He was disgusted to find a group of carpark wardens sitting and smoking in the void deck of his Woodlands block late on 24 May.Even worse, they had parked two of their own motorcycles on a double yellow line - clearly breaking traffic rules.

It was an abuse of their authority, Mr Colin Tan, 53, felt.

Outraged, he used his handphone to photograph the motorcycles.

Cisco confirmed the traffic offence by its officers and disciplined them.

But Mr Tan said that his photograph that night provoked the five wardens, all men, who were in white safari uniforms and dark Cisco jackets.

According to him, one of the officers approached him and asked him to delete the pictures from his phone.

Mr Tan said: "He was standing 15cm from my nose while the rest laughed."

Mr Tan called the police.

A police spokesman confirmed that a call was received at 11pm.

Police officers went to the block and advised the Cisco wardens and Mr Tan to keep their peace.

They complied, the police spokesman said.

Mr Tan also called The New Paper.

When we arrived at the block that night at about 11.45pm, the motorcycles, which were the wardens' own and not Cisco's, had been moved to a carpark.

But Mr Tan and the wardens were still at the void deck.

One of the wardens said: "I cannot tell you my name. I am embarrassed."

Three others declined comment.

The fifth said: "I'm from Cisco. We are allowed to park here."

A check with Cisco showed that this was not correct.

In an e-mail reply, a Cisco spokesman confirmed: "Our carpark enforcement officers had parked on double yellow lines at Woodlands Dr 50, in the vicinity of Block 892A, before midnight on 24 May."

The spokesman also said that Cisco viewed the illegal parking of bikes very seriously and that disciplinary action had been taken against the men involved.

"Appropriate measures" were taken to avoid a recurrence of the incident, the spokesman said.

INTEGRITY AT STAKE

Mr Tan said: "They are enforcement officers. They should have backbone and integrity.

"It is ironic that they give summonses, yet go against the law."

Cisco said it values integrity and professionalism in its officers and does not condone the breaking of Singapore's laws of any degree.

The organisation will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against officers who commit acts that run counter to these values, its spokesman said.

Another resident of the area, who gave his name only as Michael G, objected to the officers smoking while they were in uniform.

The five male Cisco wardens, in their 20s to 50s, had been smoking at the void deck when The New Paper interviewed them.

The void deck is a meeting point for them. They were waiting for a supervisor to arrive and distribute their hand-held terminals before starting their night shift.

Mr Michael, a logistics analyst, had gone to the void deck when he heard the earlier commotion.

He asked: "Are men in uniform allowed to smoke in public?"

It seems they are, as far as Cisco is concerned.

Its spokesman replied: "We would like to take this opportunity to clarify that our officers are allowed to smoke during their breaks but are advised to do so only in locations that do not contravene the law."

Mr Michael also alleged that a blue van with Cisco markings and a sedan car used by wardens in uniform were parked on handicapped and "no parking" lots in front of the same block on 18 May.

Cisco said it could not investigate this because he could give no further details like the time or the licence-plate numbers of the vehicles.