Taking to social media to complain about unpleasant experiences isn’t uncommon, but some people may take things too far. This seemed to be the case for one Grab customer, who was accused of making racist remarks in several rants about her driver.
In a series of complaints on her Instagram stories, Ms Wong alleged that she had received unfair treatment after her driver charged a higher fare than what was quoted on the app.
Sharp-eyed netizens who saw her stories noticed her use of racially insensitive language, and proceeded to call her out. Even famous local comedian Kumar had something to say.
On Monday (1 Mar), Instagram user Ms Wong posted a series of complaints about her recent experience riding with Grab.
According to her, her driver had charged her unfairly, up to $7 higher than the quoted price. When she asked about the fare, the driver allegedly explained that it was because she had booked a larger vehicle under GrabXL.
However, Ms Wong noted in a separate story that she was charged just $14.80 for the same trip in a similar vehicle the day before.
In the process of calling out the Grab driver, Ms Wong pointed out the fact that he was Malay, before following up with a racially charged comment.
Bro I know you poor but don’t need to resort to lying and deceit.
She later claimed that the driver had insulted her too by calling her a “cheapo”, an accusation she described to be “libel”.
In subsequent stories, Ms Wong alleged that Grab initially disagreed when she tried to dispute the fare. However, they later refunded the entire amount.
In a screenshot of the email from a Grab staff, the ride-hailing company stated that they had taken “corrective action” against the driver and recorded a strike on his account.
Thankfully, their rectification and response earned praise from Ms Wong, who expressed her contentment.
MS News has reached out to Grab Singapore for comments and will update the article accordingly when they get back.
After her comments on the driver’s ethnicity, several netizens who had seen Ms Wong’s stories decided to call her out.
One user, who appears to be familiar with Ms Wong, wrote, “I get that you’re upset but there’s no need to highlight his race here.”
Apparently unapologetic, Ms Wong shared a screenshot of the message and exclaimed that her comments were “highly justified”. Noting that she hadn’t insulted the general population, she simply concluded that, “But if the shoe fits? Wear it.”
Another user kept their reply short, simply calling Ms Wong a racist.
Denying that she is, as “racism is highly subjective”, Ms Wong claimed she would still have called the driver out if he was Indian or Chinese.
She later added, “If Kumar can make jokes as such, so can I.” This appears to be in reference to famous Singaporean comedian Kumar, who has been known to make race-related jokes.
Reacting to Ms Wong’s citation of him, Kumar took to his own Instagram stories to clarify that he does race-based based jokes but isn’t racist.
He further stressed the importance of being sensitive towards other races.
In the heat of the moment, it can be easy to forget ourselves and react purely on emotion.
However, no matter the situation at hand, we should always strive to hold ourselves to the principles of respecting our fellow citizens of other ethnicities.
We hope that moving forward, we’ll all be mindful of our interactions with each other, and avoid making hurtful comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Instagram and MS News, for illustration purposes only.
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