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New Paper
4 April 2009
When his name is smeared on the Net...
He tracks down online attacker
By Desmond Ng
A HAIRSTYLIST was perplexed when his business began nosediving suddenly last year.
He received fewer calls and, worse, some regular clients cancelled their appointments.
Mr Kenny Tan, 30, who has been running a hair salon in his Hougang flat for the past two years, said his business dropped by more than 50 per cent.
Suspecting something amiss, he did an online search for his name and found the likely source of his problems.
Someone had criticised his services under an assumed name on a popular fashion and beauty website last May.
The person who went by the name 'AmandaS' had posted: 'Cut my hair into holes... Perm my hair bloat up... Appointment was said to be at 9am, end up delay to 10am when I reach there at 9.15am.
'I believe his webpage is kind of bullshit. Please don't go there, regret forever. I now need to get any haircut to save my haircut.'
The remarks angered Mr Tan.
'I was very agitated when I read the post. The accusations were not true,' he told The New Paper.
'Even if this person was unhappy with my services, he should have told me directly so that I can rectify it. It's just irresponsible to do such a thing.'
He recalled that several clients called to cancel their appointments at about the same time the comments were posted online.
'It was strange because all of a sudden, my business started to slow down tremendously,' he added.
Mr Tan said he had no idea who posted the comments and felt helpless because he thought that there was nothing he could do about it.
But he refused to just accept the online abuse, so he called the police, who advised him to make a magistrate's complaint.
After he made the complaint, the police managed to track down the person who posted the comments.
Mr Tan came face to face with his online attacker during a mediation session at the Subordinate Courts last December.
It turned out that AmandaS is actually Jackson Lim, a 19-year-old polytechnic student who had gone to Mr Tan to perm his hair last year.
No complaints
Mr Tan said he remembered Jackson as a customer, but he did not complain about the services then.
During the mediation, Jackson admitted his mistake, Mr Tan said.
Mr Tan said he would let the matter rest and not take up a civil suit against him, provided that he remove his comments on the website, apologise online to him and place an apology notice in The Straits Times Classifieds section.
IN BLACK AND WHITE: Mr Tan holds up the formal apology issued to him by Jackson. The notice which appeared in The Straits Times on 28 Mar. TNP PICTURES: DESMOND NG
In the notice which was published last Saturday, Jackson apologised to Mr Tan for the wrongful accusation of his hairstyling service in a website forum. He said the advertisement served as a gesture of his sincere apology.
Mr Tan said the online apology helped boost his business - a few new clients have called him since.
'But some damage has been done. My reputation has been affected and this is my livelihood we're talking about. I've lost some clients,' he said.
Jackson's father, taxi driver Lim See Thim, who accompanied his son to court, said he paid about $600 for the apology notice.
Said the 58-year-old in Mandarin: 'My son said that he posted the comments online because he didn't like his (Mr Tan) services. I think it's a small matter and we've already settled it.
'I've wasted enough time going to court. I just want to settle the issue and forget about it.'
Lawyer Roy Yeo said that in such circumstances, the hairdresser could possibly sue for defamation, loss of business and reputation.
Mr Tan's case shows that people who hide behind an online monicker to flame someone in cyberspace can still be caught and suffer the consequences.
Said Mr Yeo: 'If the comments are defamatory, there are ways to find out who posted the comments and to trace the person.'
New Paper
4 April 2009
When his name is smeared on the Net...
He tracks down online attacker
By Desmond Ng
A HAIRSTYLIST was perplexed when his business began nosediving suddenly last year.
He received fewer calls and, worse, some regular clients cancelled their appointments.
Mr Kenny Tan, 30, who has been running a hair salon in his Hougang flat for the past two years, said his business dropped by more than 50 per cent.
Suspecting something amiss, he did an online search for his name and found the likely source of his problems.
Someone had criticised his services under an assumed name on a popular fashion and beauty website last May.
The person who went by the name 'AmandaS' had posted: 'Cut my hair into holes... Perm my hair bloat up... Appointment was said to be at 9am, end up delay to 10am when I reach there at 9.15am.
'I believe his webpage is kind of bullshit. Please don't go there, regret forever. I now need to get any haircut to save my haircut.'
The remarks angered Mr Tan.
'I was very agitated when I read the post. The accusations were not true,' he told The New Paper.
'Even if this person was unhappy with my services, he should have told me directly so that I can rectify it. It's just irresponsible to do such a thing.'
He recalled that several clients called to cancel their appointments at about the same time the comments were posted online.
'It was strange because all of a sudden, my business started to slow down tremendously,' he added.
Mr Tan said he had no idea who posted the comments and felt helpless because he thought that there was nothing he could do about it.
But he refused to just accept the online abuse, so he called the police, who advised him to make a magistrate's complaint.
After he made the complaint, the police managed to track down the person who posted the comments.
Mr Tan came face to face with his online attacker during a mediation session at the Subordinate Courts last December.
It turned out that AmandaS is actually Jackson Lim, a 19-year-old polytechnic student who had gone to Mr Tan to perm his hair last year.
No complaints
Mr Tan said he remembered Jackson as a customer, but he did not complain about the services then.
During the mediation, Jackson admitted his mistake, Mr Tan said.
Mr Tan said he would let the matter rest and not take up a civil suit against him, provided that he remove his comments on the website, apologise online to him and place an apology notice in The Straits Times Classifieds section.
IN BLACK AND WHITE: Mr Tan holds up the formal apology issued to him by Jackson. The notice which appeared in The Straits Times on 28 Mar. TNP PICTURES: DESMOND NG
In the notice which was published last Saturday, Jackson apologised to Mr Tan for the wrongful accusation of his hairstyling service in a website forum. He said the advertisement served as a gesture of his sincere apology.
Mr Tan said the online apology helped boost his business - a few new clients have called him since.
'But some damage has been done. My reputation has been affected and this is my livelihood we're talking about. I've lost some clients,' he said.
Jackson's father, taxi driver Lim See Thim, who accompanied his son to court, said he paid about $600 for the apology notice.
Said the 58-year-old in Mandarin: 'My son said that he posted the comments online because he didn't like his (Mr Tan) services. I think it's a small matter and we've already settled it.
'I've wasted enough time going to court. I just want to settle the issue and forget about it.'
Lawyer Roy Yeo said that in such circumstances, the hairdresser could possibly sue for defamation, loss of business and reputation.
Mr Tan's case shows that people who hide behind an online monicker to flame someone in cyberspace can still be caught and suffer the consequences.
Said Mr Yeo: 'If the comments are defamatory, there are ways to find out who posted the comments and to trace the person.'
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