Commuters who take public transport would know how exasperating it feels to flag a bus down, only to be ignored.
Faced with such a situation, most simply resign to their fate and wait patiently for the next bus.
One commuter, however, took matters into his own hands by getting in a cab and chasing after the bus. He later swore at the bus captain for missing his stop.
The 73-year-old man was fined S$6,000 on Tuesday (4 Apr) after pleading guilty to two offences — one for harassment and the other for failing to wear a mask properly.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Zheng Mu Liang (transliterated from Mandarin) and his wife were waiting for Bus Service 13 at a bus stop along Lavender Street on 14 Jan 2022.
The pair apparently waited for their bus for about 20 minutes.
Unfortunately, when the bus finally rolled around, it drove right past the bus stop.
Source: Google Maps
The bus captain claimed that he did not initially realise that there were people at the bus stop. When he finally saw a woman flagging down the bus, it was already too late for him to stop safely.
Presumably angered by the captain’s failure to stop, Mr Zheng got in a taxi with his wife and chased the bus to Still Road.
The pair alighted two bus stops later and boarded the same bus to question the bus driver.
During the confrontation, Mr Zheng hurled profanities at the driver — using terms like “useless” and “trash”, among other unsavoury terms.
Mr Zheng also failed to comply with prevailing Covid-19 laws by not wearing his face mask properly during the confrontation.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Mr Zheng’s wife tried to dissuade her husband from escalating the situation, but wasn’t successful in doing so.
Multiple passengers on the bus were taken aback by Mr Zheng’s outburst and alerted the police to the incident.
Under advice from his company, the bus captain later stopped along Marine Crescent and waited for the police to investigate the matter.
Speaking in court on Tuesday (4 Apr), Mr Zheng insisted that the bus captain should’ve apologised for not stopping.
Mr Zheng eventually pleaded guilty to his offences, after the judge interrupted him and asked if felt he did anything wrong.
The 73-year-old also shared that he was retired and pleaded for leniency.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
In the end, Mr Zheng was handed a S$6,000 fine for the two charges against him — one for harassment and the other for failing to wear a mask properly when it was mandatory to do so.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Land Transport Guru. Left Image is for illustration only.
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