SMRT staff asks uncle to leave train for talking too loudly, but netizens pin blame on person who complained about the uncle

SINGAPORE: A video of an elderly man being asked to leave a train because he was too loud went viral on Thursday (Mar 23), with many netizens sympathizing with the uncle’s plight and saying that whoever complained he was making too much noise is at fault.

The video was shared on Instagram on the @sgfollowsall account, with the caption “Shared by a follower: uncle got kicked out for talking too loudly in mrt.” In it, train officials can be seen and heard telling the older man “Uncle, I cannot let you stay inside because you are very loud,” adding that he needs to leave. At the end of the video, he’s escorted out the doors.

 

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The two male SMRT staff continued to talk to the uncle, who, unfortunately, did not appear to understand all that they were telling him.

At one point, the older man takes out an ID card and shows it to the SMRT staff.

Commenters on the video took the uncle’s side, appearing to have compassion on him.

“Pretty sure the SMRT staffs wouldn’t take action unless someone complained via the intercom etc. Don’t be so quick to judge saying the staffs have no compassion, they probably feel bad about it but they got no choice because management told them to go resolve the complain. If you guys want to scold, you can take it out on the person who posted the video/the person who complained,” one wrote.

Another commenter guessed that he may have trouble hearing, which happens as we age and causes people to speak louder than they’re aware of.

“Maybe he has problem with his hearing. Its normal for elderlies to speak louder as they cant hear clearly.”

“They could have just ask the uncle to lower his voice, why need to ask him off the train?” chimed in another commenter on the IG post.

“Uncle doesn’t even understand english, at least get someone who can communicate with him,” wrote another.

“i dont understand this- i was already used to riding trains with people who sang loudly every morning and people who talked loudly to themselves- as long as breaking the law, fighting with other people or breaking fixed rules in mrts like bringing durians on board, i think everybody should be allowed on trains. After all, people will only stay with him for a short while- maybe at most an hour on the train? just bear with it,” an IG user opined.

Others, however, felt that the action taken by the SMRT staff had been valid.

/TISG

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