Though implemented with good intentions, the priority seat feature on public trains and buses has been the subject of a number of heated confrontations.
Recently, videos of one such incident have been making rounds on social media.
Various footage show an elderly man berating a younger commuter for sitting in a priority seat on the MRT.
Not taking the confrontation well, the younger man replied that the law doesn’t dictate that he has to give up his seat. The latter filmed the entire exchange.
According to a post on the Singapore Incidents Facebook page, an elderly man sitting in a priority seat on the MRT had scolded a “young man” sitting across him.
Source: Facebook
The elderly man allegedly claimed that the priority seat is “not his (the younger man’s) seat”. He also requested for the youngster to vacate it.
A subsequent altercation between the pair was captured in another clip posted on the @sgfollowsall Instagram page.
In the video, the youngster asked the older man, who was getting off at Bukit Gombak MRT Station, if it was “compulsory” — presumably referring to the act of giving up the priority seat to an older commuter.
Source: @sgfollowsall.backup on Instagram
It’s unclear what the latter said in response, but the youngster remarked that it’s “not compulsory” and “not in the constitution”.
As the train arrived at Bukit Gombak MRT station, the younger man called his older counterpart a “f*cking idiot”. This prompted a heated response from the latter, who asked him to “mind his (your) words”.
Source: @sgfollowsall.backup on Instagram
Seeing that the elderly man was turning hostile, the seated youngster continued to taunt his older counterpart, warning that he’d sue him.
The older man then exited the train the moment it came to a stop and walked away.
The Facebook post on the Singapore Incidents page also contained a clip showing the heated conversation from the younger man’s perspective.
In the close-up video, the elderly man can be heard asking the seated youngster to “care”.
For reasons unknown, the older man also asked his younger counterpart if he was Singaporean.
Who among the two do you think is in the right in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and @sgfollowsall.backup on Instagram.
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