11-year-old boy was told to get off the bus because he couldn’t pay the fare, father urges driver to be more compassionate

SINGAPORE: An 11-year-old boy, a primary 5 student, was told to get off a bus due to the insufficient balance on his EZ-Link card. The father said he was disappointed by the incident. 

According to reports, the boy boarded bus service 23 at Broadway Hotel and was made to alight at the next stop, at Farrer Park. The father said his son was wearing a full school uniform, which clearly indicated that he was about to go to school. 

However, the boy’s EZ-Link card only had S$0.26, while the fare was S$0.56. “He had mistakenly left his wallet at home and had no alternative means of payment,” the father said.

As the boy could not pay the fare, the driver asked him to alight at the next bus stop, “even though it was still within the vicinity of his intended stop,” said his father.

It was unclear why the boy was asked to alight at the next stop instead of where he boarded — whether the bus was already moving when he tapped his card. 

“My son said he didn’t understand what the driver said to him, but why did he need to alight at the next stop? This is my concern… I understand that drivers must adhere to regulations, but I had hoped for a more compassionate approach, especially given the circumstances,” the father said. 

The father added that a little consideration could have made a significant difference and hoped that this matter would be taken into consideration to prevent similar incidents in the future. 

On social media, netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions about what happened. One commenter stated that she does not think that the bus driver intended to be heartless; he was just following a system. 

“Frontline staff often have very little flexibility to make judgment calls, especially when it comes to rules and fare enforcement… This isn’t about blaming one person. It’s a systemic issue. If we want compassion to be part of the journey, then there must be clear guidelines that empower drivers to help children or elders in situations like this,” the commenter said.

Another netizen admitted that, as a former bus captain, he believes that the bus driver is either inexperienced, lacks compassion, or was too strict in going by the book. 

One more netizen wondered why no one bothered to help the child. “Why does no one pay for him? If l am on board the bus, l will definitely pay for him and give some money to help him further,” the netizen declared. 

“It’s sad our public transport system has become robot,” a comment concluded.