Woman seeks ‘help’ online after passenger with body odour sits beside her on MRT
Most of us have had to withstand unpleasant smells on public transport at some point, but one Singaporean woman has turned her ordeal into a hilariously relatable story.
In a now-viral TikTok video, Eunice Tan, 25, shared how she found herself in a moral dilemma after a man with strong body odour sat beside her on the East-West MRT line on 23 July.
“I happily took a seat until I realised I’ve been enveloped with a very criminal smell,” said Ms Tan to MS News.
@euncieeunice Help.
The man in question looked like he had a rough day, wearing a damp uniform with stains.
This very observation was at the root of Ms Tan’s inner debate.
Her first instinct was to maintain a straight face out of courtesy.
“With all my facial muscles, I tried my very best to maintain a poker face because I saw that the person seemed like he had a long day at work,” she explained.
Noticing how tired he looked, Ms Tan chose not to react in such a way that would embarrass him.
Not the first time she was caught in a smelly situation
Apparently, this is not the first time she has been in such a situation.
“My MRT experiences have always been very happening,” she added.
“There was also another time I smelt a very strong fart and had eye contact with the culprit. I walked away.”
Source: @euncieeunice on TikTok
However, this time, she hesitated to leave.
“If I stand up now, is it rude? I don’t want to embarrass him and make his seemingly tiring day turn out even [worse],” thought Ms Tan.
“Yes, he smelt like fermented century eggs in vinegar, but he was quietly resting like everyone else.”
It was truly a moment of “do I put myself first?”.
Reached out to netizens for help
In her TikTok video, Ms Tan joked about practising “new breathing techniques” to better deal with such situations in the future.
She referenced the popular manga-turned-anime series ‘Demon Slayer’, calling the technique the “fifth form: fermented armpit repellent breathing”.
Source: Marc-Anthony on YouTube
Updating her followers mid-ride, she asked: “Ok help, I have eight more stops. Should I stand up? 站不站 [stand or not]?”
Eventually, she powered through all eight stops as so much was going through her head.
“Would I want to go through this again? No. But with how packed Singapore trains are, I don’t think I’ll be so lucky each time,” reflected Ms Tan.
Netizens applaud her for enduring odour on MRT
In response to her ‘Demon Slayer’ joke, a netizen jokingly said that Tanjiro, the main character of the series, “would be proud”.
Source: TikTok
Meanwhile, another TikTok user tried to encourage her, saying: “What doesn’t kill u makes u stronger” — to which Ms Tan replied that the odour was actually lethal enough to “kill” her.
Source: TikTok
Another commenter likened the situation to a toxic relationship, saying one should leave when it “intoxicates” you.
Source: TikTok
Also read: Passengers aboard China flight argue about each other’s body odour, flight gets delayed by 2 hours
Passengers aboard China flight argue about each other’s body odour, flight gets delayed by 2 hours
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @euncieeunice on TikTok and The Pride. Image on the right for illustration purposes only.
