In a move that has surprised and dismayed many Singaporean netizens, the condominium management of Eight Riversuites has replaced the firm who contracts Senior Security Officer Steven Heng Hoo Wee.
This move, however, has been months in the works as some residents have been filing complaints over the security firm. The change is a scheduled one, according to the report.
The condominium management firm that handles Eight Riversuites declined to comment when asked about the change. Alpine Security has taken over from K H Security Agency, which Steven is a part of.
The company that employs Steven says that the guards were merely relocated to other responsibilities, and that no one was terminated.
This comes after an apology was described in a statement from the Association of Certified Security Agencies. Ramesh Erramalli, the JP Morgan banker and condo resident profused apologized to “Uncle Steven,” and said that the former was upset over a $10 parking fee being imposed on his guests on the OCtober 27 weekend.
A video of Ramesh verbally abusing Steven with curse words, harsh tones, and the famous line of being able to buy a condominium for $1.5 million went viral. Some netizens went so far as to investigate public work history information and educational background of the verbal abuser, accusing the man of obtaining a diploma from an alleged diploma mill, and questioning how he was able to live and buy a condo in Singapore.
The apology was only described in the ACSA statement, with no actual apology being published on Ramesh’s social media platform.
Netizens and a tenant disappointed over change in security at condo
While the ordinary Singaporean has little say or care about who handles the security concerns of one specific building, the fact that the change had come on the heels of an incredibly tense time for condo management and security has caused Singaporeans to ask questions and express their dismay.
A tenant expressed that she did not want to change security firms in a report from The Straits Times.
What happened with Ramesh Erramalli and Uncle Steven?
According to a previous report, the JP Morgan banker was caught on a viral video hurling insults at the security guard on duty on October 27, who happened to be Senior Security Officer Steven Heng Hoo Wee.
In the video, Ramesh told Steven that he paid $1.5 million for the condominium and that he disagreed with the rule. Throughout Ramesh’s tirade, Steven remained calm, even as Ramesh stormed out of the conversation and drove into the parking lot.
When the video went viral on Singapore online groups, Ramesh even commented on it to explain his side, saying that the condo management was charging him or his guests $10 for the parking space they were taking up if they stayed past 11:00 pm. While this practice isn’t prohibited, most condominiums in Singapore do not charge for parking.
Netizens were quick to roast Ramesh, but mostly for his demeaning and arrogant comments to Steven. Security guard organizations and even the government decried the verbal abuse, but the latter pleaded with the public not to bully Ramesh.
Still, Ramesh’s publicly-available work information was divulged, and one netizen even went all the way to the man’s alleged college in India, revealing school details and even posing as an interested student.
The government also had to clarify that Ramesh was able to live in Singapore since his wife was Singaporean, and not through a work permit or visa.
A petition has also been launched on Change.org calling for the dismissal of Ramesh from his job as a banker at JP Morgan in light of his behaviour towards a blue collar worker.
It has just over 40,000 signatures as of publishing.
