Singapore actor Nick Mikhail took to his Instagram on Sunday (1 Aug) to voice his frustration at how the authorities had recently conducted an impromptu inspection at his place of residence, having felt that his privacy was invaded.
Mr Nick Mikhail said that a few Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) officers had came into his home without a warrant on Saturday (31 July).
He revealed that his wife was alone at home at that time and was feeling somewhat under the weather after receiving her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“No female escorted my wife while she she goes to the room with one URA officer,” Mr Nick Mikhail wrote, adding that a female officer was present at the scene though she was seemingly occupied with his photo frame.
“The police stand outside with their body cam and not document what’s happening inside the room when my wife was alone with one male officer. No safe distancing.”
Mr Nick Mikhail’s Instagram post came with a CCTV footage of the whole incident. At the time of writing, the post has garnered over 141,000 views.
Meanwhile, many local celebrities have also penned their dissatisfaction on the incident.
URA: No warrant is needed for safe distancing enforcement officers to conduct home inspections
In response to the incident, URA said in a statement on Monday (2 Aug) that safe distancing enforcement officers can enter, inspect, and search various premises, including residences, without a warrant to check that COVID-19 regulations are being complied with.
The Authority stated that they had contacted Mr Nick Mikhail to address his concerns and to clarify on what happened.
“Since late June this year, agencies had received repeated complaints from residents of the landed housing estate that some residences, including Mr Nick Mikhail’s, were having gatherings with more than the permitted number of visitors,” said URA.
The Authority added that there were also noise complaints from the alleged gatherings.
Hence, officers from different agencies, including the police, were deployed to the housing estate to check for potential breach of COVID-19 regulations as well as noise.
According to the URA, when the officers arrived at Mr Nick Mikhail’s home, they saw the front gate was wide open and the house lights were turned on.
“They also spotted two cars parked outside the residence, and thus proceeded to ascertain whether there were any visitors in the unit, and if the numbers were within permissible limits,” the Authority added.
The officers proceeded to enter the car porch and knocked on the front door, said URA. They identified themselves and explained the purpose of their visit after a woman – Mr Nick Mikhail’s wife – opened the door.
“She agreed to allow the officers entry, and escorted them around the house to facilitate their checks,” the Authority noted, adding that all three safe distancing enforcement officers, one of whom is female, followed her in a single file for the inspection and were mostly in one another’s line of sight.
“Towards the end of the inspection, the female occupant went to retrieve her IC from the next room, with one of the safe distancing enforcement officers following after to take down the details. A police officer and the female safe distancing enforcement officer joined them in the next room shortly after.”
URA went on to say that the inspection lasted less than 10 minutes and that the officers left to check on other homes in the area after establishing that there was no one else in Mr Nick Mikhail’s house.
“The safe distancing enforcement officers and police officers were polite towards the female occupant and treated her with respect throughout the inspection,” said the Authority.
Watch the CCTV footage of the inspection here:
Mr Nick Mikhail says he will file a complaint against the officers as protocols were not properly followed
Responding to URA’s statement, Mr Nick Mikhail took to his Instagram on Monday night to give voice to his dissent on the actions of the safe distancing enforcement officers involved in the inspection.
While he acknowledged that the officers were there to carry out their duties, he argued that it was rather inappropriate for them to simply enter the premise of his residence without ringing the bell – even though the gate was open at that time – or providing any notice beforehand.
Having spoken to URA on the whole situation, Mr Nick Mikhail noted that he still feels that the officers acted like “cowboys” and did not abide to the protocols properly.
He added that he was disappointed with the police as the incident was not documented given that the police officer with the body camera had stayed outside of the house during the inspection.
Moving on, Mr Nick Mikhail said that the purpose of recording the follow-up video is to raise awareness so that the authorities can do better in handling such a situation in the future, as Singapore is “not a third world country”.
At the same time, he wishes for all members of the public to know their rights and the laws of the country.
Mr Nick Mikhail also noted that he will be lodging a complaint against the safe distancing enforcement officers who were involved.
Watch his full testimony here:
Mr Nick Mikhail calls out CNA and TODAY for their biased reporting
Besides that, Mr Nick Mikhail also posted a series of Instagram Stories on Monday night to call out CNA (‘Safe-distancing enforcement officers can enter homes without warrants to check compliance with COVID-19 rules: URA‘) and TODAY (‘URA refutes man’s claim that warrant needed for authorities to inspect homes for potential Covid-19 breach‘) for their one-sided reporting of the story.
He said that they should have conducted an interview with him before publishing unverified details of the incident. He then proceeded to lay out a couple of facts to counter what was reported.
Subsequently, Mr Nick Mikhail asserted that while the authorities have the backing of “the press and the agencies”, he has the support of “the people” and “the public”.
He went on to explain what was wrongfully cited, and questioned the two publications for their reporting.
