SINGAPORE — What was meant to be a relaxing weekend afternoon of a movie and dinner with a friend turned into an unplanned running session for Mr Chai Wen Hao, when he ended up chasing after a man who allegedly took an upskirt image of his friend.

A video of the incident, which has gone viral on his social media account, has drawn many positive comments from netizens, who praised him for his bravery and civic mindedness and made good-natured jibes over his lack of stamina.

The alleged offender, aged 46, has since been arrested for alleged voyeurism, the police said on Thursday (June 15) in response to TODAY's queries. Investigations are ongoing, they added.

The video, uploaded on Sunday on TikTok account kamehao, has already garnered more than 654,000 views and attracted some 45,600 likes and almost 1,400 comments.

The two-minute video shows a man in a T-shirt, shorts and slippers running in the Balestier Road area, with Mr Chai, 35, straggling behind in pursuit.

“I’m lagging behind because I’m running out of stamina,” Mr Chai wrote in the in-video caption.

The video then cuts to a point-of-view clip filmed by Mr Chai, showing the man that he was chasing entering a car park.

In between loud gasps, Mr Chai can be heard commenting off-camera as he closed in on the man: “So this guy … suspected … to be … taking video of upskirt”.

The video then cuts to Mr Chai questioning the man, with the latter allegedly apologising and saying that he would not repeat his alleged actions.

Mr Chai said in the video that a Grab driver had helped to call the authorities. Police officers were later seen talking to the man at the end of the video.

In their response to TODAY, the police said that they were alerted to a case of alleged voyeurism at 352 Balestier Road on June 11 at 6.28pm.

Speaking to TODAY on Thursday, Mr Chai, a freelancer in the media industry, said that the incident happened as he and his friend were on the way to dinner after catching a movie at Shaw Plaza.

While they were walking up a pedestrian bridge, his friend allegedly felt something touch the back of her legs and saw a man behind her allegedly behaving suspiciously while holding a phone.

Mr Chai and his friend, who does not wish to be identified, then followed the man with the intention to confront him.

“He acted like he was talking on the phone. But if you’re on the phone, the screen is usually dark; I saw that his phone was actually still (allegedly) on the home screen,” Mr Chai said.

He said that when they approached him at the nearby bus stop and told him they wanted to ask questions and take a look at his phone, the man darted off, prompting Mr Chai to run after him.

Although the chase was “very short”, Mr Chai said he was actually on the brink of giving up towards the end of the video.

“I took out my phone because I wanted to give up already. So I thought if I can record something, I can still show the police or something,” he said.

“Luckily enough, he also gave up (running) already.”

LET HIM SKIP IPPT

Commenters on the video praised Mr Chai while poking gentle fun at his lack of stamina.

“Not all heroes wear capes, some run out of stamina,” wrote one TikTok user.

“Bro, need to do IPPT. You lucky the other guy never do IPPT,” commented another user, referring to the Individual Physical Proficiency Test that National Servicemen need to take annually.

Another user suggested that Mr Chai be let off the test as a reward for his bravery.

Mr Chai told TODAY that he actually failed his latest IPPT, and attributed it mainly to doing poorly in the running component of the test.

"That's why I run until so 'jialat'," he quipped, using a Hokkien word meaning "energy sapping". 

He said that a few years ago, he was actually a lot fitter and had an active lifestyle.

“I used to swim and do rock climbing. Maybe (during) one week, three to four times. I (was) quite fit one, last time,” he said, chuckling.

Mr Chai said the pandemic years broke his routine and the irregular hours and late night suppers that came with his job made it more difficult for him to return to his old lifestyle.

Some commenters wrote that they had been victims of voyeurism and were appreciative of Mr Chai’s actions.

“Been a victim of upskirt videos on multiple occasions and this means so much to us girls for real. Thank you,” wrote one user.

Mr Chai said he hoped that those believing that they have been a victim of voyeurism or similar crimes would sound the alarm so that those around them can take immediate action to apprehend the suspected perpetrator.

On some netizens’ comments about him taking matters into his own hands and the police not being there to chase the suspect, Mr Chai said that it is important for members of the public to help one another.

“If you can chase, or if you can try to help, then you should help,” he said. “The police are not there all the time to witness all bad situations. So we have to help one another.”

Asked if his unexpected workout had motivated him to resume his active lifestyle, Mr Chai replied wryly: “I will try to.”