An Altercation That Started With Safe-Distancing Ambassadors Being ‘Rude’ Escalated to Something Else

Safe distancing ambassadors – heroes to some, a bane to others.

Ever since the authorities released safe distancing ambassadors into the wilderness that is our city, countless arguments have ensued with annoyed residents who don’t like being told what to do.

This usually lands them in an even bigger bowl of hot water, as the authorities take the abuse of their safe distancing officers very seriously.

But what if these safe distancing officers are the ones who are rude? Well, that’s what one woman on Facebook claims happened to her.

An Altercation That Started With Safe-Distancing Ambassadors Being Allegedly Rude Escalated to Something Else

A video of an altercation between a woman and two safe distancing ambassadors has been making the rounds on social media after it was uploaded to the Facebook page All Singapore Stuff.

The video has been shared more than 500 times in less than 5 hours.

The argument was initially about a rude gesture that one of the safe distancing ambassadors allegedly made (not seen in the video), but soon escalated into an entirely different and more heated clash.

At the start of the video, the woman pans to two female safe distancing ambassadors and tells viewers that they were “very rude”, before confronting them.

“You are very rude, you know? From just now I listened to you, the way you actually approach people is very rude,” the woman said.

One of the ambassadors who tried to calm the woman down, called the woman “Sir”, something which only amplified the woman’s anger.

“I’m a woman! I’m a woman, ok? Not Sir.”

The woman was apparently upset because of the way one of the ambassadors reacted to a food stall owner.

According to the woman, one of the food stall owners at a coffee shop nearby who was speaking to the ambassadors said that he occasionally removes his mask from time to time because he can’t breathe.

The safe distancing ambassador allegedly made a rude gesture in response, which angered the women.

But then the argument escalated into a full-blown screaming match after one of the safe distancing ambassadors asked to see her IC.

Furious Because Her Gender Was Questioned

When one of the ambassadors sternly told the woman not to shout at her, she raised her voice, saying “I can shout and scream at you for all I care.”

In response, presumably because the ambassador was a little vexed, she said, “Show me your IC that you’re a girl”.

This was a huge mistake.

The woman became incensed at this point. She started screaming even louder and even grabbed the safe distancing ambassador’s bag when she tried to walk away.

“Show my IC that I’m a girl? You want me to sue you in the court of law?” the woman said. “You call yourself a social distancing officer and you ask for my gender?”

After threatening to sue both ladies, the woman walked quite a distance (so long, you’d wonder if the ambassadors have left the scene, but they didn’t) to her car to retrieve her IC and returned to the scene to show it to the two women, but they weren’t exactly interested.

When one of the ambassadors said that she’d already apologised, the woman recording the video said: “There’s no point, who are you to question my gender?”

One of the safe distancing ambassadors also claims that the woman swiped her phone away at one point.

Who Was Wrong? Netizens Debate the Issue

As with every single issue on the internet, netizens were divided.

Some believed that the safe distancing ambassadors were acting ultra vires – beyond the scope of their legal authority.

Others defended the ambassadors, saying the woman was also at fault for confronting them so aggressively.

Abuse of Safe Distancing Ambassadors

Back in April, when people were still coming to grips with the fact that they could no longer eat Chendol at the coffee shop, reports of safe distancing ambassadors being abused started cropping up.

Many residents reportedly physically and verbally abused these officers, with one 40-year-old man headbutting an enforcement officer after he was told to stop playing basketball at a cordoned-off multi-purpose hall in Khatib.

Anyone found guilty of using abusive language against a public servant could be jailed for up to 12 months, fined up to S$5,000, or both, according to CNA.

If you feel like you’ve been mistreated in any way by a safe distancing ambassador or enforcement officer, you’re better off reporting them to the authorities, rather than confronting them and sharing a video of them online.

Online shaming rarely ends the way you want it to.