SDA fired after unprofessional behaviour, soliciting favours from store: ESG

Since April, safe distancing ambassadors (SDA) have been making their rounds to ensure that Singaporeans follow the Covid-19 rules. But what happens when they don't exactly behave by the book?

An SDA has been removed from service, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said in a statement today (Aug 22), following accusations which emerged on Facebook on Aug 19.

In a Facebook post, he was alleged to have abused his authority by requesting free services from Stellar, an accessory and piercing store at Century Square, and neglecting to scan the store's SafeEntry QR code.

The matter had first come to light after Facebook page Sgarooo shared closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the SDA's behaviour at the store and related the employees' complaints. 

The store owner, who was not identified, was "reluctantly" sharing his grievances and wanted to avoid "any implication from the authorities", the page said. 

In response to AsiaOne's queries, an employee at Stellar's Century Square outlet confirmed that the post was "true" and that the footage was from the store, but said she was not able to comment further.

Sgarooo went on to level several accusations against the SDA, who remains unnamed, claiming that he would visit the store "every other day" to "disturb" the staff.

When the store's employees asked him to record his visits to the store by scanning their SafeEntry QR code, he allegedly responded that he did not have to do so as he was an SDA.

He also offered to "close one eye" in return for a free ear piercing, the page asserted.

In addition to that, the page said that the man had made an employee polish his bangle "under duress", furnishing a six-minute video of the incident.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/SGAROOO/videos/226367068725128/[/embed]

In the video, the SDA was seen entering the store on July 30 at 8.12pm and walking behind the counter despite protests from the employee, who told him: "Excuse me, no entry."

"Oh this is for those people only want to do [piercing] ah [sic]? Ok I do, I do," he said in jest as he sat down on a sofa.

He then took off his bangle, telling the staff it was from "Tiffany". When she tried to hand it back to him, he gestured for her to polish it.

The SDA and staff member chatted while she proceeded to polish the bangle.

As she wrapped it up for him in a plastic sleeve, he thanked her and told her, "I like you lah."

"If good together, I don't write report," he added.

The video cut off after the staff member laughed his comment off and responded, "No next time," appearing to point at the CCTV camera.

ESG, which is in charge of the fleet of SDAs deployed to shopping malls islandwide, said they suspended the SDA on Aug 19 after they were alerted to the case through a Facebook video provided by the owner. 

"Based on our preliminary investigation, the SDA was found to have behaved unprofessionally and misused his position to solicit favours from a store in the mall, in exchange for preferential treatment during surveillance checks."

The SDA was removed from service on August 20. 

He has acknowledged the misconduct and apologised to the staff and owner of the store, ESG said. 

ESG, which has also extended its apologies to the store, added that it would continue investigations and assess if further action will be taken.

"ESG takes a serious view of any misconduct and will not hesitate to take stern action against SDAs who are found to be in breach of these professional standards.

"We will continue to educate and remind all our deployed SDAs on the strict requirement to maintain their integrity and professionalism in all engagements with businesses and members of the public."

This is not the first controversy involving an SDA.

In April, an SDA was fined $300 after he was spotted at White Sands Shopping Mall without a face mask.

In July, a woman put an SDA on blast on Facebook for asking her for her identity card to verify her gender.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com