Woman alleges being ‘publicly shamed by primary school boy’ for returning 29 cans at BCRS machine

Woman claims boy “publicly shamed” her for returning cans at BCRS machine

With a full-implementation of the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) on 1 Oct, the sight of bags filled with cans and bottles does not faze Singaporeans anymore.

However, one Singaporean found herself facing an unexpected social problem that arose while using one of these machines.

The woman was returning some cans in her estate on 20 Oct when she found herself rudely yelled at by a primary school boy, who allegedly “publicly shamed” her.

Boy yells “I give up, she got 200 cans”

Chermaine shared her fifth attempt returning her beverage containers to a BCRS machine in a TikTok video posted on 20 Oct.

She had tried to return them for the past four days, but all the machines were full.

Thankfully, she finally found one and excitedly headed to the location.

However, the returning process was not to be as smooth as expected.

In an exclusive with MS News, Chermaine shared that there was only one machine at the estate she was living in.

At the time of the incident, she was carrying two totebags with around 29 cans and bottles in them.

While she was depositing her cans, a primary school boy arrived with his helper.

Chermaine said that when the boy saw her with her two tote bags, he proceeded to say: “Oh my god, I give up. She got [sic] 200 cans.”

The boy continued, saying, “I have two cans, waiting for 500 cans”.

Boy did not approach her to ask, only shouted from the walkway

Speaking to MS News, Chermaine said that when the boy was “shouting” at her, she did not acknowledge his presence or his comments.

I didn’t refuse nor oblige him. He did not approach me to ask as he shouted from the walkway.

“I continued with depositing cans,” she added, noting that she just wanted to quickly finish her task.

When she left the machine, Chermaine said that there were three to four people waiting behind her, but was unsure if the boy was one of them.

To give or not to give, that is the question

In a follow-up video on 21 Oct, Chermaine posed a question to the viewers, asking: “If you were in my shoes, would you let someone with just two cans go first?”

She explained that while she could have let the boy go first, she wondered how “courtesy” would work in a “shared public space”.

“Does having fewer cans mean that you are going to get priority and people should accommodate you?” Chermaine asked.

Chermaine compared it to buying one mentos at a supermarket while queuing behind a shopper with a full trolley of groceries.

She said, “If I were to ask the person nicely whether can I go first, and the person said ‘no’. I need to accept that this person said ‘no’.”

Chermaine added that even if the boy had politely asked, she would decline his request as there were others behind her.

“Do I have to say ‘yes’ to every single one of them?” she questioned.

Netizens found the boy ‘rude’ and agreed with Chermaine’s take

Most netizens agreed with Chermaine’s stance on the situation.

Many said that the boy was “rude” and had Chermaine allowed him to go first, it would have taught him “entitlement”.

Some said they would have let the boy go first if he had asked politely.

A few suggested that she could also buy the two cans from the boy.

Speaking to MS News, Chermaine said most of her family and friends had similar thoughts as the netizens.

“In my case, since he did neither, most agree that I did not need to oblige him as he was even rude about it,” she added.

Also read: Migrant worker photographs 8 big bags of bottles & cans at BCRS machine, says BCRS helps keep paths cleaner

Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.

Featured image adapted from @chermainekumar on TikTok.