Woman sees drone outside her 17th floor toilet window in Pasir Ris; police investigating

SINGAPORE — The police are investigating after a Pasir Ris resident reported seeing a drone outside the toilet window of her 17th floor apartment.

In a post last Thursday (May 2), Facebook user Amelia Yeo said that she had noticed something flying outside her window while showering at around 5pm that day.

Ms Yeo said that her toilet window “is always open” as she lives on the 17th floor and “nothing is directly outside”.

“So I assumed there was no privacy issue,” she wrote.

She added that she initially thought the object was a plane, as she “lives quite near the airport”.

“But then, I saw it fly past and back again,” Ms Yeo said.

She added: “Turns out it was a drone. It was about 50-100m away from my toilet window and it was definitely able to look right in (with a perfect view of me showering).”

The drone headed towards Elias Green condominium, and then flew back in the direction it had come from, towards Ris Grandeur condominium, Ms Yeo noted.

After consulting with friends, Ms Yeo made a police report at the Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre, which “immediately sent officers down to (her) place”.

“They told me they scoured the area but were unable to find the drone operator,” she said.

Ms Yeo added that an investigating officer told her that the drone flying was illegal on two counts as it constitutes an outrage of modesty and a breach of a no-fly zone in Pasir Ris.

Confirming with TODAY on Thursday (May 9) that a report has been lodged, the police said that “investigations are ongoing”. 

A check on the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore’s (CAAS) website showed that the area where the drone was sighted was within 5km of an airport or airbase.

A Class 2 Activity Permit is required to fly unmanned aircraft within 5km of flight operations, according to CAAS’ website.

Ms Yeo ended her post with a plea to residents — especially those on high floors — to be “mindful of what’s outside your windows”.

In a comment on her post on Wednesday (May 8), Ms Yeo wrote that the police had changed the offence from outrage of modesty to harassment.

She added: “As for whether the drone managed to film anything else or invade on anyone's privacy, I do not know.”