<TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>Tuez les Tous (kTuLu5) <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>1:58 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>15450.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000 colSpan=2><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#000000><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>ELECTRIC NEWS </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w>Woman holds reporter intern AGAINST her will </TD></TR><TR><TD>Routine assignment turns into harrowing experience</TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>By Lediati Tan</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>June 18, 2009</TD><TD width=30>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rightline vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>WHAT began as a municipal problem became ugly and illegal when an intern from The New Paper was locked up by a newsmaker.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]ROUTINE: Miss Hor visits the flat earlier in response to reports of people allegedly gambling in the void deck of the block. PICTURE: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The intern, Miss Joanna Hor, 22, was looking into complaints from neighbours about a family in Woodlands when a woman pulled her into her flat and locked the metal-grill gate behind her.
Miss Hor had wanted to get the woman's side of complaints that her family was allegedly using their HDB void deck for illegal mahjong sessions and holding barbecues without a permit.
But things turned ugly and Miss Hor was held against her will in the family's flat for about half an hour.
It was only when the police arrived that Miss Hor was allowed to leave.
The third-year communications studies student at Nanyang Technological University, who is on a six-month attachment with The New Paper, arrived at Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, at 3.25pm.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]LOCKED-IN: Miss Hor gets confined in the woman's flat and speaks with her supervisor Miss Low. [/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A 13th-storey resident had pointed out the family's ground-floor unit to Miss Hor. The resident helped her knock on the family's door and introduced Miss Hor as a reporter.
A woman who looked to be in her 40s came to the door.
Miss Hor said: 'She confirmed that she and her family used the void deck on special occasions for their family activities, but insisted there was nothing wrong with that as they always cleaned up the place.'
The woman, who spoke in Mandarin, said she had talked to reporters earlier in the day and was upset that her neighbours had complained to the press.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Miss Hor said: 'Though she was unhappy, she was calm when she spoke to me.'
The woman then saw The New Paper photographer Gavin Foo snapping pictures of her from about 20m away, and demanded to speak to him.
When he approached, she shouted at him for taking photos of her.
She came out of the house and told MrFoo, 29, 'If you want to play, I can afford to play with you',' Miss Hor said.
Not wanting to create a scene, Mr Foo uttered 'let's go' to Miss Hor, and walked away.
Rough handling
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]POLICE CALLED IN: The woman and her husband agree to let Miss Hor out only after the police arrive. [/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But the woman then grabbed Miss Hor's bag from her left shoulder and pulled the young intern towards her.
She shoved Miss Hor into the flat, went in and locked the gate.
Miss Hor is 1.5m and weighs 41kg.
The woman was at least 1.65m, Miss Hor said.
'I was shocked by her actions and got a bit worried that she might do something to me.'
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]END OF THE ORDEAL: Miss Hor finally leaves the flat 30 minutes after she in dragged in by the woman. [/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It was about 3.50pm.
Mr Foo, who initially thought Miss Hor was behind him, walked back to the flat. He was taken aback to see Miss Hor inside.
'I asked her, 'Why are you inside?' And she told me the woman had locked her in,' he said.
Mr Foo added: 'I asked the woman nicely, 'Can you please let her out?'
But the woman refused. Just before she shut the door, Mr Foo managed to snap a picture of her and Miss Hor inside the flat.
Mr Foo then alerted her supervisors at the newspaper and also called the police.
In the flat, a composed Miss Hor tried to calm the woman down.
'I asked her why she was so angry.' she said. 'She blamed me for not stopping Gavin from taking photos.'
Minutes later, a man who appeared to be her husband came home. He, too, was fuming.
He, too, started shouting at her. He then went outside the flat to confront Mr Foo.
Said Mr Foo: 'He grabbed my arm and wanted to pull me inside. But his grip was not strong and I managed to walk away. He also said he had 'friends with connections'.'
The man then went back inside the flat, and continued ranting at Miss Hor in Mandarin.
Meanwhile, Miss Hor's supervisor, Miss Low Ching Ling, called Miss Hor on her handphone and spoke to the woman.
'I told her that it was illegal to keep my colleague locked in the flat against her will and demanded that she let her out immediately,' Miss Low said.
'I said this to her three times. But she refused to let my colleague go. She said she had called the police and wanted them to settle the matter.
'She also said that she knew 'friends'. I took that to mean that she knew people from the underworld.
'During the five minutes that I was talking to the woman, I could hear a man shouting in the background and Joanna trying to explain.'
When the woman still refused to let Miss Hor go, Miss Low and The New Paper news editor Santokh Singh rushed to the scene.
Just before the police arrived at about 4.20pm, another woman came into the house, Miss Hor said.
Mr Foo said: 'When I asked her, she told me she lived there too.'
Miss Hor said the man then told the other woman to take pictures of her.
'They said they wanted to put my photos in the newspapers,' Miss Hor added.
Police arrived
Then three police officers arrived.
Miss Hor said: 'They asked the woman to come out of the house to speak to them, which she did. After she opened the gate, I followed her out of the flat.
'The officers managed to calm her down.'
Over the next 3 1/2 hours, the police took statements from both sides.
Investigations are ongoing.
Wrongful confinement cases carry a maximum jail term of a year or a fine.
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Miss Hor had wanted to get the woman's side of complaints that her family was allegedly using their HDB void deck for illegal mahjong sessions and holding barbecues without a permit.
But things turned ugly and Miss Hor was held against her will in the family's flat for about half an hour.
It was only when the police arrived that Miss Hor was allowed to leave.
The third-year communications studies student at Nanyang Technological University, who is on a six-month attachment with The New Paper, arrived at Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, at 3.25pm.
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A woman who looked to be in her 40s came to the door.
Miss Hor said: 'She confirmed that she and her family used the void deck on special occasions for their family activities, but insisted there was nothing wrong with that as they always cleaned up the place.'
The woman, who spoke in Mandarin, said she had talked to reporters earlier in the day and was upset that her neighbours had complained to the press.
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The woman then saw The New Paper photographer Gavin Foo snapping pictures of her from about 20m away, and demanded to speak to him.
When he approached, she shouted at him for taking photos of her.
She came out of the house and told MrFoo, 29, 'If you want to play, I can afford to play with you',' Miss Hor said.
Not wanting to create a scene, Mr Foo uttered 'let's go' to Miss Hor, and walked away.
Rough handling
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
She shoved Miss Hor into the flat, went in and locked the gate.
Miss Hor is 1.5m and weighs 41kg.
The woman was at least 1.65m, Miss Hor said.
'I was shocked by her actions and got a bit worried that she might do something to me.'
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
Mr Foo, who initially thought Miss Hor was behind him, walked back to the flat. He was taken aback to see Miss Hor inside.
'I asked her, 'Why are you inside?' And she told me the woman had locked her in,' he said.
Mr Foo added: 'I asked the woman nicely, 'Can you please let her out?'
But the woman refused. Just before she shut the door, Mr Foo managed to snap a picture of her and Miss Hor inside the flat.
Mr Foo then alerted her supervisors at the newspaper and also called the police.
In the flat, a composed Miss Hor tried to calm the woman down.
'I asked her why she was so angry.' she said. 'She blamed me for not stopping Gavin from taking photos.'
Minutes later, a man who appeared to be her husband came home. He, too, was fuming.
He, too, started shouting at her. He then went outside the flat to confront Mr Foo.
Said Mr Foo: 'He grabbed my arm and wanted to pull me inside. But his grip was not strong and I managed to walk away. He also said he had 'friends with connections'.'
The man then went back inside the flat, and continued ranting at Miss Hor in Mandarin.
Meanwhile, Miss Hor's supervisor, Miss Low Ching Ling, called Miss Hor on her handphone and spoke to the woman.
'I told her that it was illegal to keep my colleague locked in the flat against her will and demanded that she let her out immediately,' Miss Low said.
'I said this to her three times. But she refused to let my colleague go. She said she had called the police and wanted them to settle the matter.
'She also said that she knew 'friends'. I took that to mean that she knew people from the underworld.
'During the five minutes that I was talking to the woman, I could hear a man shouting in the background and Joanna trying to explain.'
When the woman still refused to let Miss Hor go, Miss Low and The New Paper news editor Santokh Singh rushed to the scene.
Just before the police arrived at about 4.20pm, another woman came into the house, Miss Hor said.
Mr Foo said: 'When I asked her, she told me she lived there too.'
Miss Hor said the man then told the other woman to take pictures of her.
'They said they wanted to put my photos in the newspapers,' Miss Hor added.
Police arrived
Then three police officers arrived.
Miss Hor said: 'They asked the woman to come out of the house to speak to them, which she did. After she opened the gate, I followed her out of the flat.
'The officers managed to calm her down.'
Over the next 3 1/2 hours, the police took statements from both sides.
Investigations are ongoing.
Wrongful confinement cases carry a maximum jail term of a year or a fine.
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