photo: Weijian (Brian)‏ twitter

On Sunday afternoon (2 April), Hougang MRT station experienced a brief shutdown triggered by security fears originating from an unknown unattended bag found at the station.
At 2.45pm, the police were alerted to a case of an unattended bag at the train platform of Hougang MRT station. Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division and Public Transport Security Command, with the assistance of SBS Transit, quickly traced the owner of the bag. He was arrested at Hougang MRT at about 4.35 pm.

Image of cordoned off area with blue luggage pre-removal in the right corner at est. 1600h. (Source: Ong Jia Cheng) / photo: Maximilian‏ twitter
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had intentionally left his bag inside Hougang MRT station while he ran an errand.
The police arrested the 39-year-old man for an offence of Public Nuisance under the Penal Code although the bag was later established to contain only household items.
Alfred Chua, a netizen, posted a video of the arrest on his twitter:
https://twitter.com/alfredTODAY/status/848497697921171457
According to SBS Transit, which operates the North-East Line (NEL), commuters were told that all NEL trains would not stop at Hougang station due to a ‘security incident’.
“For the safety of all passengers, trains were made to bypass Hougang station and the Police were alerted,” the transport operator said.
Then at close to 4.00pm, the bag was opened and its contents found to be non-dangerous. SBS Transit said train service resumed at 4.03pm at Hougang Station.
Police said investigations are still ongoing, “The police treat all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who intentionally cause public alarm,” it said in a statement.
The police also reminded the public not to leave personal belongings unattended and to report any suspicious items or behaviour to the MRT staff or the police immediately. “We commend the staff of SBS Transit for their vigilance in handling this incident,” the police said.
Netizens were initially confused by the SBS Transit’s tweet of the closing of the Hougang station, which they found unclear.


Some comments of the netizens on this twitter post:

CLEMENT‏ wrote: “What is the incident. Really senseless way u report things. U said security issue keep quiet about it at people not to question about security.”

Williamchan wrote:‏ “Please be more specific, what security incident?”

Muhd Muzammin‏ wrote: “Why?”

At 4:16 pm SBS Transit informed that the NEL sevice has resumed:


After news got around about the security incident, and that the NEL service has resumed, here are some of the netizens’ response:

®™‏ commented: “No need to apologize. when it comes to security, everyone play a part.”

Darryl Kang‏  wrote: “Good job guys. Glad that it is a false alarm :)”

Patricia Lim‏ wrote: “Better be safe than sorry.”

 

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

New South Wales to imprison people for 6 months and fine up to AU$11,000 for leaving home without "reasonable excuses"

In Australia, there are a total of 4,707 confirmed cases of COVID-19…

NTUC- a union to help community or workers?

Leong Sze Hian/ I refer to the report “Labour movement shows it…

Singapore and Malaysia to sign new agreement on High Speed Rail; postponement of project anticipated

A new agreement on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail Link (HSR) project…

指占过半议席 拥组政府权力 泰七政党组“民主阵线”联盟

遭前首相他信指控有“操纵之嫌”、军政府“严重干涉”篡改的大选之后,泰国七政党声称,尽管是非正式的,只要他们联盟,就拥有超过一半以上的下议院议席,具有组织政府的权力。 根据彭博社报导指出,亲他信的为泰党领袖苏达拉(Sudarat Keyuraphan)于星期三(27日)宣布七个政党可以组成联盟,至少拿下500个下议院议席中的255席。 七个政党分别有为泰党、未来前进党、泰国自由党(Seri Ruam Thai)、国家党(Prachachart)、新经济党(New Economy)、为国党(Pheu Chart)和泰国人民力量党(Palang Puangchon Thai)。 也是为泰党首相候选人的苏达拉指出,“很显然的,反军人执政的民主阵线,在此次选举中获得人民授予组阁权。” 《南华早报》引述她的话说,“虽然还会有更多政党加入‘民主阵线’,但是我们可以肯定已经取得255个议席。我们宣称,反对军事统治的‘民主阵线’取得多数议席”。…