‘You lose the face of S’pore’: woman berates North-East Line MRT passengers for not giving up seats

Video of argument over seats on North-East Line MRT goes viral

A viral video uploaded to social media on 15 Feb showed several people arguing over giving up seats on a North-East Line (NEL) MRT train.

During the argument, a woman dressed in a white t-shirt with black stripes repeatedly told two seated passengers that they would “lose the face of Singapore”.

The clip, which has since garnered more than a million views, has racked up comments from viewers calling for graciousness.

Many also noted that giving up one’s seat is neither a rule nor an obligation.

North-East Line MRT commuters argue over giving up seats to the elderly

The two-minute-long video which made its way to several Facebook pages including ROADS.sg captured a woman dressed in a striped t-shirt berating two women for not giving up their seats on the MRT.

One of the two seated women who was donning a grey top appeared unwilling to give up her seat, even after the woman dressed in stripes said: “Please, can give the seat to the old people.”

When the former asked why the latter didn’t approach other commuters, the latter replied that the woman in grey was a “youngster”.

However, the woman in grey disagreed and asked several times why she was being targeted to give up her seat instead of others.

Another woman beside her, who donned a hijab, also participated in the conversation. Whether the two seated women knew each other is unclear.

As the woman in stripes berated them, the woman wearing the hijab appeared confused by what she was saying.

Among the words she uttered was the accusation that the pair would “lose the face of Singapore” by not giving up their seats. At one point, she even expressed her displeasure with the woman in grey, whom she claimed muttered an expletive.

She then proceeded to point at a sign above the passengers’ heads while exclaiming that they should give their seats up to the elderly.

She also threatened to call the police. Thereafter, she tried to locate the emergency button on the train, presumably intending to alert station staff.

However, the video cut off before viewers could see what transpired next.

Netizens say giving up your seat isn’t a must

Several comments noted that people can choose to give up their seats if they wish to, but that nobody is entitled to them.

Others called for graciousness and said nobody should be forced to give their seat up.

Another comment took issue with there being priority seats in the first place, as they felt it would encourage people sitting on ‘normal’ seats to not give theirs up.

This is not the first time an argument has ensued over seats on the MRT.

In a previous incident, an elderly man berated a younger man for not giving up his priority seat.

Following the incident, several people wrote in to MS News lamenting that young people aren’t giving up their seats to the elderly.

At least one claimed that younger people are fixated on their phones or would pretend to sleep.

MS News has reached out to SBS Transit for comments on this incident.

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Featured image adapted from ROADS.sg on Facebook.