SINGAPORE: A woman shared on social media that an “uncle” filmed and yelled at her for sitting in a reserved seat on the MRT.
In her post on the r/askSingapore Reddit forum, she explained that she was feeling extremely unwell that morning due to low blood sugar and severe period cramps.
“I felt super nauseous. I had serious period pain since it’s my first day of period, so I sat on the reserved seat [as] there was no other seat,” she said.
“There was one uncle standing in front of me; he said nothing but he was staring at me. I did not offer him the seat since I was really feeling like I’m going to pass away the next second.”
However, she was shocked when this uncle began filming her and abruptly shouted, ‘Can you read English?’ She tried to explain politely that she was unwell and couldn’t stand at the moment, but he continued recording and threatened to post the video online.
“I have been offering seats to the elderly and those who need it. Of course I understand what a RESERVED seat is for,” she wrote. “I feel very upset to encounter this when I really need the seat.”
“Reserved seats are not just for elderly but also injured, pregnant, or unwell passengers.”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors told her not to stress over the incident and reassured her that she had every right to sit in the reserved seat if she was unwell.
One Redditor said, “Don’t worry about it… some uncles/aunties are just obsessed with the reserved seat. They’ll film but won’t post it. Everyone else knows that if you need it, just sit.”
Another pointed out, “Reserved seats are not just for elderly but also injured, pregnant, or unwell passengers. You did nothing wrong; when I have period cramps, I just sit on a reserved seat too since I’m unwell.”
Others pointed out that the uncle’s actions were inappropriate, noting that he should have been more considerate instead of aggressively confronting her.
One Redditor said, “What did you think you should do? Stand up for him? No. The answer is that you also need the seat and rest. The uncle could have easily asked someone else to give him their seat. But he didn’t.
Uncle is a bully and also deaf because he couldn’t understand when you said you needed to sit and rest.”
In related news, a cancer patient shared on social media that she was kicked by a senior citizen who wanted to sit in a reserved seat. During her treatment, she regularly wore a ‘May I have a seat please?’ yellow card and lanyard while boarding the train.
However, though she wore the card, an elderly woman “rudely asked her to give up her seat” and kicked her leg when she didn’t.
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)