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Condo resident Ramesh Erramalli apologises to security officer he verbally abused

SINGAPORE — Eight Riversuites resident Ramesh Erramalli has apologised to the security officer he had verbally abused last week, the Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA) said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 30).

Mr Ramesh Erramalli apologised to the security officer he abused, Mr Steven Heng, during a meeting on Oct 30, 2019.

Mr Ramesh Erramalli apologised to the security officer he abused, Mr Steven Heng, during a meeting on Oct 30, 2019.

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SINGAPORE — Eight Riversuites resident Ramesh Erramalli has apologised to the security officer he had verbally abused last week, the Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA) said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 30).

The resident issued the apology during an hour-long meeting on Wednesday evening with the officer, whom the ACSA named as senior security supervisor (SSS) Steven Heng Woo Wee.

The abuse was captured on video which has gone viral since it was uploaded last Saturday over the Deepavali holiday weekend. In the video, a resident who identifies himself as Ramesh was seen berating a security officer over a S$10 parking fee for visitors after 11pm.

The ACSA’s honorary secretary Gary Haris, who was present at Wednesday’s meeting along with Mr Raj Joshua Thomas, president of the Security Association of Singapore (SAS), said in the Facebook post that Mr Erramalli was “very remorseful” and had apologised to Mr Heng many times during the hour-long meeting. It was not stated where the meeting took place.

“Mr (Erramalli) addressed SSS Steven as 'Uncle Steven' and said he has known Uncle Steven quite well as he has had conversations with SSS Steven before when he was patrolling the estate.”

The security officer had once gone to Mr Erramalli’s home to help with an issue with his water tap, Mr Haris said.

Reflecting on the dispute, Mr Erramalli said that he was worked up over the condo’s rule of collecting S$10 fees for overnight parking and that he did not mean to hurt or harm Mr Heng, Mr Haris said.

“SSS Steven also acknowledged that Mr (Erramalli) was a friendly and approachable resident and always addressed him as Uncle Steven,” Mr Haris said.

“He had forgiven Mr (Erramalli) wholeheartedly and thanked him for coming personally to apologise to him.

“SSS Steven also urges everyone to forgive Mr (Erramalli) and forget this unfortunate incident.”

In a separate Facebook post, SAS president Thomas described Mr Erramalli’s apology as “heartfelt and very sincere”.

“Steven was gracious in accepting the apology and emphasising to Ramesh that he had not then, nor now, held any hard feelings regarding the incident,” Mr Thomas said.

“Steven hoped that Ramesh and his family had remained safe during this trying time.”

Mr Erramalli said during the meeting that the person in the video is “not reflective of who he really is”, Mr Thomas said.

“Having met him this evening, I believe him. All of us have lost our temper and said something we regretted at some time or other, later realising that we could have done better,” he added.

In the video, Mr Erramalli is heard yelling at the security officer: “I bought your f***ing property for S$1.5 million, you know? This is S$1.5 million, okay?”

After the security officer tells him he would let the management know of the situation, the resident replies: “Tell the management to f*** off.”

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Since the video of the dispute was circulated online, many online users have lambasted Mr Erramalli for his behaviour, with some identifying him as an employee of multinational investment bank JP Morgan.

Mr Erramalli posted in an Eight Riversuites Facebook group on Saturday that he had received more than 200 threatening calls.

Mr Thomas said on Wednesday that while society bands together quickly “when we see something that we feel is unjust”, it should not do so “to destroy people or their lives”.

“Singaporeans, like both Ramesh and Steven, deserve to live in our own country without fear or abuse — online or offline,” he said.

Mr Thomas said that the focus now should be on how the authorities can address the issues that security officers face on the ground, and improve their working conditions.

Mr Haris hopes that management councils and managing agents at condos will do more to create awareness of estate rules and by-laws so that frontline security personnel are not put in a difficult position when enforcing them.

Related topics

Ramesh Erramalli Eight Riversuites condo parking lot security guard verbal abuse

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