SINGAPORE — A recent viral video on Instagram and Reddit of Ms Ching Shu Yi, an actress and theatre practitioner, confronting a man for allegedly filming her without consent has led to online users praising her for her bravery.

A man claiming to be an off-duty police officer, who was seen assisting Ms Ching later in the video, also received praise for his quick reaction.

The man who was confronted by Ms Ching did not appear to have taken obscene videos of her.

The police said in response to TODAY’s query that they can confirm a police report has been made.

AsiaOne news site reported that the incident happened last Friday (Aug 18). Ms Ching — who has acted in Mediacorp dramas such as Tanglin — filmed herself confronting the man and published the video on her personal Instagram account two days later.

The video shows her persistently following the man from an escalator and through the car park of Plaza Singapura mall.

“You took a video of me! Hello! Without my consent!” Ms Ching shouts at the man. 

As she threatens to call the police, the man can be seen pressing his phone.

He says to her: “I delete everything, okay? I’m sorry.”

He then shows Ms Ching what he had done.

Ms Ching continues following him, questioning his intentions for taking videos of her earlier.

On his part, he tries to evade her phone camera and not look at her, while repeatedly apologising and sighing loudly at one point.

“I tell you ‘sorry’ already, right? Please forgive me,” he says.

As the pair was at a stairwell of the car park, a voice is heard off-screen, asking if Ms Ching needed help. 

Unknown to her, another man, who claimed to be an off-duty police officer, had witnessed her confrontation as he passed by the pair while on the escalator, and had caught up with them at that moment.

The man identifies himself as an off-duty police officer to the other man, presenting what appears to be an identification card and firmly asking for him to stop moving away.  

As the other man apologises, the one who claimed to be a police officer says that “there’s nothing to be sorry about”, and that they should “find out what happened first”.

The video ends when the man who intervened asks Ms Ching to call the police. 

As of Tuesday evening, the original Instagram post has received 1,721 likes and 172 comments.

The video was later uploaded on online forum Reddit, where it has amassed 817 upvotes and 386 comments. 

Responding to TODAY's queries, Ms Ching said that her first thoughts were not to let the man get away with his alleged actions.

"But as he kept walking further and into the stairwell, I did realise the danger of being in an enclosed space with him, and I wanted to call the police but was still documenting the incident on my phone," the 30-year-old said.

Thankfully, that was when the man who said he was a police officer came to her aid, she said.

Ms Ching then posted a follow-up video later that same day on Sunday, recounting the experience and aftermath not shown in the original video. 

The follow-up video shows her sitting in a car, in tears and looking visibly distressed, detailing the experience through her own phone camera.

She recounts that she was walking around Spotlight, a fabric and craft store in Plaza Singapura when she noticed the man holding his phone as if recording a video of her as she turned the corner.

She says this was not the first time someone has recorded videos or taken pictures of her without consent, but she had never confronted those people in the past.

However, she decided she would try to locate the man this time in the store. 

As she spotted him leaving the shop, she “knew something was up” when he turned to check if she was following him and that was when she decided to pursue and confront him.  

After describing the events of the original video, Ms Ching says that the man continued asking her to “let him go” while waiting for the police to arrive on the scene. 

After the police arrived and spoke to both parties, she was informed that since the man had deleted all the videos, and that she personally did not see him take any obscene visuals, it was “legal to take photos of other people without their consent”.

However, the officers assured her that they would “confiscate” the man’s phone and conduct an “analysis” to find out what he deleted.

Speaking to TODAY, Ms Ching said that she "always regretted" not confronting others who had acted similarly to the man.

"These incidents happen every day to so many people, and people don’t talk about it because of the fear of speaking up, and being criticised and shamed. But it is important to speak up and to choose to protect ourselves,

"I will continue to stand my ground," she added. 

Her second video was also posted on Reddit.

WHAT ONLINE USERS SAY

On both Instagram and Reddit, people praised her for her bravery and the supposed off-duty police officer for his quick response and awareness. 

One Redditor wrote: “On a more serious note, kudos to her for being firm and standing up for herself. A lot of women don't dare to call out perps (for various reasons like fear of embarrassment or fear of being judged), which encourages the perps to do it to even more people. 

“The policeman deserves a compliment, too, for following them and trying to de-escalate the situation.”

Another Redditor commended Ms Ching’s efforts but warned of the dangers of her approach, writing: “I applaud her for confronting him, but following (someone) like this can be very dangerous. Especially when this unknown person is taking you into quiet car park stairwells.”

One Instagram user applauded the supposed officer and wrote: “The police officer already knew what is happening in the first few seconds of the video! Kudos for being attentive!”

Responding to her follow-up video, many users lauded Ms Ching for standing up for herself.

One Instagram user wrote: “You stood up for yourself and refused to be dismissed or to have your rights and safety overlooked. It was an incredibly brave and strong and important thing that you did. Bravo.”

However, there were also comments that focused on the legality of the other man's actions. These comments were largely met with disdain, with many questioning the morality of the man's actions, rather than its legal implications.

One Redditor wrote matter-of-factly: “If it’s in a public place and he didn’t take anything like upskirts, it’s actually legal to take pictures or videos of people. Not siding with him, just pointing out the facts”.

In response to this, another user wrote: “Yep it's legal, but I guess from a moral standpoint, isn't it weird to just take pictures or videos of strangers? Why would I go out of my way to make someone else feel uncomfortable?”

In response to comments focusing on the legality of the man's actions, Ms Ching held fast to her decision to confront the man. 

"The police officers aided me as best they can. I am grateful for what they did. But the law is what it is. I just wish every victim could and will get justice," she said. 

"It all comes down to intentions.... He violated me, and I have a right to stand up for myself and to seek justice."

In January last year, two women confronted a man along Siloso Beach at Sentosa Island for taking photographs of them, which he later admitted and apologised to them.