>THE recent sex DVD scandal involving former Malaysian Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek shows how easy it is to rig a spy camera and film someone without their knowledge.
Experts tell The New Paper on Sunday that it takes anyone just 30minutes to rig a spy cam.
It takes the professionally trained even less time.
This has the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) concerned. It will discuss the possibility of getting its more than 400 members to sweep all their hotel rooms for hidden cameras or other spying devices.
Whether or not this suggestion will become reality is not confirmed.
MAH secretary-general Sam Cheah Swee Hee told Weekend Mail that the idea would be discussed during its security committee meeting this month.
The meeting is aimed at enhancing security within the hotel and tourism industry.
The New Paper on Sunday interviewed five PIs and one shop-owner who sells spy cam equipment, and asked them what it takes to plant such equipment in hotel rooms.
PI Charles Gomez said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong: "It's just a matter of getting beyond the closed door."
CODED MESSAGE
One front-office manager of a five-star hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong, even claimed that the set-up can take place even while the couple is checking in at the hotel reception.
In such instances, it is claimed that a coded message - to indicate which room the guests will take - is sent to the 'rigger', who will then let himself in with the help of, usually, a chambermaid.
While it is possible that such scenarios may take place overseas, it is most unlikely to happen in Singapore.
Singaporean sleuth Dennis Lee, 37, Covert Acquisition's managing director, said: "Hotels in general are very strict about protecting the guests' privacy."
But not all, as Dr Chua's case proves.
The PIs said that it's easy to plant the cameras once they know which room the intended target would use.
Mr Gomez, who specialises in tailing high-society straying spouses, added: "It's a matter of familiarising yourself with the environment or the premises."
The likelihood of people being creatures of habit also help to make their targets easy prey.
Dr Chua himself had said his "biggest mistake" was to go to the same hotel and the same room repeatedly.
Mr Gomez, who has worked 20years in this line, travelling all over the world on the heels of cheating spouses, said: "Those indulging in illicit passion usually head to places that they have grown accustomed to.
"The subjects tend to think they are safe after they get away with it more than once."
Mr Lee said: "One lets his guard down easily when he is in the comfort zone."
Those who are more paranoid will possibly check for hidden cameras when they first step into the room.
"But how often do you check again when you return to it after, say, a shopping trip?" Mr Lee asked.
After the target has checked into the room, Mr Lee or his team of investigators will need to identify which room it was.
He said: "That's when you make the move - often it is to get a room as close as possible to the target.
"The next call you place is to housekeeping, to get someone to clean your room."
And here is where the stash of cash that Mr Lee carries with him on his job comes in handy.
With the right sum, he claimed, nine out of 10 chambermaids will help you gain entry into the next room.
But Mr Lee also clarified: "Such aggressive tracking happens only overseas.
"In Singapore, the family court allows inference of adultery when subject and co-subject are caught checking in at the hotel reception together, or leaving together."
Mr Gomez said that once entry to the room is gained, everything else is easy.
"These days, with technology, you need only a wireless camera. And the focus will always be on the bed," he said.
Mr Lee said anything in the room can hide a tiny spy cam - from the table lamp to the TV cabinet and even the TV itself.
One of the other common spots to rig a camera is in the air-conditioning vents.
But the set-up of a spy cam has to be done just before the couple step into the room.
Mr Lee said: "Most covert equipment run on batteries - so there is battery life to consider.
"The earlier you plant it, the shorter span it has."
PREVENT RIGGING
On how to detect and prevent potential rigging, Mr Lee said: "One of the easiest ways is to take a bar of soap and wipe it over any holes that you can see."
And that includes the speaker portion of television sets, Mr Gomez noted.
There are also wireless sweepers - that cost from as low as $50 to those in the thousand-dollar category - that can alert people of wireless equipment in the vicinity.
Be extra sensitive to partitioned walls too.
The rigger can simply cut the wallpaper, dig a hole small enough to place the camera in it, cover it with putty and stick the wallpaper back.
Mr Andre Johns, 41, who runs Papylon Enterprises at Sim Lim Square, said that the cameras can be planted anywhere.
He showed us some of the equipment on sale in his shop.
Only wired surveillance cameras are allowed to be used in Singapore. Shops are allowed to sell wireless cameras to buyers who have to produce foreign passports and proof of identity.
Mr Johns said: "I cannot and will not sell one to a Singaporean."
A simple set costs about $300 - and comes with a mini spy cam with adjustable lens, a digital video recorder and a 160GB hard-disk drive.
