Police apprehend man for sitting on AYE Expressway while drinking beverages and playing with his mobile phone

SINGAPORE: A video of a man sitting on one of the lanes on Ayer Rajah Expressway was uploaded on the Facebook and YouTube pages of SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Sunday (May 26).

The man in the clip is sitting crosslegged on lane 3 of the expressway. He appears to have his mobile phone and two canned beverages in front of him. Cars, trucks, and motorbikes drive past him on either side.

The video looks like it was taken by a dash cam of a vehicle in front of the seated man. The caption says the incident occurred on Saturday (May 25) and reads, “aye man sitting on lane 3 of the expressway having a drink.”

However, by Monday morning, Mothership reported that the man had been apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.

The police said they received a call requesting assistance at around 5:00 on Saturday afternoon regarding an incident along AYE towards Marina Coastal Expressway.

Fortunately, the man was not injured despite sitting in the middle of the busy highway, and no other person was hurt in the incident either.

Many netizens commenting on the video expressed sympathy for the man, surmising that he is a foreign worker who may be undergoing a lot of stress or pressure at work while being separated from his family.

Others, however, were less kind, saying the man might be inebriated and condemning him for putting others in danger. Some commended the person who stopped in front of the man for shielding him from oncoming traffic and keeping him safe.

The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act (MHCTA) allows authorities to detain persons believed to be suffering from mental health conditions in a designated psychiatric institution for psychiatric assessment and treatment as they may be a risk to themselves or pose a threat to other people.

The individual may be detained initially for up to 72 hours, depending on his or her mental state. After this, when the person is evaluated further, they could be detained for up to 12 months if necessary.

“However, detention of patients is only exercised under the very strict circumstance that a patient with mental health conditions is at risk of harm to self or others,” the Ministry of Health said in 2021. /TISG

Read also: Survey shows mental health was top societal concern for Singaporeans in 2023