'I hope people will remember to be kind': Public workers in S'pore face rise in verbal and physical abuse
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Lok Bing Hong, Nadine Chua, Nicole Cheah
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SINGAPORE - Whether it is a receptionist at a private hospital or a doctor at a public facility, healthcare workers say they have been subjected to verbal, and sometimes physical, abuse. The numbers suggest an uptick in cases.
There appears to be a rise in abuse cases across other sectors as well, including public transport and law enforcement.
Why is this happening?
More reports of healthcare staff being abused; rise in mistreatment of workers across other sectors
Mr Lam says an elderly patient at a Covid-19 treatment facility spewed vulgarities at him before punching him in the stomach.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
When he spotted an elderly male patient behaving inappropriately towards a female nurse, Mr Lam, a healthcare assistant, rushed over to help his colleague.
The patient targeted him instead, and let fly with a slew of vulgarities before punching the 33-year-old in the stomach.
The elderly man was quickly restrained by other staff.
Mr Lam, who declined to have his full name published, said he immediately reported the incident to his supervisors, who spoke to the patient.
They also checked on Mr Lam's well-being.
Healthcare workers say facing abuse is part of the job
Mr Sivachandran Murugasu is a registered nurse who has worked at private ambulance operator Abella Agency for 14 years.
ST PHOTO: THADDEUS ANG
When Mr Sivachandran Murugasu was transporting a 20-year-old patient to the Institute of Mental Health on Sept 15 last year, the last thing he expected was to be punched in the chest.
The 40-year-old nurse was mad but decided not to make a police report.
"The patient was potentially mentally unstable, so we gave him the benefit of the doubt," said Mr Sivachandran, who works for private ambulance service Abella Agency.
He said that in the 16 years he has worked for the company, he has faced verbal abuse multiple times, with 10 of the cases turning physical.
Even receptionists working in hospitals have been subjected to abuse.
Taxi drivers say they report only serious abuse cases
The law now protects taxi drivers, even from verbal abuse.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
In his 25 years of driving cabs, 70-year-old Jarry Pang said the closest he has come to a passenger assaulting him was in 2019.
It was when he did not take the preferred route his passengers had suggested.
One of the passengers, who was in his late 40s, started hurling vulgarities at Mr Pang and had to be restrained by his friends.
"When you show anger, the passenger grows more agitated, so we just try to calm ourselves down and bear with it."
He added: "You always meet these kinds of people on the job, You can't anticipate which passengers you'll get. So we must face it, and not get emotional."
Most cases of abuse go unreported, say former police officers
Between 2019 and 2020, there were more than 400 reported cases of abuse of police officers.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
In the nine years he was in the police force, Sam faced his share of verbal abuse.
But in an incident in 2014, the former officer was hit and scratched on his back by a woman he was trying to arrest.
Sam, who declined to be identified, said someone used a racial slur on another occasion.
Sam, who resigned in May last year at the age of 31, said there was once when a complainant said: "I don't want an Indian to interview me."
The Straits Times spoke to a total of four serving and former police officers. All of them said they have been subjected to some form of abuse.
