http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,190812,00.html?
AMK bike vandal says:
So messy, so I punctured the tyres
He's caught in act by bicycle owner but is released as he is 70
By Elysa Chen
January 25, 2009
EYESORE? Bicycles parked along a pedestrian walkway near Ang Mo Kio MRT station. --TNP PICTURES: KELVIN CHNG
FOR more than a year, a serial vandal had been tormenting cyclists in Ang Mo Kio by puncturing their bicycle tyres.
Then earlier this week, the alleged culprit - a 70-year-old man - was finally caught.
But the man who caught him let him go.
Customer service officer Tan Thiam Chye, 48, who claimed his tyres were punctured more than 20 times over the last year, said he let the man go because of his age.
This despite his efforts in trying to catch the vandal for close to a year.
Mr Tan's woes started early last year, with his bicycle tyres getting punctured once every few weeks. The attacks became more frequent recently.
'I was so frustrated. I have been keeping a lookout for the vandal and have been waiting to catch him. Once, I even left my bicycle as bait and waited to ambush him, but the culprit never showed up,' said MrTan.
He said the vandal would puncture bicycle tyres with a screwdriver, usually targeting vehicles parked near Ang Mo Kio MRT station, where more than 100 bicycles are parked at the bicycle racks provided.
But there are other owners who park indiscriminately, chaining their bicycles to railings along the passenger walkway.
Said Mr Tan: 'I work shifts, and over the past year, I have parked my bike at different spots at different times of the day. Sometimes, I'd find my bike punctured even when I returned in the middle of the day.
'This means he was brazen enough to strike in broad daylight along busy pedestrian walkways.'
Front wheel twisted
Another victim, Ms Janchai Kamphai, 43, a waitress, said her bicycle tyres were punctured twice, and her front wheel was twisted out of shape once.
Earlier this week, Mr Tan finally caught the man after he saw him behaving suspiciously near his bicycle.
But he decided to let him go after taking down his particulars.
'When I saw he was just an old man, I let him go after giving him a stern warning never to touch my or my wife's bicycles again.'
Mr Tan, who lives in a four-room HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio Street 51, cycles to Ang Mo Kio MRT station and parks his bicycle there before taking the train to work. His wife, who works at the nearby Ang Mo Kio Hub, also leaves her bicycle near the station.
At 10am on Tuesday, Mr Tan saw a man loitering suspiciously near his bicycle which was chained to a pillar near Ang Mo Kio MRT station.
When he saw the man put something into a plastic bag and walk away quickly, Mr Tan quickly checked his bicycle.
'When I pressed the back tyre, it was soft, and there was a hissing sound. So I went after him. My first thought was, 'At last, I got him!'
Mr Tan said that when he asked the man if he had punctured his tyre, he denied it in a hostile manner.
There was a heated exchange and it was only when Mr Tan asked to search the man's bags and threatened to call the police that the man apologised and confessed.
He also showed Mr Tan the screwdriver which he had used to puncture the tyre.
'I patted him on the shoulder, told him that we were all just trying to make a living and asked him what he got out of puncturing our bicycle tyres.
'When he heard that, he calmed down and said sorry. He looked like he wanted to cry and asked me to let him go.'
When approached by The New Paper, the 70-year-old man admitted he had been vandalising the bikes.
He said in a mix of Mandarin and Hokkien that he was angry that so many bicycles were parked along the walkways and found them an eyesore.
'These bicycle owners park everywhere, it looks so messy. So I punctured their tyres. I have been tolerating the bikes for very long.
'Now I regret it and I know I was wrong. They were wrong to park the bicycles so haphazardly, but I shouldn't have resorted to damaging their bicycles.'
He claimed he had thrown away the screwdriver which he used to commit mischief.
He also claimed that he had punctured bicycle tyres only once - on the day that MrTan caught him - and that he had done so on impulse.
Mr Tan said: 'I hope that after this incident, the old man will know what's right and what's wrong, and that we can have a more gracious society.'
AMK bike vandal says:
So messy, so I punctured the tyres
He's caught in act by bicycle owner but is released as he is 70
By Elysa Chen
January 25, 2009
EYESORE? Bicycles parked along a pedestrian walkway near Ang Mo Kio MRT station. --TNP PICTURES: KELVIN CHNG
FOR more than a year, a serial vandal had been tormenting cyclists in Ang Mo Kio by puncturing their bicycle tyres.
Then earlier this week, the alleged culprit - a 70-year-old man - was finally caught.
But the man who caught him let him go.
Customer service officer Tan Thiam Chye, 48, who claimed his tyres were punctured more than 20 times over the last year, said he let the man go because of his age.
This despite his efforts in trying to catch the vandal for close to a year.
Mr Tan's woes started early last year, with his bicycle tyres getting punctured once every few weeks. The attacks became more frequent recently.
'I was so frustrated. I have been keeping a lookout for the vandal and have been waiting to catch him. Once, I even left my bicycle as bait and waited to ambush him, but the culprit never showed up,' said MrTan.
He said the vandal would puncture bicycle tyres with a screwdriver, usually targeting vehicles parked near Ang Mo Kio MRT station, where more than 100 bicycles are parked at the bicycle racks provided.
But there are other owners who park indiscriminately, chaining their bicycles to railings along the passenger walkway.
Said Mr Tan: 'I work shifts, and over the past year, I have parked my bike at different spots at different times of the day. Sometimes, I'd find my bike punctured even when I returned in the middle of the day.
'This means he was brazen enough to strike in broad daylight along busy pedestrian walkways.'
Front wheel twisted
Another victim, Ms Janchai Kamphai, 43, a waitress, said her bicycle tyres were punctured twice, and her front wheel was twisted out of shape once.
Earlier this week, Mr Tan finally caught the man after he saw him behaving suspiciously near his bicycle.
But he decided to let him go after taking down his particulars.
'When I saw he was just an old man, I let him go after giving him a stern warning never to touch my or my wife's bicycles again.'
Mr Tan, who lives in a four-room HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio Street 51, cycles to Ang Mo Kio MRT station and parks his bicycle there before taking the train to work. His wife, who works at the nearby Ang Mo Kio Hub, also leaves her bicycle near the station.
At 10am on Tuesday, Mr Tan saw a man loitering suspiciously near his bicycle which was chained to a pillar near Ang Mo Kio MRT station.
When he saw the man put something into a plastic bag and walk away quickly, Mr Tan quickly checked his bicycle.
'When I pressed the back tyre, it was soft, and there was a hissing sound. So I went after him. My first thought was, 'At last, I got him!'
Mr Tan said that when he asked the man if he had punctured his tyre, he denied it in a hostile manner.
There was a heated exchange and it was only when Mr Tan asked to search the man's bags and threatened to call the police that the man apologised and confessed.
He also showed Mr Tan the screwdriver which he had used to puncture the tyre.
'I patted him on the shoulder, told him that we were all just trying to make a living and asked him what he got out of puncturing our bicycle tyres.
'When he heard that, he calmed down and said sorry. He looked like he wanted to cry and asked me to let him go.'
When approached by The New Paper, the 70-year-old man admitted he had been vandalising the bikes.
He said in a mix of Mandarin and Hokkien that he was angry that so many bicycles were parked along the walkways and found them an eyesore.
'These bicycle owners park everywhere, it looks so messy. So I punctured their tyres. I have been tolerating the bikes for very long.
'Now I regret it and I know I was wrong. They were wrong to park the bicycles so haphazardly, but I shouldn't have resorted to damaging their bicycles.'
He claimed he had thrown away the screwdriver which he used to commit mischief.
He also claimed that he had punctured bicycle tyres only once - on the day that MrTan caught him - and that he had done so on impulse.
Mr Tan said: 'I hope that after this incident, the old man will know what's right and what's wrong, and that we can have a more gracious society.'
