List of No Photography area


iamnubie

Senior Member
Jul 25, 2010
678
5
18
Singapore
As far as i know for public area, especially outdoor there's no rules for no photography, except government area which is logical.

But last night i got security officer said i can't take picture at the plaza at The Cathay Dhoby Gout.
I mean, it's a beautiful building, and it's public area, i can understand if it is inside the building but why disallowed it and why people create beautifully designed building for.

I searched clubsnap about this matter and find some other places like events, concert, singapore indoor stadium premises (seriously ??), where you are not allowed to take picture

any comments or if you know other places where photography is forbidden feel free

cheers
 

In Singapore most of the buildings are under No Photography zone except park like Woodlands Waterfront, Botanic Gardens, Marina Bay, Marrina Barrage and etc. :)

.
 

so it's including ION orchard, ngee ann city, vivo city, etc ?
 

There have been several threads that go into detail about this. But to address your specific situation at Cathay...

The general rule is that you can take photos from public land, even of a private building. BUT, don't assume that once you're out of a building, you're on public land. 3 years ago I had to work with several govt agencies, among them SLA (Singapore Land Authority), to place large displays along Orchard Rd. In many cases the area beyond the building proper belonged to the building owner i.e. not public land. How far beyond the building? It varied. A lot. I was even told that the boundaries change from time to time.

Now Cathay was a odd one, cause the empty space in front of it (is that what you meant by the 'plaza'?) came under the purview of NParks -- yes, it's mostly concrete, so I have no idea why they retained control. I had to put my display right up against the building, with the owner's permission (didn't want to deal with NParks).
It's been three years, so it's possible that the boundaries/ownership has changed, but I think it's unlikely. So in theory, if you weren't shooting from inside the building, or just 2-3m outside, the guard may have overstepped his authority.

The question is, how much of a fuss do you want to kick up?

My Disclaimer: This isn't legal advice and I'm not a lawyer. I got this info just over 3 years ago, so things might have changed. Pls don't call me from jail to bail you out!
 

As far as i know for public area, especially outdoor there's no rules for no photography, except government area which is logical.

But last night i got security officer said i can't take picture at the plaza at The Cathay Dhoby Gout.
I mean, it's a beautiful building, and it's public area, i can understand if it is inside the building but why disallowed it and why people create beautifully designed building for.

I searched clubsnap about this matter and find some other places like events, concert, singapore indoor stadium premises (seriously ??), where you are not allowed to take picture

any comments or if you know other places where photography is forbidden feel free

cheers

Mate, your thread prompt me to search CS too and surprised/sad to read fellow snappers experiences. I'm just new to this hobby, and just the other day I took my aunt to the airport (which is i guess the most secured entity for being prime targets for terrorist) brought my tripod and camera and took shots in full glory in front of the security personnel (in blue) but never harassed like some others were.:sweat:

I will try to be careful and be more mindful next time, thanks for this thread.:thumbsup:
 

Mate, your thread prompt me to search CS too and surprised/sad to read fellow snappers experiences. I'm just new to this hobby, and just the other day I took my aunt to the airport (which is i guess the most secured entity for being prime targets for terrorist) brought my tripod and camera and took shots in full glory in front of the security personnel (in blue) but never harassed like some others were.:sweat:

I will try to be careful and be more mindful next time, thanks for this thread.:thumbsup:

The airport is different... There have been entire organized portraiture outings there.


From my experience, the Cisco rent-a-cops are seriously very bored and don't know the boundaries of their authority and enjoy bullying.
 

firstly, there is no privacy law that will prevent you from taking fotos.

however, when you are taking it within their premises, do understand that your presence there is not a right but a privilege which can be removed on the onus of the developer or their assigned representative, or through mata, as in you no longer have the privilege and therefore your presence is a matter of trespass.

then again, the law is so tight. imagine if you now move to the 3m planting strip which belongs to npark or even LTA land, now they cannot touch you but they can still call mata and address you as a public nuisance.

damned.. next time just say waiting for your gf to show up in her bikini. and you r not taking their building lah.
 

Mate, your thread prompt me to search CS too and surprised/sad to read fellow snappers experiences. I'm just new to this hobby, and just the other day I took my aunt to the airport (which is i guess the most secured entity for being prime targets for terrorist) brought my tripod and camera and took shots in full glory in front of the security personnel (in blue) but never harassed like some others were.:sweat:

I will try to be careful and be more mindful next time, thanks for this thread.:thumbsup:

I was stopped by security from photographing the Immigration Counter (Departure) at the Budget Terminal.
 

I was stopped by security from photographing the Immigration Counter (Departure) at the Budget Terminal.

Immigration clearance areas have always been off-limits to photography worldwide.
 

so's my house. outta bounds to photography.

kidding.

places like wakes, funeral processions, offices, shops (they don't want competitors copying stuff) and GEYLANG. ok geylang's a big guess though. because it's those shady businesses there... i don't know what'd happened if you whipped out a camera along the alleys.
 

If you happen to be an espionage agent from some foreign power operating in Singapore, they include...
Official Secrets Act (Chapter 213) said:
...

(a) any work of defence, arsenal, naval, military or air force establishment, barrack, camp or station, factory, dockyard, mine, minefield, ship or aircraft belonging to or occupied by or on behalf of the armed forces or any telegraph, telephone, wireless or signal station or office so belonging or occupied, and any place belonging to or occupied by or on behalf of the armed forces and used for the purpose of building, repairing, making, proving, testing or storing any munitions of war, or any photographs, drawings, plans, models or documents relating thereto, or for the purpose of getting or storing any metals, oil, mechanical transport spirit or aviation spirit or minerals of use in time of war;

(b) any place not belonging to the armed forces where any munitions of war, oil, mechanical transport spirit, aviation spirit, fuel or supplies or any photographs, drawings, models, plans or documents relating thereto, are being made, repaired, gotten or stored under contract with, or with any person on behalf of the armed forces, or otherwise on behalf of the armed forces;

(c) any place belonging to or used for the purposes of the armed forces which is for the time being declared by the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, to be a prohibited place for the purposes of this section on the ground that information with respect thereto, or damage thereto, would be useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy;

(d) any railway, roadway or channel or other means of communication by land or water (including any bridges, tunnels, piers, works or structures being part thereof, or connected or used therewith), or any beach, foreshore or the whole or any part of the territorial waters of Singapore, or any searchlight, lighthouse, buoy or other navigational aid, or any public building, fire station, aerodrome or air station, or any signal telegraph or radio station, or any place used for gas, water, electricity or engineering works or other works for purposes of a public character, or any place where any munitions of war or oil, mechanical transport spirit, aviation spirit, fuel or supplies or any photographs, drawings, models, plans or documents relating thereto are being made, repaired or stored otherwise than on behalf of the armed forces, any of the aforesaid being a place which is for the time being declared by the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, to be a prohibited place for the purposes of this section, on the ground that information with respect thereto, or the destruction or obstruction thereof, or interference therewith would be useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy;

(e) any area (being in the vicinity of any work of defence, arsenal, naval, military or air force establishment or station, factory, dockyard, mine, minefield, camp, ship or aircraft, belonging to or occupied by or on behalf of the armed forces) which is declared by the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, to be a prohibited place for the purposes of this section, on the ground that information with respect thereto, or damage thereto, would be useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy;

(f) any area specified in any notice under any written law for the time being in force relating to military manoeuvres or any area declared by proclamation of the Minister under such written law to be a manoeuvring ground or a firing ground, which is declared by order of the Minister to be a prohibited place for the purposes of this section;

...
... basically almost everywhere. :bsmilie:
 

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Cameras and lenses were expensive years ago and photography used to be for the rich exclusively.
When DSLR started to get cheaper and lenses got 'longer', privacy act began to change.
The biggest change came after 9 eleven.
Due to terrorism, you are not allowed to take pictures(strictly speaking) of 'prime' buildings such as those in orchard road and govt buildings and embassies.
I had a friend who park his car about 100m outside a foreign clubhouse in town(not directly mind you) about 11am.
While waiting for his son, he was seated in his car fiddling with his camera scrolling through his 'capture' for that morning.
At 4pm, a group of policemen, came to his house, confiscate his camera and he was told to go to the police station for an interview.
His camera was returned to him after the interview.
So, the moral of the story is, when you are taking pictures of someone, somewhere,
You are probably being photographed too by street cam and in-house cam.
Be sensitive of who you are taking, where you are taking these pics.
Otherwise, happy shooting mate!!
 

thelight said:
Cameras and lenses were expensive years ago and photography used to be for the rich exclusively.
When DSLR started to get cheaper and lenses got 'longer', privacy act began to change.
The biggest change came after 9 eleven.
Due to terrorism, you are not allowed to take pictures(strictly speaking) of 'prime' buildings such as those in orchard road and govt buildings and embassies.
I had a friend who park his car about 100m outside a foreign clubhouse in town(not directly mind you) about 11am.
While waiting for his son, he was seated in his car fiddling with his camera scrolling through his 'capture' for that morning.
At 4pm, a group of policemen, came to his house, confiscate his camera and he was told to go to the police station for an interview.
His camera was returned to him after the interview.
So, the moral of the story is, when you are taking pictures of someone, somewhere,
You are probably being photographed too by street cam and in-house cam.
Be sensitive of who you are taking, where you are taking these pics.
Otherwise, happy shooting mate!!

This is so "siong"..
If I want to take photos of Istana/Parliament from the main road, I always go up to the police/guards on duty to ask for permission. ;)
 

Cameras and lenses were expensive years ago and photography used to be for the rich exclusively.
When DSLR started to get cheaper and lenses got 'longer', privacy act began to change.
The biggest change came after 9 eleven.
Due to terrorism, you are not allowed to take pictures(strictly speaking) of 'prime' buildings such as those in orchard road and govt buildings and embassies.
I had a friend who park his car about 100m outside a foreign clubhouse in town(not directly mind you) about 11am.
While waiting for his son, he was seated in his car fiddling with his camera scrolling through his 'capture' for that morning.
At 4pm, a group of policemen, came to his house, confiscate his camera and he was told to go to the police station for an interview.
His camera was returned to him after the interview.
So, the moral of the story is, when you are taking pictures of someone, somewhere,
You are probably being photographed too by street cam and in-house cam.
Be sensitive of who you are taking, where you are taking these pics.
Otherwise, happy shooting mate!!

Big brother is watching you.... :bigeyes::eek:
 

What about inside swimming pools? I brought my camera to take pictures of my kid during his first swimming lesson. I shot from the stands (using DSLR), without problems.

Was told by a friend, that he was stopped by the lifeguard when he took out his PnS to take pictures of his children in a similar situation.

Both were in different public swimming pools.
 

The British High Commission in Singapore has a sign at the entrance that states no photography.
 

I think it all boils down to the developer and the person in charge of the place.

They have the right to allow or not allow you to take photos. Its up to their discretion. Some of them do not want to take the risk of the after maths if [touch wood] really something bad happens. Strictly speaking, government building, or any government owned property like embassy etc. By right you are not even suppose to use zoom or in anyway take photo of the place regardless of where you are standing. Of course if you want to take make sure don't get caught and complain after that. private building is up to the person in charge liao.
 

What about inside swimming pools? I brought my camera to take pictures of my kid during his first swimming lesson. I shot from the stands (using DSLR), without problems.

Was told by a friend, that he was stopped by the lifeguard when he took out his PnS to take pictures of his children in a similar situation.

Both were in different public swimming pools.

Mate, same story with my office mate he got cited by the lifeguard and forbid him to use his camera within the public swimming pool premises. He reasoned out that he will only take pics of his family, but they still insist it is prohibited.

Dunno it they are trying to stop you from being tempted to take pictures of other people on skimpy swimsuits. (with respect to their privacy) :)
 

Simple 'Law' to understand is "If there is a rent-a-cop in sight; sure No Photography Allowed" :bsmilie:

This also extends to any place where some over zealous employee thinks he's the part time rent-a-cop. :D
 

botanical garden and most places in Npark are a safe place...