.

While the child was away, four kids decided to climb onto the roof of the pedestrian walkway, including Gan's children. 

When the child returned with the sticks, some of the kids attempted to throw the sticks to those at the roof to retrieve the items. This was unsuccessful and the children eventually climbed down from the top of the roof. 

Gan said that a member of the public made a police report after seeing those children on the roof.

The police then spoke with Gan's son who was told that the town council will help to remove the ball and others items from the tree the next day. 

None of the children's parents were present throughout the incident and Gan also added that this was not the first time children have climbed up onto the walkway's roof. 

While Gan emphasised that while he does not think it is right for the children to be on the roof, he said he can understand why they climbed up there in the first place. 

"Whether it is fine or not, it's how the children process it. The ball was stuck, they were finding ways to remove the ball." 

However, he reiterated that the way the story was portrayed is inaccurate and if his children had really been playing on the roof, he "would personally have scolded them".

He also added that if he had been there himself, he would have retrieved the ball himself for them so they wouldn't have to climb onto the roof. 

"The fact is that they were not playing on the roof, they were retrieving two balls."

Gan also said that the negative comments on the video have made the situation worse and that if children had not read the comments he would be "less concerned". 

"What if my kids commit suicide because of all these negative comments?" he said. 

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melissateo@asiaone.com