Boy climbs handrail in moving train as father does nothing, despite fellow commuters’ unease

MALAYSIA: A young boy’s dangerous behaviour aboard a Malaysian train has sparked widespread concern after a fellow passenger captured the incident on video and posted it online.

The incident occurred at around 8 p.m. on Jul 17 during a train journey from Sungai Petani to Butterworth. In a short video posted to TikTok by user @liyaa04, a barefoot boy is seen running around inside the train carriage before climbing onto a handrail near the door, despite repeated warnings from nearby adults.

The passenger told Channel 8 that she was alarmed by the boy’s antics and stood up to look for a responsible adult. Eventually, she approached the child’s father but received no meaningful response.

“I told the boy not to do that, but he ignored me,” she said. “When the train door opened, the boy came down from the handrail, rushed to the door, and put his hand in the middle. Fortunately, he pulled his hand back when the train door closed.”

Liyaa admitted she recorded the incident out of growing unease and said that other passengers were also concerned, and some began filming too.

According to the footage, the boy appeared to have little regard for the warnings issued by adults, and his father’s apparent indifference to the situation has fuelled public outrage online.