The Anti Neo-Democracy Theorist

This is the third time in 2 years that the government has announced that it would increase the number of CCTVs in Singapore. I wrote a letter to the ST two years ago (which was not published) on the issue and I think is still relevant

CCTV and its potential issues

I refer to ST July 25th 2005 article on “More CCTV cameras for housing estates.”

The widespread proposed installation of CCTV around Singapore is questionable. There are few issues which I hope relevant authorities would address.

The first issue is the issue of privacy. Is CCTV surveillance less invasive of privacy than alternative means of surveillance? Is CCTV surveillance advantageous to all or at least to most of the people who are giving up their privacy?

The second issue is the presence of a check and balances. Would the public be informed about who is monitoring the cameras, what use is to be made of the tapes and how long they are to be stored? Would there be an independent audit to ensure that the uses of such devices are not abused?

The third issue is the larger issue of effectiveness. Does CCTV surveillance not simply drive a problem from one area into another area that does not have video surveillance? Does CCTV surveillance fulfill an important purpose such as reduction of risk of physical harm or other illegal activities and not simply the control of nuisance such as panhandling? Would CCTV not be used as part of a data-matching program for purposes other than surveillance for the reduction of crime of the area in which it is installed?

The last issue is the philosophy behind the use of CCTV surveillance. It is true that the creation of a police state with CCTV surveillance everywhere will eradicate crime and terrorism. In George Orwell famous book, 1984, we see that a totalitarian government in the future could abuse the use of CCTV surveillance. Would Singaporeans then want to live in such a city?

The Straits Times (Singapore)

April 29, 2007 Sunday
CCTV cameras: Someone’s watching you;
Their numbers in public areas will go up from 60 to over 120, and they can help police crack cases, deter troublemakers
Tan Dawn Wei

THESE cameras could have captured the beating that led to the death of Mr Eugene Chua at Clarke Quay.

Mr Chua, a manager at Que Pasa pub at Emerald Hill, died after being beaten up by a group of people last Monday outside The Geographer’s Bar. Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, 27, and Marliana Khamaruddin, 29, were charged yesterday with murder.

Neither the police nor landlord CapitaLand Retail will say if closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside the second-floor bar and the first-floor lift lobby could have aided the investigation.

But CCTV cameras have gone a long way in helping police crack cases and deterring crime.

So useful are these electronic eyes that the authorities want to install more along Orchard Road and Shenton Way.

Since 2003, more than 60 cameras have gone up in areas like Boat Quay, Newton Food Centre, Little India, Geylang and the vicinity of Suntec City and Raffles City. There will be more than 120 by the middle of the year.

The presence of such cameras paid off handsomely in a 2004 case at Newton Food Centre when a group of 10 men armed with parangs, samurai swords, knives and metal rods attacked two men.

Police tracked down the assailants after clothing found in an abandoned van matched that worn by assailants in footage of the bashing.

CCTV cameras are everywhere - on buses, at traffic junctions, in lifts, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, schools, country clubs, even places of worship.

The 100 or so cameras Aljunied GRC has in its HDB estates have aided police in cases of vandalism and littering. Developer Mapletree Investments paid $500,000 to install 174 cameras across the sprawling 1.04 million sq ft VivoCity mall. The Singapore Management University has more than 500 cameras on the 4.5ha city campus in Bras Basah - a necessity given how much of the complex is accessible by the public.

But even that cannot compare to transport giant ComfortDelGro’s 2,160 cameras, installed inside SBS Transit buses to help monitor fare evasion, molestation or other crimes. Another 420 buses have a camera each in the front, facing the road.

The prevalence of CCTV cameras has less to do with rising paranoia than falling prices. Ten years ago, a colour camera cost more than $1,000. Now, you can buy one for under $100, said Mr David Goh, general manager of video surveillance provider Abeltec International, one of at least 180 companies here supplying CCTV systems.

Such systems can cost anything from $1,000 to $5 million, with much of the cost going to cabling.

Faith Methodist Church spent $10,000 installing 30 cameras at its new Queenstown building in 2003 to improve kindergarten safety. It later extended the surveillance to other areas as it did not have a security guard.

And good thing it did. A parent alerted the church that she had lost her handbag and the facilities office quickly reviewed recent footage. It showed a woman going into a classroom with one bag and coming out with two. The culprit was eventually caught when she struck again at another church. The CCTV camera filmed her driving away, with the licence plate number in clear view.

Boat Quay pub owners said they have noticed a drop in the number of fights thanks to the cameras.

‘In the past, there were fights almost every weekend. But now, I see fights only once every three months,’ said Mr Yeo Tiong Beng, 31, owner of Initial Bar in Circular Road.

Mr Simon Ho, chief operating officer of Singapore’s biggest mall operator, CapitaLand Retail, said the 20 to 70 cameras in each of its 16 malls survey common areas and are linked to a command centre where footage is kept for 30 days.

Government agencies also share footage. The Land Transport Authority allows the Singapore Civil Defence Force and police access to the footage of some 400 cameras on Singapore’s roads.

Despite the scrutiny of these electronic eyes, Singaporeans said they feel safer with them.

Undergraduate Lee Chui Ling, 22, said: ‘If people know there are CCTV cameras around and they still want to go about their hanky-panky business, then it is up to them.’

Human rights activists often cite them as an infringement of civil liberties, but as Abeltec’s Mr Goh put it: ‘People with nothing to hide shouldn’t have to be afraid of cameras looking at them.’