Man Online-Shamed Zoo Staff For Letting Auto Gate “Hit” His Children But Some Netizens Not Convinced

Singaporeans are often said to have a reputation of being “complaint kings” or “complaint queens” as we are able to vent our dissatisfaction with everything under the sun, from the hot weather to slow traffic.

It seems that this behaviour may be rubbing off on foreigners who have lived in Singapore for some time.

In particular, a man has taken to TikTok to complain about the entry gates of the Singapore Zoo hitting the arm of his child seated in a stroller.

Some netizens, however, are not impressed with his behaviour.

Here is what tea about what happened at the zoo.

Entrance Gates Hits the Arm of a Child Seated in a Stroller

Earlier this week, use @paaladin posted a video on the popular social media platform, TikTok, to complain about the poor attitude of the Singapore Zoo staff.

@paaladin Took my kids to my daughter’s birthday party at the Singapore Zoo. When the gate closed when the stroller was in the aisle, I did not attach any importance to this, only then my daughter complained about a blow to her arm. At home, after watching the video, I was horrified by the force of the blow. I’m sitting on my nerves, waiting for a bruise or signs of a fracture. Sleepless night ahead. In the morning at the slightest sign of injury – to the doctor. Thank you, Mandai Zoo for a wonderful day. Question – how did you allow the installation and operation of such gates? @singapore_incidents @Mothership.sg #MandaiZoo #Singapore #TikTokSG #Zoo #Safety #Incident #SingaporeZoo ♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box – takaya

He mentioned that he was taking his kids to his daughter’s birthday party at the Singapore Zoo and that the gates closed while the stroller was in the aisle. Later on, his daughter complained about a “blow to her arm”.

This was because the gates at the entrance to the Singapore Zoo had hit his child, who was sitting in a two-child stroller.

The child’s arm was hanging out of the stroller when the incident occurred.

The father reviewed the footage of his entrance to the zoo (which appeared to be filmed using a 360-degree camera) and was “horrified by the force of the blow”.

He was “sitting on [his] nerves” and “waiting for a bruise or signs of a fracture”. The plan was to head to the doctor “at the slightest sign of injury” the next morning.

As an irate parent would have asked, the father questioned how the Singapore Zoo allowed the installation and operation of such gates.

This video alone did not satisfy the man’s need to complain about the incident which happened.

He posted a follow-up video analysing the situation and concluded that the gates closed prematurely.

@paaladin #question from @Pavel Semenov I analyzed the situation, I established the cause of the premature closing of the gate. The zookeeper attached a second ticket before the first visitor passed, forcing the gate to go through a close-open cycle. Why is Singapore hiring staff with no basic skills? Yes, I’ve taken into account your previous “get out of Singapore” comments, thanks. I myself am afraid for the safety of children in this country, so I think you are right. But it would be great if the Mandai ZOO took into account the mistake so that the local residents would not suffer, who have nowhere to get off this island. #tiktokSG #Singapore #Zoo #incident #TikTokIndia @Mothership.sg @mandaiwildlifereserve ♬ They Don’t Care About Us – Michael Jackson

According to the on-screen captions in the video, this mishap occurred because of the negligence of the Singapore Zoo staff scanning the entry tickets.

The staff allegedly scanned multiple tickets in succession, which caused the gates to open and shut.

However, this scanning of tickets was not timed properly, and hence the gates started to close before the man and his stroller made it through the gates.

In the video, the gates (which appear to be made of hard plastic or acrylic) can be seen swiping the arm of the child seated in a two-child stroller as they were closing.

After the gate brushed the arm of the child, the child can be seen pointing to her elbow in discomfort, though she did not appear to be in pain.

And there is no way to tell if the child was crying from the audio of the video. This is due to the fact that the man’s video was overlaid with the dramatic music “They Don’t Care About Us” by the late pop legend Michael Jackson.

Just a little glimpse into how the father was feeling about this situation, which by now you can tell, were not positive feelings.

After the child clutches her arm, she also waves and taps her older sibling, who was standing behind the stroller, trying to catch the latter’s attention.

However, the older sibling does not appear to pay much attention to the child apart from patting the child’s arm.

All this while, the elder child and the father pushing the stroller were distracted, craning their necks and looking at something behind them.

The father’s post also questions how the Singapore Zoo hired staff “with no basic skills” and expressed his wishes to “get out of Singapore” as he was “afraid for the safety of children in this country”.

The second video he posted was edited with a slow-motion replay of the gate-closing incident, which we think K-drama directors would have shed a tear watching.

But that’s not all.

Netizens Say That the Father Is Overreacting

Netizens were not very impressed with the video and the father’s complaints about his child getting injured.

Quite a few comments under the videos suggested that the father was making a mountain out of a molehill, mocking him for kicking up a fuss.

Some of the comments questioned if the light touch of the gate could be considered hitting his daughter.

Other comments said that the father was being “dramatic” about this matter.

Yet other netizens said the father was “petty over small matters”.

There were also multiple sarcastic comments asking if the gate was ok (instead of showing concern for the child).

Thankfully, the child did not appear to be injured by the gates. According to AsiaOne, who had an interview with the father, his daughter did not need to see a doctor after the gate hit her.

This was despite the father’s suspicions that there was “a possible crack in the bone or a bruised joint” in his daughter’s arm.

He confirmed that he would not be making a formal complaint to the Singapore Zoo as he had “little faith that they will actually test the system, find exactly what the problem is and fix it.”

Of course, as with all controversial matters, there were netizens who left comments expressing their understanding of the father’s actions.

In particular, some of the comments sympathised with the father, saying that they understood his “frustration”.

There were also comments saying that the staff should not be blamed for this incident, given the man’s harsh criticism of the Singapore Zoo staff.

Yet other netizens found slightly unrelated things to talk about. One was dishing out unsolicited parenting advice, sharing how kids should be taught to keep their arms and legs in when navigating tight spaces.

There were also netizens who found humour in this situation, saying that this man was the sort of parent who would complain about everything.

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Was the Man Trying to Go Viral?

With all the backlash the man experienced from making the TikTok posts, we wonder if he really thought that this was an issue worthy of complaining about.

After all, it seems that “rough and tough” is one way of ensuring that this “strawberry generation” does not grow up to be all soft.

Could it be that the man was making these posts to go viral? It seems like the likelihood of that cannot be discounted.

Curiously enough, the original poster of the video replied to a netizen’s comment asking how the video was taken as it looked very professional.

In his reply, the father mentioned that he was using a 360-degree camera and that he had graduated from a “Soviet journalist school”.

He went on to say that he can “make news from any situation and any footage”.

If the father intended to go viral, he did accomplish what he set out to do somewhat.

The first video he posted about the incident where his daughter’s arm was hit garnered a whopping 11,800 views at the time of writing this article.

The second video, which had slow-mo effects, drew even more eyeballs. The view counter exceeded 473,100 views at the time of writing this article.

These numbers hugely exceed his usual viewer count in the low to mid-four-digit range.