Bus Driver Accused of Racism After He Refused to Let Someone Wearing ‘Cloth Mask’ Board

Wearing a face mask in public is now mandatory in many countries, one of them being Singapore.

But it’s not exactly cheap, and some users find it uncomfortable, which is why they have resorted to alternatives like these:

But if you choose to wear an unconventional face mask, you might just be denied entry in certain areas, like public transport.

At least that’s what happened to this man on an SBS bus.

Bus Driver Accused of Racism After He Refused to Let Someone Wearing ‘Cloth Mask’ Board

The man, who was wearing a neck gaiter instead of a face mask, was not allowed to enter the SBS bus as the driver claimed it wasn’t a proper face mask. The man then allegedly forced his way in, and the driver refused to continue on his route.

The man, who started a Facebook live video during their exchange, claims that the driver’s actions were racially motivated.

In the video, the driver can be heard speaking to the Operations Control Centre (OCC) in Chinese, something which the man kept highlighting.

“This is the problem when you have China people working in Singapore”, he said.

Speaking to the OCC, the driver claims the man is wearing a “face towel”, instead of a mask, that he is recording the incident, and that he is raising his voice, reported Mothership.

The driver also claimed the man opened the bus door and boarded the bus by himself, though he didn’t explain how.

At one point in the exchange with OCC, the driver indicates that the man is “Indian”.

However, as Mothership pointed out, this could have been in relation to his difficulty communicating with the man, as he was also asking for an OCC staff member to speak to the man directly.

The man pointed out that while the driver was complaining about the man’s odd choice for a face mask, he wasn’t wearing his own mask properly, as his nose was exposed.

A fellow passenger who came up to find out what the commotion was about told the driver there was nothing wrong with the man’s face covering, but to no avail.

The passenger then generously offers a face mask to the man but he declines, saying “we are not giving in to these a**holes”.

The man made it a point to emphasise the fact that the driver could not speak English, calling him a “China man”.

“This is called Singapore government. Cannot hire Singaporeans, hire this kind of China man. Then after that make life difficult for every one of us.”

Police Called In

As the argument seemed like it would never end, all the passengers started getting off the bus and the driver apologises to them, saying the police have been called in.

When some passengers asked if the bus had broken down, the man confirmed that he stopped because of the man’s face covering: “Those who ride buses have to wear masks”.

The driver later hands the phone over to the man so he can speak to an OCC staff member, and the man says that he’s been “taking buses the whole day” without any issues.

Towards the end of the video, police officers arrive on the scene and usher the two men out of the vehicle.

The male officer speaking to the man also seemed unsure as to whether the man’s face covering was permissible, as he asked the man where he had purchased the neck gaiter.

Speaking to the officer, the man maintained that it wasn’t actually the neck gaiter that motivated the driver’s actions:

“This guy was racist, and you know it”, the man said.”

Is it a Mask or Not?

Now that you have finished your large bucket of popcorn, you’re probably wondering, is a neck gaiter a legitimate choice for a face covering?

Well, according to the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, a mask includes:

“any paper or textile covering designed or made to be worn over the nose and mouth to provide the wearer protection against infections or air pollution, but excludes a face shield.”

A neck gaiter would appear to fall under this category, then.

One store, Liberty Maniacs, claims that when used as a face mask, its neck gaiter can limit the spread of respiratory droplets.

You can watch the full video here:

The police and SBS Transit have yet to comment on the matter.