‘Happiness is riding in the rain’: Boy melts hearts after crossing Bukit Timah road in toy car
A three-year-old boy riding a toy car across the road in the rain while his father walked beside him with an umbrella sparked heartfelt reactions online, with several netizens commending the sight as “great parenting”.
The boy’s mother, who wished to be known only as Sandra, told Stomp that she had filmed a video of her son and husband crossing the road at a junction between Hillview Rise and Hillview Avenue in Upper Bukit Timah at about 7.45am on May 21.
The 35-year-old project engineer shared the video on her TikTok account, @crystal.sukhareva, later that day.
Her husband, dressed in a blue shirt, walks a few steps ahead of the child. The boy follows behind in a yellow raincoat, pushing himself forward in a toy car.
The father looks back occasionally to check on the child, and both make it safely to the other side of the road.
“Happiness is riding in the rain,” Sandra wrote in the accompanying caption.
“My son always rides his car at this same route everyday to school. I just want to document him enjoying the same route with the fun of rain,” she told Stomp.
‘Great parenting’ or ‘dangerous’?
The clip drew over 55,900 views, as some netizens gushed over the “cute” sight.
“Um sir, there is a little duckling following you,” one netizen joked.
“Great parenting — start the kid to hustle young, these days teenagers don’t even want to get their sneakers wet,” another wrote.
However, others said that the situation was potentially “dangerous”, criticising what they felt was a “irrensposible” act.
“I would let my child do this, but NOT on the road where there are reckless drivers, fast & furious PMD, drunk drivers & the list goes on,” another agreed.
Several also urged the parent to stay vigilant, suggesting that the adult stay closer to the child as not all drivers would notice the boy crossing the road.
Mother responds to flak
In response to comments that took issue with the video, Sandra said she did not expect the clip to spark backlash.
“I don’t feel that there is any danger about this as they were crossing when the green man was lit up,” she added.
“Parenting has no single right way; every family finds its own rhythm.
“Each time a child braves the rain, they grow a little taller — not just in height, but in heart.”
In another viral incident in February, a 14-year-old defended her decision to stroll in the rain after her parents received flak for allowing her to do so.
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