In Singapore, where people still need to wear a mask when taking public transport, forgetting one’s mask can pose a bit of a problem.
But for those who ride the MRT, one little-known “secret” is that you may possibly get a mask for free at the station when you need one… that is, if you ask nicely.
TikToker Thomas Kopankiewicz, who goes by @heythomask, found this out recently, writing in a Sept 22 video, “AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESNT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!?! I felt like some tourist in Japan LOL.”
@heythomask AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESNT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!?! I felt like some tourist in Japan LOL #sgtiktok
His video has gone viral, getting over 225,000 views and over a hundred comments.
Mr Kopankiewicz filmed himself walking into an MRT station, saying that he had left his mask at the office, but his friend, who was with him at the time, told him “that the train station offers masks”.
“I’m mind blown, and I’m gonna ask them now,” he added.
He added that if his friend is wrong, he would slap him.
Going without a mask can be costly, with first-time offenders being “slapped” (pun intended) with a $300 fine, and repeat offenders made to pay an even higher amount, or even be prosecuted in court.
So perhaps for the TikToker, the stakes were pretty high.
He can then be seen going up to the control station at one-north MRT station asking, “Hi sorry, do you have spare masks?”
To his surprise and delight, they did.
As he walked away from the control station, he fist bumps his friend, who did not, after all, get a slap because he was right.
“Of course they have, it’s Singapore!” his friend tells him.
Some netizens pointed out, however, that this is not the case in other MRT stations.
Commenters on the video wrote that it’s not a policy per se to give out masks for free, but it’s likely that the people manning the control station gave Mr Kopankiewicz from their personal supply.
One commenter who appears to work for the MRT system said that it helps when people ask for masks nicely.
Some commenters also said that even strangers may be persuaded to give someone else a mask if they ask politely.
One quipped that it was Mr Kopankiewicz who should have gotten a slap from his friend.
Other people have had the same experience.
Apparently, masks are also given away in restaurants and buses. 
/TISG
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