‘Lower your volume, you are too loud’: Aggressive uncle confronts buskers at Pasir Ris MRT station

Uncle aggressively confronts Singaporean buskers at Pasir Ris MRT station, police called

Recently, a Singaporean singer and her bandmates found themselves in a tricky situation when an uncle aggressively confronted them for playing music “too loud”.

The uncle went on to yell at the band despite them lowering the volume. Eventually, the police got involved in the incident.

The Original Poster (OP), identified as Jazz, took to Instagram last Saturday (3 Oct) saying “thankfully, no one was hurt”.

Uncle yelled at band to ‘lower [their] volume’

Jazz’s in-video caption read: “What would you do in this situation?”

In an exclusive with MS News, Jazz shared that her band “J.P.A.G” were busking outside Pasir Ris MRT station on 2 Oct from 10am to 12pm.

They were towards the end of their busking session when the incident occurred at around 11.50am.

Jazz was singing ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ by Bruno Mars when the man approached the band and “started raising his voice” at them.

According to Jazz, the uncle repeatedly said “you are too loud” and “lower your volume” for about a minute.

“We tried to remain calm and did not want to escalate the situation,” Jazz said.

“We usually check our volume using a sound meter app on our phone to make sure that our levels are within the applicable limits set by the National Arts Council (NAC).”

Uncle approached keyboardist

Although Jazz and her band continued to perform, they acknowledged the uncle’s words and lowered their volume.

Jazz told MS News: “As he continued raising his voice, our guitarist stopped playing, our keyboardist lowered her volume and I sang softer.”

However, this did not stop the uncle from approaching the keyboardist and pointing at her face in an aggressive manner.

“That was when we stopped the music,” Jazz said.

Passers-by stepped forward to de-escalate

Speaking to MS News, Jazz said that a few passers-by stepped forward to help de-escalate the situation.

One of the passers-by was a father who stood between the uncle and the band’s keyboardist, while holding his daughter’s hand.

Jazz expressed her gratitude to the man, but said she was also “worried about his young daughter being so close to the situation”.

Another passer-by told the band to ignore the uncle and continue playing their music.

However, Jazz was “very worried” about their bandmates’ safety and she called off the session and had them packing up their equipment.

Police arrived ten minutes later

About ten minutes later, just as the band was finished packing up, the police arrived.

Jazz told MS News that the band “did not call the police” as they “wanted to leave as soon as possible”.

Till now, she is unsure of the caller’s identity.

The police checked in on the band’s well-being and took down details about the incident, including the uncle.

By this time, the uncle had already left the scene.

After posting the encounter on social media, Jazz shared that the father, who had stepped in, commented that the uncle had followed him and his daughter to a McDonald’s outlet.

The father alleged that the uncle confronted him and his daughter, and apparently even shouted at a McDonald’s staff member.

Netizens found the uncle to be ‘entitled’

In the comments section, netizens shared their shock and anger towards the uncle’s actions.

Many criticised the uncle for being aggressive towards the band, calling him “entitled”.

One Instagram user told Jazz that she and her band should have played louder in response to “ragebait” him.

A few sent their love and support for Jazz and her band, asking when their next show would be.

However, one netizen defended the uncle and criticised other comments that encouraged “blasting more music”.

Speaking to MS News, Jazz said the band had never met or seen the uncle before the incident.

She said: “The police advised us to stay vigilant in case the uncle showed up again. After that, we left.”

Also read: ‘I paid for my song’: Man disturbs Clementi busker & demands to dedicate song, takes back his money

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Featured image adapted from @jazzicalee on Instagram.