http://www.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20090812-160664.html
They even posted his car details
IT IS usually a hush-hush world, where men seeking flesh hide behind the anonymity of nicknames and phone messages to pay for their illicit and illegal liaisons.
But the cover one man hid behind has been blown wide open by his fellow pleasure-seekers. They were angry that he had broken the rules of engagement.
The reason for their anger? The man had allegedly robbed a freelance prostitute he had visited.
So the netizens, these self-styled 'net cowboys', went to work to expose and uncover him.
The online forum, which is used by many to find illegal freelance liaisons, is now abuzz about the incident, which allegedly happened last month.
One netizen first posted a thread shortly after the incident took place, which he claimed he had heard about first-hand from the prostitute herself.
Within hours of the thread being posted, 'net cowboys' managed to dig up and post information about the alleged robber, a man in his 30s, who is also a member of the forum.
An excerpt from the original post read: 'Please caution the freelancers you are helping if they come across a white Lexus RS or a Toyota Harrier...
'I wanted to expose his full vehicle number and handphone number but I will leave it to the girl to take action against him by law (sic).'
Other 'net cowboys' who read the post swung into action, and managed to find the alleged robber's forum nickname, real name, address, IC number, phone number and even details about his car.
Another netizen posted a link to the website of the company where the man works, and yet another managed to find his picture.
The forum thread on which the man's personal information was published has since been deleted.
The New Paper tried calling the man on his handphone, but our calls went unanswered.
We also tried contacting the man at his workplace but were told that there was 'no such person' working there.
It is not the first time the man has drawn flak from netizens on the forum. He had gained notoriety in 2004 for an incident where he allegedly did not pay a freelance prostitute after she had serviced him.
At the time, the man had allegedly justified his actions by claiming he 'was not happy' with the prostitute's services.
He had responded to the allegations at the time, saying he had threatened not to pay the prostitute 'in a fit of anger', because she did not want to 'finish the job'.
He claimed the prostitute then told him she would 'rather not earn his money'.
He wrote: 'When I heard this, I got angry and left without saying a word. But I regretted doing that.'
In the most recent expose, netizens criticised the man for his dishonest behaviour.
One wrote: 'While there are a few hot-blooded guys (on this forum), there are a lot many more level-headed ones who are maintaining order here.
'It is very heartening that these level-headed people are as furious as I am with the cowardly actions of this bully. I know they will not let him get away with it.'
The netizen then urged other tech-savvy forum members to 'do the right thing' by exposing the man on blogs and social networking sites.
'Unless he is exposed, he will continue to bully other freelancers. We should not worry about his job, his family, et cetera. He brought it all upon himself,' the netizen wrote.
Unrepentant
The man later confessed on the forum to having taken $81 from the freelance prostitute, and offered to compensate her to appease the netizens.
But they were not prepared to let things go so easily.
Some netizens started a new discussion thread on the forum, calling the man 'unrepentant'.
Wrote one netizen: 'Why did he take two weeks before coming forth to return the money when somebody threatens to expose his address? So what is the big deal that he has returned the money? He is not doing it out of remorse.
'If he is really remorseful for his actions, he would have stopped all his nonsense in 2004 when he was confronted.'
But not all netizens are in favour of the expose the forum members have started.
One started a discussion thread on another forum, criticising the forum members for taking the law into their own hands.
He wrote: 'Such actions should not be condoned, especially in a country such as Singapore.
'If they really carry out their own punishment, some lives could be threatened.'
He added that up to three similar witch-hunts had been carried out in the last week.
'These could be the tip of the iceberg. Usually, the victims would suffer in silence as they do not dare to go to the police for help.'
Lawyer Amolat Singh told The New Paper that the man may have legal recourse against these online vigilantes.
'The accusations that were made towards the man have not been ascertained as truth or fact. Hence they are already defamatory, and the man has recourse,' he said.
He added, however, that truth is a defence in defamation.
'In suing for defamation, the man may have to spill the beans and hence, 'score an own goal' because he would have to reveal more information than he originally wanted to,' he said.
He added that Singapore does not currently have anti-privacy laws to safeguard against unauthorised release of personal information.
He said: 'Of course, when banks are concerned, there are guidelines stating that the information clients reveal to them are only to be used by them and are not for other purposes.
Defamation
'However, in this case, revealing personal information would still be under defamation. Because by itself, revealing the person's name, car plate number, or company is not really 'bad', but because it is related to the accusations, it can come under defamation.'
In Singapore, prostitution is legal but prostitution-related activities - such as pimping and public solicitation - are not.
'While is is not a crime to engage such services in exchange for monetary payment, the whole transaction is considered against public policy,' Mr Singh said.
In this case, clients who fail to pay for the services of a prostitute cannot be prosecuted by the court.
'The court will not uphold such an agreement,' he said.
Additional reporting by Benita Aw-Yeong, newsroom intern
They even posted his car details
IT IS usually a hush-hush world, where men seeking flesh hide behind the anonymity of nicknames and phone messages to pay for their illicit and illegal liaisons.
But the cover one man hid behind has been blown wide open by his fellow pleasure-seekers. They were angry that he had broken the rules of engagement.
The reason for their anger? The man had allegedly robbed a freelance prostitute he had visited.
So the netizens, these self-styled 'net cowboys', went to work to expose and uncover him.
The online forum, which is used by many to find illegal freelance liaisons, is now abuzz about the incident, which allegedly happened last month.
One netizen first posted a thread shortly after the incident took place, which he claimed he had heard about first-hand from the prostitute herself.
Within hours of the thread being posted, 'net cowboys' managed to dig up and post information about the alleged robber, a man in his 30s, who is also a member of the forum.
An excerpt from the original post read: 'Please caution the freelancers you are helping if they come across a white Lexus RS or a Toyota Harrier...
'I wanted to expose his full vehicle number and handphone number but I will leave it to the girl to take action against him by law (sic).'
Other 'net cowboys' who read the post swung into action, and managed to find the alleged robber's forum nickname, real name, address, IC number, phone number and even details about his car.
Another netizen posted a link to the website of the company where the man works, and yet another managed to find his picture.
The forum thread on which the man's personal information was published has since been deleted.
The New Paper tried calling the man on his handphone, but our calls went unanswered.
We also tried contacting the man at his workplace but were told that there was 'no such person' working there.
It is not the first time the man has drawn flak from netizens on the forum. He had gained notoriety in 2004 for an incident where he allegedly did not pay a freelance prostitute after she had serviced him.
At the time, the man had allegedly justified his actions by claiming he 'was not happy' with the prostitute's services.
He had responded to the allegations at the time, saying he had threatened not to pay the prostitute 'in a fit of anger', because she did not want to 'finish the job'.
He claimed the prostitute then told him she would 'rather not earn his money'.
He wrote: 'When I heard this, I got angry and left without saying a word. But I regretted doing that.'
In the most recent expose, netizens criticised the man for his dishonest behaviour.
One wrote: 'While there are a few hot-blooded guys (on this forum), there are a lot many more level-headed ones who are maintaining order here.
'It is very heartening that these level-headed people are as furious as I am with the cowardly actions of this bully. I know they will not let him get away with it.'
The netizen then urged other tech-savvy forum members to 'do the right thing' by exposing the man on blogs and social networking sites.
'Unless he is exposed, he will continue to bully other freelancers. We should not worry about his job, his family, et cetera. He brought it all upon himself,' the netizen wrote.
Unrepentant
The man later confessed on the forum to having taken $81 from the freelance prostitute, and offered to compensate her to appease the netizens.
But they were not prepared to let things go so easily.
Some netizens started a new discussion thread on the forum, calling the man 'unrepentant'.
Wrote one netizen: 'Why did he take two weeks before coming forth to return the money when somebody threatens to expose his address? So what is the big deal that he has returned the money? He is not doing it out of remorse.
'If he is really remorseful for his actions, he would have stopped all his nonsense in 2004 when he was confronted.'
But not all netizens are in favour of the expose the forum members have started.
One started a discussion thread on another forum, criticising the forum members for taking the law into their own hands.
He wrote: 'Such actions should not be condoned, especially in a country such as Singapore.
'If they really carry out their own punishment, some lives could be threatened.'
He added that up to three similar witch-hunts had been carried out in the last week.
'These could be the tip of the iceberg. Usually, the victims would suffer in silence as they do not dare to go to the police for help.'
Lawyer Amolat Singh told The New Paper that the man may have legal recourse against these online vigilantes.
'The accusations that were made towards the man have not been ascertained as truth or fact. Hence they are already defamatory, and the man has recourse,' he said.
He added, however, that truth is a defence in defamation.
'In suing for defamation, the man may have to spill the beans and hence, 'score an own goal' because he would have to reveal more information than he originally wanted to,' he said.
He added that Singapore does not currently have anti-privacy laws to safeguard against unauthorised release of personal information.
He said: 'Of course, when banks are concerned, there are guidelines stating that the information clients reveal to them are only to be used by them and are not for other purposes.
Defamation
'However, in this case, revealing personal information would still be under defamation. Because by itself, revealing the person's name, car plate number, or company is not really 'bad', but because it is related to the accusations, it can come under defamation.'
In Singapore, prostitution is legal but prostitution-related activities - such as pimping and public solicitation - are not.
'While is is not a crime to engage such services in exchange for monetary payment, the whole transaction is considered against public policy,' Mr Singh said.
In this case, clients who fail to pay for the services of a prostitute cannot be prosecuted by the court.
'The court will not uphold such an agreement,' he said.
Additional reporting by Benita Aw-Yeong, newsroom intern
