Police have officially put down all the worries of anxious parents of international school students — the kidnapping scares that emerged recently were simply cases of misunderstanding.
No shady abductors here, really. Just van drivers wanting to help students walking the streets during last week’s heavy downpour. We can only imagine their confusion when their attempts to be kind to students stranded in the rain were rewarded with police interrogations.
Here’s what actually transpired, according to an update by the Singapore Police Force.
Jan 11, United World College of South East Asia
The initial story
Parents of United World College (UWC) students got pretty shook after they received a notice about a man who apparently tried to lure a middle school student into his van while she was waiting for the bus. The teenage girl said that the man drove alongside her and called to her to hop into his vehicle.
“The student took exactly the right action: she did not respond, walked away in the opposite direction of the van, and informed a known adult,” wrote UWC head Chris Edwards in an advisory to parents. A police report was lodged, and the man was hauled in for investigations.
What actually happened
“For the first case which happened on 11 Jan 2018, the male driver had offered a ride to the student from United World College of South East Asia as it was raining that day. The parent of the student had been updated on the findings, and they were relieved that it was a case of misunderstanding.”
Jan 16, Tanglin Trust School
The initial story
A student was walking to the school along Portsdown Road, near one-north, when a white van stopped near her. The two occupants of the van apparently “tried to entice” the senior school student to get in, remaining persistent even after she ignored them.
“Fortunately, the student ignored the invitation and arrived at school safely,” wrote Tanglin Trust School CEO Peter Derby-Crook in his email to parents.
A police report was lodged, and they called in a woman involved in the incident for investigations.
What actually happened
“For the second case which was reported on 16 Jan 2018, a female bus attendant on a school bus from Tanglin Trust School noticed the student wearing the uniform of Tanglin Trust School walking towards the school. As the school bus was going to the school, the female bus attendant offered the student a ride. The school bus however did not bear the name or logo of the school. The student declined the offer as she had earlier read a school circular advising them to be wary of strangers offering rides to students. The Police has since clarified with the student that no persons had alighted from the school bus to persuade her to board it.”
Though it might have inconvenienced the two kind-hearted folks, who could really blame the kids for refusing the ride and reporting the episode to their teachers and parents? The first thing every responsible parent teaches their school-going children is to never trust strangers, especially the ones inviting you into their unmarked vans.
That being said, it really is up to the individual to decide if it’s safe to accept help from strangers — but we all know for sure that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Reader Interactions