TikTok user @clara.slays could not help but say “chivalry is dead” after recently witnessing a man sit on the MRT while his wife remained standing.
The husband also implied that his wife could not sit because Clara was there, she said in a video posted on Tuesday (15 Sept).
Appalled by his audacity, Clara made a remark to the man, which finally got him to stand and give his seat to his wife.
Clara, 31, shared that she was sitting between two empty MRT seats when a couple entered the carriage with their little girl, whom she estimates to be three or four years old.
The husband and the girl sat on either side of her, while the wife, who was carrying many things, remained standing.
Image courtesy of Wavebreakmedia on Canva. For illustration purposes only.
Clara said she was already in disbelief over the man’s choice to leave his wife standing.
But realising she was in the middle of the father and his fidgeting daughter, she offered to switch seats with the little girl, which she accepted.
However, the girl kept clinging to her mum and repeatedly asking her to sit down.
In response, the husband allegedly said, “Mummy got [sic] no seat. This auntie is sitting on the seat”, referring to Clara.
Appalled by his remark, Clara looked at him and clapped back: “Your wife should be sitting down, not you.”
Stunned, the man slowly stood up, while his wife sat down.
“The little girl is gonna grow up knowing that she is the one that should be sitting down, not whoever she dates in the future,” Clara said in the video.
Speaking to MS News, Clara said the incident occurred on the Thomson-East Coast Line at around 4pm on 11 Sept.
The couple appeared to be in their early 40s, and the man looked able-bodied.
Image for illustration purposes only.
Clara added that the wife remained silent during the entire interaction.
Meanwhile, the man mumbled quietly as he stood and gestured for his wife to sit in a “rushed, angry manner”.
While she had been annoyed that the husband sat down instead of his wife from the start, Clara initially kept her comments to herself.
However, she decided to speak up when the man implied that his wife couldn’t sit because she was there.
“I hope little girls learn from this. I hope women learn that how their partner treats them will be passed down to their daughters,” Clara told MS News.
“And most importantly, I hope I clocked that man so hard he never sits down before his wife or daughter ever again,” she added.
She shared that since she was young, her dad would let her mum, her sister, and herself sit before he did, wherever they were. Clara said:
I believe fathers have the responsibility to teach and show their daughters and sons how to act [with regards to treating] women and respecting everyone.
Clara said this was not the first time she had witnessed men put themselves before their female partners.
At restaurants, she would often see men sitting on the couch area, leaving women to sit on chairs outside the booths.
Image courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko on Canva. For illustration purposes only.
“It’s not a must-do or bare minimum, but it shows care and concern from the men that they want their wives to get the more comfortable and spacious seat,” Clara explained.
She added that it is also to ensure that their wives are not disturbed whenever others pass by.
Clara believes: “It’s the small things like these that add up to show that he puts her first, no matter how long the [relationship] has been.”
Also read: Woman claims uncle secretly took her photo on MRT, netizens raise concerns about women’s safety
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Featured image adapted from @clara.slays on TikTok, MS News, for illustration purposes only.