Understandably, being a bus captain is a difficult job.
Of course, most are kind to their commuters.
However, there have been some instances of bus captains behaving undesirably.
On 7 October, a Tower Transit bus door allegedly trapped the arm of an 11-year-old girl.
The bus captain has been accused of shouting profanities instead of apologising.
The Incident
In a post uploaded onto Facebook group Complaint Singapore, user Serene Gwee detailed the ordeal.
Her daughter, Ethel, was taking a Tower Transit bus after school at around 6.10 pm.
Unfortunately, Ethel’s arm got clamped between the bus doors as she got off.
Serene wrote that Ethel “bellowed in pain”.
She said, “Fellow commuters shouted out to the bus captain to open the door, and when he finally did, instead of apologising, he hurled vulgarities at the commuters, screaming at the top of his lungs.”
When she met her daughter at the bus interchange, Serene noted that Ethel looked “traumatised” and was “visibly shaken”.
She added, “I was heartbroken. I wanted to confront the captain, but she was begging me not to do so as he was ‘very fierce and he would kill me.’”
Fortunately, a fellow commuter followed Ethel after she had left the bus.
The commuter wanted to make sure that Ethel was okay.
The commuter recounted the incident to Serene and advised her to “observe the injury”.
Serene wrote, “I was so absorbed in attending to my gal that I forgot to ask for her name. Thanks to this lady samaritan, I knew what happened. I am so grateful for her act of kindness.”
In the post, she added that she was “appalled” by the bus captain’s act.
She said, “Surely the code of conduct does not include ‘berating commuters with vulgarities!’”
Attached to the Facebook post were pictures of Ethel’s injuries.
She suffered a light but visible bruise.
According to Serene, her daughter was still in shock hours after the incident.
She concluded, “I hope to share this story so that the relevant bus company will take action to investigate and ensure inappropriate behaviours are not condoned.
“This is for the safety of the general public, especially the vulnerable.”
Tower Transit’s Response
Tower Transit has since responded to the Facebook post.
The company connected with Serene in the comments section of her post, apologising for the incident.
They wrote, “The bus captain’s behaviour you described is completely unacceptable.”
The company requested Serene to contact them directly.
Speaking to Must Share News, a spokesperson from Tower Transit said that the company has suspended the bus captain.
Furthermore, the incident is pending a full investigation and disciplinary action.
The company reiterated that the bus captain’s lack of compassion, outburst and disregard for the commuter was unacceptable behaviour.
Similar Incident
Remember when mask-wearing was still mandatory?
In December 2022, a Tower Transit bus captain allegedly shouted at a maskless man with Down syndrome and his helper.
Even though the man’s helper explained his condition, the bus captain told them to get off the bus as he “cannot tahan”.
While mask-wearing was mandatory, there were some exceptions.
Those with special needs, those with proof of relevant medical conditions and children under six were exempted from wearing masks on the bus.
Speaking to Mothership, the man’s mother, Phyllis, explained that her son had autistic traits like a dislike for wearing things.
In addition, his ears were deformed, rendering him unable to wear a mask.
In light of the COVID-19 restrictions, she got a letter from his MINDS training centre to explain his condition to avoid trouble on public transport.
She also noted that this wasn’t the first time her son had been treated this way.
Despite being non-verbal, he had a card and lanyard by SG Enable to make others aware of his condition.
She called for better awareness and understanding of the special needs community.
Tower Transit responded to the incident and clarified that the bus captain was merely “projecting his voice” and not shouting.
The clarification came after viewing CCTV footage.
The company added that he did not ask the pair to leave the bus and that he spoke matter-of-factly to the helper.
However, they noted that he could have sounded more compassionate and reiterated their apology to the family.
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