When photos and videos of conflicts or arguments become viral online, they often only show one side of the story. Hence, it is easy to take a side when we don’t know the full story.
For example, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) released a statement on Tuesday (October 25, 2022) stating that the allegations made against them earlier this week by a group of Malaysian fishermen are false.
After a video of a verbal altercation between the two parties went viral on Sunday (October 23, 2022) , a police report was made claiming that some Singaporean Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers had chased away the Malaysian fishing vessels despite being in Malaysian territorial waters.
However, the SPF claimed that “the allegations are wholly untrue” and shared their side of the incident.
Entering a live firing area
In a Facebook post, the SPF states that “PCG officers were patrolling Singapore Territorial Waters (at about 4pm on October 23, 2022) when they spotted a group of Malaysian fishing vessels entering and exiting the live firing area of Singapore’s Territorial Waters off Lim Chu Kang.”
According to the statement, “unauthorised vessels are strictly prohibited from entering the live firing area, for their own safety.”
“PCG officers thus approached the Malaysian fishing vessels and used the public address system (which probably refers to the loudspeakers used to chase the fishermen away) on the PCG boat to advise them to leave the live firing area in Singapore Territorial Waters.”
Unhappy about being asked to leave
Displeased by having to leave, “a few Malaysian fishing vessels approached the PCG officers (at about 5.28pm), and their crew expressed unhappiness at being asked to leave the area.”
The PCG officers then “explained that unauthorised vessels were prohibited from entering the area, and asked them to leave for their own safety.”
“After a verbal exchange, the Malaysian fishing vessels returned to Malaysian Territorial Waters at about 5.37pm. This exchange also took place entirely in Singapore Territorial Waters,” the statement concludes.
No mention of curse words used
While the explanation from the SPF is plausible, it is worth mentioning that the statement did not address at all claims that the PCG officers had used curse words in their exchange with the Malaysian fishermen.
It was believed that the officers insulted the fishermen by calling them stupid.
What do you think of the incident? Is there anything that doesn’t add up?
Also read: M’sian Fishermen Accuse S’pore Police Coast Guard of Chasing Them Away From M’sian Waters
