Frustratingly, the bus did not arrive until 8pm but it did not accept passengers even though there were very few passengers in it. The next service 51 (SBS 9626L) arrived at around 8.15pm. I boarded the bus and asked the driver what happened.

According to him, the previous bus had 'fan1 pai2' or, in English 'turned over the plate (that indicates the service number)'. This means that the bus would not pick up new passengers but would allow passengers in the bus to alight.

As a result, he said, the bus was carrying two loads of passengers, one from the previous service 51. Additionally, he told me that he had been told to 'fan1 pai2' too and, right before my eyes, he turned the plates (at the front of the bus and at the side, next to the entrance) over to conceal the service number. From that point until the terminal at Hougang, no more new passengers were allowed to board.

I had to wait around 40 minutes for the bus and, presumably, people waiting for this service ahead of me could end up waiting longer.

I also saw a number of passengers at bus stops asking the driver to let them board the bus in vain, even though by that time the bus did not have many passengers (these passengers probably guessed that it was service 51).

I called the various SBS hotlines for assistance but there was no one manning the lines, as if there were too few passengers after office hours to justify the use of an operator.

I find this practice of 'fan1 pai2' unacceptable and would like SBS to explain.

Also, given that it is a busy time and period, why has SBS not increased the frequency of the service to cope with the heavy traffic?

Wong Jock Onn