Driver kicks passenger’s luggage after heated argument over whisky bottle in van: ‘Did I ask your daughter to drink?’

A heated dispute over a whisky bottle in a van ended with the driver kicking his passengers’ luggage, with footage of the incident drawing confusion, amusement, and split opinions over who was at fault.

Clips of the confrontation were shared on the Singapore Road Vigilante Facebook page on June 27 with the caption, “driver of private bus upset with tourist passengers, threw bottle, kick at luggage”.

The video starts with a driver wearing a cap mouthing obscenities at the passenger and kicking one of his bags. The driver then walks towards his vehicle — a Toyota HiAce — and makes a call.

The clip then cuts to scenes likely taken from inside the vehicle prior to the kick.

While facing the rear passenger seats, the driver holds up a nearly empty bottle and asks: “This thing is it?” He then throws it onto the floor of the van before commenting, “This you want to complain about”, and drives off.

The driver then asks: “Did I ask your daughter to drink? Or what? Did I ask her?”

“You behave yourself, or I’ll throw you to the police,” the passenger, likely travelling with his wife and daughter, retorts.

“Call lah, call. Call now. You threaten me? You call now,” the driver responds.

“You taking me for a ride? Throwing bottle at me?” the passenger says, to which the driver replies: “I throw the bottle down because you say the bottle affects your daughter. In what way it affects your daughter?”

“You’ve kept the bottles in front of us. Why? Is this a bar?” asks the passenger.

“This is mineral water,” replies the driver.

“This bottle is a whisky bottle,” notes the passenger.

“Ya, so,”

The passenger then accuses the driver of throwing the bottle at him while the driver insists he threw it on the floor. When the passenger threatens to call the police, the driver challenges him to do so.

A female voice can also be heard saying: “Please, both of you.”

The video ends with the driver yelling: “I never find trouble with you, why you find trouble with me? Why you pissing me off?”

From the video, the argument appears to have stemmed from the passenger taking umbrage at the driver displaying a bottle of whisky in the presence of his young daughter.

Netizens split over who was at fault

The video has garnered over 330,000 views, 1,500 reactions, and 585 comments.

Some netizens were confused as to what the fuss was about.

“No head, no tail. Until now I question mark about this video?” said a Facebook user. “It’s a very complex situation over a whisky bottle,” another said.

One netizen suggested the whisky was there for the driver’s passengers.

“He is providing free drinks plus whisky. Just because he placed a whisky bottle in the front doesn’t mean your daughter has to drink it. It’s his van, and he has the right to keep it there,” said the netizen.

Another netizen suggested the video was edited to put the driver in a bad light. “The one recording is clearly just showing what they wanna show,” said the Facebook user.

However, some felt that the driver should not have had a bottle of liquor there in the first place.

“Why is there a whisky bottle in the first place? Asking for trouble. I see whisky in a taxi or private-hire vehicle, I’ll be questioning, too,” said a netizen.

Others even suggested that the driver was drink-driving.

“Drinking and driving, bro you are done bro,” said a Facebook user. “Drunk driver with whisky bottle still barking to passenger,” another said.

But others disagreed with the assumption.

“Unless proven, cannot assume,” said a netizen. “You put him on a breathalyser test and he tested positive?” another demanded.

Nevertheless, some felt that the driver’s reaction was excessive.

“No matter what the problem is, the Singapore private minibus driver shouldn’t behave like a hooligan to the family with children around,” said a netizen.

There were also netizens who felt that the passenger was being unreasonable.

“He is not your driver, don’t demand,” said one. “Self-entitled passenger spotted!” another said.

One netizen saw the funny side to the incident, joking: “If both could calm down and drink whisky together, problem solved.”

Stomp has reached out to the police for comment.

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