THE men stood at the 12th-storey lift lobby, looking menacing.

Their faces were covered with ski masks and sunglasses and in their hands were what looked like rifles.

They wore combat outfits with vests that had the word SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) on them.

The residents of Block 613B, Bedok Reservoir Road, had a scare when six armed men "stormed" their building at 8am last Friday.

As it turned out, the men weren't part of an elite Swat unit on a mission - they were groomsmen who were there to escort the groom to the bride's home.

It is customary in Chinese tradition for the groom to pick up his bride from her home on their wedding day.

But Mr Ye Weike, 35, decided to give the tradition a twist when he went to meet his bride, Miss Wu Jiemin, 32.

He had been out shopping with his groomsmen when they came across a shop selling the uniforms at Peninsula Plaza.

One of them, Mr Yang Shunzhi, 35, thought of the gimmick.

The IT manager told Shin Min Daily News: "I thought it would be a fresh idea if we picked up the bride dressed as Swat members."

It certainly was a surprise.

As the team got out of the lift and dashed to the bride's unit yesterday, they frightened her bridesmaids, who were waiting outside.

But once the women got over the shock, the two parties proceeded with the two-hour ceremony.

At various intervals, residents from other units would pop by their unit to take a look.

Some of them looked displeased.

Among them was a 64-year-old retiree who lives on the 13th storey.

He told Shin Min: "I was a little scared. I wondered who they were trying to capture."

He disapproved of the act, saying: "People might mistake them for the police. I don't even know if this is legal."

Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Ms Mok, 54, also thought the groomsmen were real Swat members.

Said the cleaner: "We had just celebrated National Day, so I was really worried that something big had happened so quickly."

Mr Ye was apologetic to learn that some residents were unhappy.

He said: "It was all in good fun. We didn't want to cause any trouble, so we're sorry if we did."

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