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Verbal, face-to-face, over the phone or online.
These days, impersonators, stalkers and bullies
are aggressively crossing the line in the most destructive ways possible.
In a recent case,
a 65-year old lady was violently attacked by her neighbour who had been verbally harassing
her family for the past month. Grassroots leaders and even the police had been called
in, but the harassment did not stop. The attack was caught on the CCTV cameras which the family
installed and the footage went viral online.
Netizens decried the act.
Many questioned how serious an act of harassment had to be before the law stepped in.
On the web, harsh words and nasty accusations amongst netizens are common
but when bullies take to the keyboard, it can get brutal.
A university student became the target of vicious comments on Facebook
after writing an opinion piece in a student publication. She questioned the scholarship
program she was enrolled in, saying it unfairly penalised less well-off students like her.
The biting Facebook comments which followed
were made by her own peers within the campus community.
In another case, a doctor at a local general hospital became the target of
an online witch-hunt after a netizen allegedly impersonated her and posted offensive comments
on Facebook.
Netizens flamed her after her personal details and photos were uncovered
and posted all over the internet. The events caused the doctor and her family distress
and anguish, but not much could be done with the identity of the culprit unknown.
The viral and permanent nature of information on the internet can amplify the effects of bullying.
When victims of harassment find that there are limited avenues they can turn to for help,
the anguish can drive one to the edge. In December 2010, a 16 year-old student committed
suicide by jumping from her apartment building.
In what was believed to be the first case of cyber-bullying death in Singapore,
the victim's boyfriend accused her of being a 'loose woman' on Facebook
after she broke up with him.
While her suicide note did not mention the boyfriend specifically,
there was no denying that the online flaming played a big part in this tragedy.
Society evolves, attitudes change, values shift over time.
All this while, technological progress has blurred the lines between reality and the
cyber world.
With the pervasiveness of social media platforms, bullies and aggressors now
find easier ways to torment their victims. Singapore's laws need to keep up with these
trends so that victims who need help and protection can get them. What more can be done to adequately
protect the victims of harassment in Singapore? How can our laws be strengthened to help them?