Lakeside MRT Cleaner Helps Agitated Man Even Though It’s Not Her Job, Also Speaks In His Mother Tongue

Lakeside MRT Cleaner Helps Angry Commuter With Top-Up Machine & Speaks Mandarin To Him

In these trying times, perhaps what everyone needs more of is a little compassion and understanding.

Many people whose health and livelihoods are under threat by Covid-19 are understandably on edge, and the only thing that may pull us through this period is to stand united with our fellow human beings, no matter how different our backgrounds may be.

A netizen who saw a cleaner at Lakeside MRT station helping a commuter despite his obvious agitation thought it was a good example of human empathy.

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Speaking to the man in his mother tongue, she went beyond her job scope to attend to someone who needed help.

Man shouts in frustration at an MRT station

According to a Facebook post by the netizen, it all started when a man shouted out loud at Lakeside MRT station.

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While the reason for his frustration was unclear, the fact that he was standing at a top-up machine suggests that he may have had trouble with it.

Nobody seemed to come to his aid, until a cleaning lady nearby stopped sweeping the floor momentarily and approached him.

Lakeside MRT cleaner offered to help even though it wasn’t her job to

As attending to commuters isn’t part of her job scope, what she did wasn’t expected of her.

During the time of social distancing measures especially, it’s even more unlikely that someone would come close to help out a total stranger.

Despite all that, the woman did. She went over to help the man with the top-up machine, despite having various reasons not to.

Even his allegedly aggressive tone as he spoke only in Mandarin didn’t deter her.

She spoke to him in a language he could understand

Now, the situation, while amazing enough, became even more amazing.

The man, based on his accent, seemed to be from China, according to the netizen.

So the cleaner picked up on that, and decided to speak to him in his mother tongue, Mandarin, in order to explain to him how to work the top-up machine.

For Singaporean Chinese who struggled with Mandarin in school, you would know how much of a feat that would be — even more so for a person whose mother tongue probably isn’t Mandarin.

No wonder the impressed netizen called the woman “a kind, intelligent, beautiful soul” and “an inspiration and reminder to some of us that regardless of race, nationality, social status or current crisis.. we can all still be nicer and help one another in simple ways”.

We think that she deserves kudos, too, for exemplifying the best of human nature.

Accepting people from all backgrounds

The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have brought out the worst in mankind, with panic buying, and racist behaviour becoming rampant.

However, it’s nice to know that it has also brought out kindness and generosity. That’s what the human race needs if we are going to get through this.

And a small, but significant, incident at an MRT station in Singapore is a reminder that every little effort counts, and unity, not division, should be the way forward.

We also like to think that it shows that here in Singapore, we are more accepting of people from all backgrounds, given that we’re an immigrant nation of many races and cultures.

Featured image from FourSquare and Facebook.