Man allegedly shoves boy, 5, at indoor Yishun playground
Boy's mother posts video on Facebook, prompting online criticism of both her and the man
A man has been caught on video allegedly lashing out at a five-year-old boy at an indoor playground in Yishun.
He was apparently annoyed with the boy for pestering one of his two young daughters.
The boy's mother, Madam Ow May Chen, posted the CCTV footage of the incident at Sunshine Childhood Playland at Northpoint City on Facebook on Monday night.
Describing her son as naive and defenceless, she wrote: "Is this how a parent should treat other children?"
The clip has had more than 14,000 views and was shared 170 times on Facebook.
The police told The New Paper a report has been made and investigations are ongoing.
The clip shows a couple and their two little girls playing in a section of the playground before the boy enters.
When the boy tries to grab a toy spade from the man, he swings his foot at the boy, who dodges it.
The man later flings the spade away, narrowly missing the boy.
As the boy continues to hover around the family, the man pushes him away with his arm.
The boy then uses both hands to hit the man on the back, and he retaliates with a more forceful push, causing the boy to almost fall onto a slide.
Madam Ow shows up soon after and takes her son away.
TNP understands she had been with her 10-year-old daughter at another section of the playground.
Playground rules state children aged five and below must be accompanied by an adult.
Two of its workers were in another section during the incident.
When TNP visited the playground yesterday, its operators declined to comment.
Madam Ow said in her Facebook post: "We are just so shocked and sad after watching (the) CCTV footage."
In a subsequent post, she said the man denied touching her son when she confronted him.
She has since removed the post and the video clip.
Some netizens took the man to task for lashing out at a child. Facebook user Pamela Leah commented: "This man is acting like a school bully and his wife is just sitting there like a statue."
But others said Madam Ow should have supervised her son, who Facebook user Kelly Tan described as mischievous, instead of leaving him to his own devices.
Dr Carol Balhetchet, who often deals with children as a clinical psychologist in private practice, said: "The child is five and is learning to socialise with other children.
"As parents, we are role models to them and this (incident) will show a child that this is how their parents solve problems."
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