Special needs teen from Bukit Panjang ends up lost in Holland Village, reunited with dad in 2 hours thanks to SMRT staff
A teenager with special needs strayed far from his Bukit Panjang home and ended up in Holland Village, where he was thankfully reunited with his father.
The reunion was made possible thanks to SMRT Trains staff at Holland Village MRT station: Hajjah Puteri Ruziah, 55, and Mubarak Haziq, 33.
On Sept 14, the pair were presented with Stomp Goody Bags for their heartwarming deed.
They had been on duty at the passenger service centre on Aug 30 at around 10am when a commuter informed them that a teenage boy had tried to tailgate him out of the gantry.
How SMRT staff provided comfort to a lost teen
“The boy was lost and looked very disoriented,” recounted assistant station manager Puteri. “He had puffy and red eyes, I’m not sure if it was because he had cried, but he just looked at us and didn’t talk.”
Believing that the boy might have autism, Puteri brought him to the WeCare room and got him to rest on a sofa bed. She saw that the boy had blisters on his ankles, as he was not wearing any socks.
Meanwhile, station manager Haziq got some plasters and stuffed toys for the boy.
After tending to the boy’s blisters and giving him some bolsters to hug, Puteri tried to learn his name, but to no avail. Noticing that he kept blinking and wanting to calm him down, she decided to sing him a song.
“I sang him the universal song: A, B, C, D, E, F, G,” she said. “He looked at me and smiled.”
The boy was noticeably calmer by then, playing with the stuffed toys and hugging the bolster.
“I changed the song to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and sang to him all the way until he fell asleep,” Puteri added.
During this time, Haziq spoke to the commuter who found the boy.
“The commuter said he had boarded the train with the kid at Bishan MRT station. As he noticed there was no guardian around, he kept close to the kid just in case,” he said.
“When he alighted at Holland Village, the boy followed him out all the way to the platform and tried to exit the gantry together. That’s when he came to us.”
Haziq quickly shared the information with an internal group chat for missing persons and lost and found incidents as well as SMRT’s operations control centre. He also alerted TransCom officers.
About 15 minutes later, a colleague forwarded a Facebook post about a missing child — and it fit the boy’s description perfectly.
Haziq said: “I immediately called the family member’s number on the post and told them that the boy was safe in our custody and they could come down to our station to pick him up.”
As Puteri had to leave, Haziq took over caring for the boy until the boy’s father arrived at about noon.
“The first thing the dad said was, ‘How did he end up here?’” recounted Haziq. “He was very grateful and appreciative and shook everyone’s hand.”
SMRT Trains staff surprised to be commended
While it was not the first time the pair have received thanks for going the distance or helping those in need, the recent media recognition is new to them.
Puteri said she was shocked as she initially thought the incident was only known internally.
“When I heard that (Stomp wanted to interview me), I thought, ‘Stomp ah? Wah, this is not SMRT news anymore. This is Singapore news eh’,” she quipped. “But I am also excited and happy to have a small gesture we did be recognised.”
Haziq echoed similar sentiments: “I feel appreciated because sometimes not many people see the things that we do on a daily basis.”
He recalls encountering rude and drunk passengers on the job, including those who turn physically aggressive.
“I’ve been called a lot of names before,” admitted Haziq.
“I think the worst was when I could not provide the answer someone wanted even though it was the only answer I could give him. He was so frustrated that he called me a waste of space, banged a table and just left.”
Service with a heart
Despite the challenges, Haziq remains passionate about work and helping others.
“You have to be humble to do your job, perform service sincerely with all your heart and also have patience.”
Stressing the importance of empathy, Haziq added: “Sometimes, commuters have just returned from work. They are tired and don’t know what they want.
“We have to be patient and think about how they feel in their shoes, not just assume they only want to whack you, and give them the best service that we can.
“If a passenger is happy that we can get them from Point A to Point B, then I think we have done a good job.”
Puteri, who has 30 years of experience in passenger service across various industries, said every day is a learning point.
She told Stomp: “Whatever you do, do it sincerely and wholeheartedly without trying to gain recognition. And be happy no matter what you are doing.”
Puteri also finds joy in giving commuters her best. She said: “Passengers can come to SMRT whenever they need help.”
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