Woman who shouted and chased away shoppers at Sungei Road flea market not NEA officer as she claimed

The NEA has clarified that a woman involved in a dispute at the Sungei Road flea market is not an NEA officer as she claimed.

In an earlier Stomp article published on Jun 23, it was reported that the woman was trying to chase people away from the market. A video posted on Everyday SG showed her shouting at another woman.

She was then confronted by a passerby, who told her that she had no right to what she was doing.

She responded by saying that she was an NEA official, but the passerby doubted her claim.

Said an NEA spokesperson in response to a Stomp query:

"NEA is aware of a video that is circulating online where a woman claims to be a NEA officer at the Sungei Road Hawking Zone (SRHZ). 

"NEA would like to clarify that the woman is not an NEA officer. 

"NEA’s standard protocol requires our officers to first identify themselves with their authority cards bearing their photos and card numbers. 

"Should members of the public require further verification of an officer’s identity, they can contact the NEA Contact Centre and provide the Contact Centre with the name and authority card number of the officer."

In a video of a separate incident at the flea market that was stitched together with the first, a vendor can be seen in a heated dispute with a customer whom he claimed took an item from his stall without permission.

The vendor managed to hit the customer several times while hurling vulgarities at him in front of several NEA officials.

Thankfully, with the help of the officers, the dispute died down and the customer walked away.

Said the NEA about the second incident:

"The same video also captured an incident where our officers witnessed a dispute that happened on 21 June 2017 between a SRHZ user and his customer. 

"Our officers assisted to prevent the situation from escalating."