Passenger films bus captain to shame him for driving too slowly. It doesn’t go the way he expected
A passenger who filmed a bus captain for allegedly driving too slowly has instead found the internet praising the driver for following standard operating procedures (SOPs) and keeping his cool.
TikTok user @GadgetLah posted a 55-second video of a Tower Transit Singapore bus captain operating Service 984, saying he was running late for class and urging the driver to speed up.
“Driving at your own pace? You following your timing or what?” asks the passenger at the start of the clip. The bus captain nods.
“You cannot follow timing, you must follow your speed,” the passenger says.
“How am I supposed to follow the speed?” the bus captain replies.
“Drive normal,” says the passenger, probably meaning to say the bus captain was not driving at a speed he considered normal.
Keeping his eyes on the road, the bus captain calmly explains that he is following SOPs and asks the passenger to take his seat. The passenger disagrees, insisting it is “not SOP”.
The bus captain then explains that he is five minutes early prompting the passenger to say: “You cannot declare that way. That is not the proper way of driving.”
When the driver protests about being filmed without permission, the passenger tells him: “You’re doing the wrong thing.”
He adds that he has to attend a class, to which the bus captain says: “You’re supposed to take the front bus, not my bus.”
The video, posted on July 6, has garnered more than 40,000 views, 540 reactions and 290 comments. It was later shared by Instagram page @sgfollowsall on July 15, where it attracted more than 57,000 views, 890 reactions and 200 comments.
Tower Transit: Bus captain followed schedule
In a Facebook post, Tower Transit Singapore said it had reviewed the trip and confirmed that the bus captain had been operating the service according to the planned schedule.
The company explained that bus captains are required to maintain even spacing between buses so waiting times remain consistent for commuters.
Tower Transit also expressed concern that the passenger’s behaviour distracted the driver and could have put other passengers and road users at risk.
It urged commuters to use the company’s official feedback channels if they had concerns, instead of confronting or attempting to shame bus captains online.
“Our BCs (bus captains) deserve to carry out their duties without fear of intimidation or online abuse,” the company said, while commending the bus captain for handling the situation professionally.
‘Leave the bus driver alone’
Many netizens came to the bus captain’s defence, praising him for remaining calm, staying professional and simply doing his job.
“You are right bus captain.... Kudos (to) bus captain, Tower Transit, for being professional,” said a TikTok user.
“Driver, you are doing right, keep up the good work,” another said.
“Bus captain very professional, dealing with a hard passenger like this,” echoed another.
Many also tried to explain to the original poster that bus captains are required to keep to a schedule.
“We all already know that the bus driver has a timing route – they cannot be too fast or too slow. Can you please stop disturbing my bus driver?” one commenter wrote. “If you are late then it’s on you, it is right for the driver to follow SOP.”
Another added: “The one that (posted) this doesn’t know how the bus captains follows their SOP... Next time, go out earlier. Public commuters should know how to plan their timing.”
One netizen, who said they were a bus driver, commented: “We bus driver have timing need to follow since it is given by LTA. Since you rush, you supposed go out earlier. Simple. We just follow what scheduled for us.”
The original poster disagreed, replying: “You should follow the proper driving speed and not drive like tortoise.”
Others were more blunt, criticising the passenger for distracting someone behind the wheel.
“Leave the bus driver alone,” one wrote, while another said: “Let the driver drive. You’re causing danger by distracting the driver.”
One commenter added: “Mr GadgetLah is definitely wrong. The driver deserves an apology. Driver drove the bus safely, following SOP. Driver deserves to drive peacefully (without) being harassed.”
Responding to Tower Transit’s Facebook post, some netizens even suggested the company lodge a police report against the passenger.
Stomp has contacted Tower Transit Singapore to ask if it intends to take any further action.
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