Fire at UM college, journalist prevented from filming evacuation

A foreign exchange student, dormitory authorities and security guards from the University of Macau (UM) were embroiled in a conflict with a local journalist who attempted to photograph students fleeing from a residential college where a small fire broke out early yesterday morning. The fire resulted in a total of over 200 students being immediately evacuated from the building.
It was reported that one room on the first floor of the “Choi Kai Yau College” on the university’s Hengqin campus caught fire at around 3 a.m. The fire was triggered by a short circuit in a dehumidifier owned by one of the students. The students gathered at the entrance of the dormitory as the fire brigade quickly arrived at the scene and scrambled to extinguish the fire.
Shortly after at around 3.30am, after the fire was extinguished, a journalist from the broadcaster MASTV was reportedly deterred by two university officials from filming the evacuation scene, while the students gradually returned to their rooms in order. The authorities cited “private places” and “students not properly dressed” as the reasons.
A female witness on the night told the Times, on condition of anonymity, that the college head David Pong, accompanied by another college manager Robert Wessling, requested the journalist not shoot, with his hand constantly covering the camera, yet he declined to do so.
“The journalist was shooting the students returning back to their rooms. He was actually just a couple of steps away. When students from the third floor started to move, the college master then emerged to ask him to stop photographing for the sake of student’s privacy,” declared the student, adding that the college manager more than once requested the journalist prove his identity, yet he declined to do that as well.
Later during that period, a foreign student who was reluctant to be filmed, allegedly covered the camera lens with his hands, yet accidentally knocked down the flashlight. The journalist subsequently accused him of intentionally grabbing his camera, according to a student-­run news outlet from the university, Orange Post, online.
Another online media outlet, Macau Concealers, reported that around a dozen students, members of security and college authorities encircled the journalist and demanded he stop taking photographs. The foreign student then approached the cameraman and grasped the flashlight before shining it back in his face. It has also been reported that another two students later shone the flashlight into the journalist’ eyes from just a short distance away.
A statement issued by  UM in response to the fire mentioned that the student’s intention was to protect the privacy and feelings of those students who were dressed only in underwear because of the hasty evacuation.
According to the campus media outlet, the college manager denounced the filming as “inappropriate” as “students were resting,” yet the journalist retorted, asking him if he knew what “press freedom” and the “rule of law” were. The irritated journalist also called the episode “shameful” as it occurred at the so-called “top university in Macau,” whereas the college head expressed suspicions that the shooting was aimed at female students. Staff reporter