Sengkang HDB estate cleaner poses for photo of himself cleaning, but allegedly leaves corridor unswept

Did this cleaner put up a pretence for a photo op, or is it simply a misunderstanding?

An estate cleaner has drawn flak from netizens after he was caught posing for his colleague to take a photo of him at work at around 6.30pm on Oct 6.

CCTV footage of the incident was uploaded to TikTok by a Sengkang resident who only wanted to be known as Rafeyan on Oct 8, who expressed his disbelief over their actions.

In the 13-second-long video, a man wearing an Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) uniform can be seen trailing behind his colleague who gestures for him to stand at the end of a corridor.

He casually poses with his broom and dustpan and briefly sweeps at a spot along the corridor while his co-worker snaps a quick picture of the scene before the duo immediately leaves.

"Employee of month. Must take photo show proof," Rafeyan wrote in his caption.

It is unclear if the cleaner had already swept the corridor that day, and returned to take the photo.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@nasigorengpedastknksayur/video/7287416474816302344[/embed]

Rafeyan told AsiaOne that he did not report the incident as "this is not the first time".

Several netizens sympathised with Rafeyan, claiming that similar incidents have occurred in other estates such as Bukit Panjang and Punggol. 

However, others said that photo-taking is a "common practice" and "protocol", and this incident could be a misunderstanding. 

"They need to report to office," a user explained.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, the Sengkang Town Council said that they are aware of the video circulating on TikTok and have addressed the issue with their contractor and AHTC.

"We wish to clarify that we require our contractor, from time to time, to take photographs of the areas cleaned and the cleaner(s) assigned for our evaluation," a spokesperson said on Oct 14.

The town council added: "It has come to our attention that our new contractor had mistakenly distributed AHTC's uniform to their staff. We regret that this may have led to some confusion amongst our residents."

ALSO READ: 'He's not a machine': Sengkang resident gets schooled after calling out cleaner for using phone

lim.kewei@asiaone.com