Indian national writes note to SIA crew expressing respect & appreciation; says actions of molester does not represent the community

SINGAPORE: Grateful for the excellent care he has received from the staff of Singapore Airlines, an Indian man in Singapore wrote them a note not only to express this, but also to apologise on behalf of his country for a recent incident of molestation that made the news in June.

“The actions of some… do not represent us,” wrote Sharad Govil, who shared a photo of the note in a social media post on July 3.

He added that much to his surprise, every crew member on a recent flight personally came to say thank you for his note, and Mr Sharad posted a photo with the smiling SIA crew as well.

“As Indians and long-time, loyal SIA flyers, we felt it was important to say that this does not represent us, and it does not represent the deep respect and admiration we have for this airline and its crew,” he wrote in the caption to his post.

FB screengrab/ Sharad Govil

Mr Sharad added that the airline has been a part of their lives on numerous journeys, and the crew has always shown much  “warmth and grace.” Therefore, during a recent flight, he wrote a note to thank them and express regret over “an incident that saddened and angered every decent human being.”

“What we didn’t expect was how moved they were. Each crew member individually came and thanked us, the crew in charge gathered the whole team, and we took a photo together,” he added, thanking the SIA crew who have always made “every journey feel like coming home, be it Singapore or India.”

Molest incident

Last month, an incident of molestation made the news. A 35-year-old Indian national named Akash Tiwari was sentenced to jail for six months on June 22, as well as ordered to pay his victim around S$1,270 in compensation.

Tiwari had been on a SIA flight to Singapore in February with some friends. During the journey, he touched a flight attendant inappropriately twice, even though she had told him not to touch her after the first time. 

After the second time, she, together with the head stewardess, confronted Tiwari, but he refused to apologise.

Moreover, Tiwari’s friends laughed at the incidents.

When the flight attendant went to the galley to report what happened, Tiwari followed her and cornered her, which other passengers witnessed.

The incident was reported to the authorities at an aviation and logistics hub at Changi Airport. /TISG

Read also: Indian national man gets 6 months’ jail for molesting Singapore Airlines stewardess while his friends just laughed in response