Union urges public against shaming individuals after incident between passenger, SBS bus captain

SINGAPORE – The National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) is urging the public to refrain from harassing individuals involved in a Jan 12 incident that went viral after a recording was posted on social media.

In a statement on Jan 17, which was also posted on Facebook, it acknowledged that the confrontation, which involved an SBS Transit bus captain and a passenger, “had caused distress to the commuter and her children”.

“We understand that a remark was made in the incident that was inappropriate and offensive,” the union said, adding that SBS Transit had looked into the matter and reviewed CCTV footage, including the full verbal exchange between the pair.

In its reply to queries from The Straits Times, SBS Transit spokeswoman Grace Wu said the operator was taking action against the bus driver to avoid a repeat of the incident, saying: “There is also no excuse for his choice of words used, which is unbecoming of a bus captain.”

The incident was recounted in a TikTok post on the same day by the passenger, Ms Athirah Khairwan. It has since garnered over 137,000 views, and almost 10,000 likes.

In the video, she says the doors on bus service 145 had closed suddenly on her children, who were seated in a double stroller, while the family were boarding the vehicle.

She adds that when she was alighting, the bus stopped at a distance from the kerb, causing her difficulties.

This prompts her to approach the bus captain, whom she alleges was uncooperative.

“I was really, really angry to the point that I shouted at him,” she says, adding that he responded by saying: “Your husband never give you (sic) last night, that’s why you very angry.”

She then urges SBS Transit to look into the incident.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, Ms Athirah, 28, expressed frustration at the lack of empathy for parents with strollers on public transport.

“I hope for a respectful environment in the future,” said the content creator, adding that handling children is not an easy thing to do. She has two children, who are two years old and 13 months old respectively.

“When tensions rise, a simple acknowledgment like ‘sorry’ helps to de-escalate instead of letting frustration spill onto parents or other commuters.” 

Mrs Wu said the bus driver “could have done better” by making things easier for the passenger.

“He should have exercised better judgment by parking his bus closer to the kerb at the interchange berth to enable easier alighting for her with the stroller,” she said.

“This is definitely not in line with the service standards we expect of our employees, and we extend our sincere apologies to Ms Athirah for the distress and inconvenience caused.”

She reminded passengers travelling with strollers to inform bus drivers of their intention to board from the rear before doing so. “This will avoid the situation of the rear door closing on them or their stroller after the last passenger has alighted,” she said.

However, Mrs Wu also called for more civil discourse over grievances, saying: “We also would like to remind our commuters to treat our employees with respect by not using profanity which is verbally abusive.”

The NTWU, noting that there are channels available for commuters to seek recourse within the public transport system, added: “With the incident posted online, we urge the public to refrain from shaming or doxxing, as this causes distress...

“Many of our transport workers are themselves parents too, and online negativity affects them and their families.”

It added that SBS Transit is providing the bus captain with mental health counselling.