Should older people be given a pass when they play loud videos on public transport?

SINGAPORE: When a woman complained about an older man watching a video on his mobile phone on the MRT with the sound turned up, other netizens urged her to leave him be.

On the Complaint Singapore Facebook group page on Tuesday (Dec 10), the woman posted a video of the man, who appears to be a senior citizen. The sound from the video he was watching was captured in the post.

“Too many times complaint to MRT staff no action taken, this commuter had been watching his videos too loud like no one can stop him,” the post author wrote.

While it is not against the rules and regulations to play music or games or watch the news or other video clips with the volume turned up on public transport, many consider not doing so to be an expression of respect and courtesy since not everyone would appreciate it.

After all, people can always use headphones or earbuds if they want to use their phones on public transport. In some countries, certain train cabins are designated as “quiet spaces” where people are expected to maintain silence.

And while some of the commenters on the post author’s video agreed with her that the man should have turned down the volume on his phone, others sprang to his defence.

One commenter said that he actually preferred to hear that type of noise rather than the noise the train makes. Another asked the post author to “be more kind,” saying that she’ll understand better when she’s older and cannot hear so well.

However, a netizen replied to this, saying that the man who had the volume of his phone up needs to be more kind and considerate of other commuters.

Some commenters encouraged the post author to approach people like the man in the video next time and politely ask them to lower the volume on their gadgets.

Several commenters suggested that she wear noise-cancelling headphones if the sound from others’ devices bothers her so much. Others, however, sighed that this behaviour is quite common these days, especially among young and older people.

One even said that people do this all over Asia, except Japan.

The Independent Singapore has contacted the post author for further comments or updates. /TISG

Read also: Is it safe to ask SG people on MRT to turn down the volume of their mobile phone videos/music/games?