Sunbathing video looks shady: Netizens

Doubts have surfaced about the authenticity of an online video showing a confrontation between a parking warden and two bikini-clad women sunbathing on the roof of a multi-storey carpark.

Netizens have expressed their doubts on social media sites, as well as the original website on which the video first appeared, a portal called Discuss SG that bills itself as a "Singapore online community". Pictures also appeared on citizen journalism website Stomp.

"The whole video looks like a stage play to me," said netizen "wolfberries" on the Discuss SG website, who noted the warden's aggressiveness towards the scantily clad sunbathers and the absence of a handheld ticketing device. "Too action, too fake," he added.

In the video, which has garnered more than 50,000 views since it was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday, two Chinese women can be seen stripping to their bikinis, applying suntan lotion, and relaxing on towels. The video then cuts to a woman - dressed like a parking warden - storming up to the duo, and shouting and gesticulating at them. A scuffle ensues and the attendant appears to hit one of the women on the forehead with an umbrella.

Checks by The Straits Times found the "parking warden" in the video is not employed by the Housing Board, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Tanjong Pagar town council, Certis Cisco or Aetos Security Management.

G.Tech and DTZ Facilities & Engineering, which manage HDB carparks, also confirmed she was not one of their employees.

"Looks like some marketing/advertising company trying to get people's attention," commented netizen Anthony Ow on the video's YouTube page.

When reached for comment, a Discuss SG spokesman maintained that the video looked genuine, and was not a publicity stunt.

He said the website spoke to the user who submitted it, Mr Jacky Tan, and issued a $50 cheque to him for submitting original news. "We vet every submission to the best of our abilities but there is no guarantee that user-generated content is legit."

Mr Tan told The Straits Times he saw the women sunbathing from the kitchen window of his Redhill Central flat. The 28-year-old sales engineer said he did not speak to any of them.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

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