‘Why you video video?’ Woman who forgot bus fare says passenger turned aggressive, tried to snatch her phone
A woman who forgot to pay her bus fare found herself accused of cheating by another passenger. And when she started recording the accusations, the other woman allegedly turned aggressive.
Instagrammer @zaza.chee shared videos of the incident in an Instagram post on April 19.
She said that at about 9.40am that morning, she boarded bus service 32 but forgot to pay the fare as she was distracted by thoughts of work. The bus driver reminded her, and she immediately paid before taking a seat — all within a minute.
Speaking to Stomp, Miss Chee said the woman, who was one seat away from her, gave her a “death stare”.
“She kept going on about people like me being crazy for not wanting to pay,” said Miss Chee, adding that the remarks were made loudly.
Miss Chee remained calm, initially choosing to ignore the comments.
“I thought maybe she would stop after a while if I did not react,” said Miss Chee. However, the woman continued.
“She left her seat to stand right beside the bus driver saying the same thing, accusing me of not paying and how people like me are crazy for not paying so on and so forth,” she said.
“She was talking to the bus driver, deliberately raising her voice so everyone in the bus could hear it. She was shouting for almost a minute.”
Feeling uneasy, she took out her phone to record the incident “because she was publicly accusing me of not wanting to pay, which was not true”.
That made the woman furious.
According to Miss Chee, the woman then came over and snatched her phone, unwilling to return it. The woman also became physically aggressive.
“She kept sticking her finger in my face and came very close to my face — I could feel her spit. She kept shoving and grabbing (me),” she said.
Miss Chee added that she moved to another part of the bus to avoid the confrontation, but the woman followed her and continued pushing and shoving.
That was when Miss Chee called the police.
“She claimed that I was blocking her way and came behind me to push me very hard, telling me, ‘get out of my way, you’re blocking my way’,” said Miss Chee.
“I told her again and again, please stop touching me,” she added, but to no avail.
Both women later alighted at the same stop near Valley Point Shopping Centre.
“I told her not to leave as the police were arriving, but she replied that I’m crazy and that she had to go to work and left quickly,” said Miss Chee.
She then called the police to tell them the woman had left, and later made a police report online.
“I was very intimidated when she started getting physical. Especially when she pointed her finger in my face — I thought she was going to hit me. But I just kept my cool and avoided any physical altercation (on my end).”
In response to Stomp’s queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged.
Mixed reactions online
Several netizens wondered why the bus captain didn’t intervene.
“Why did the bus captain not step in and restrain her or ask her to get off the bus?” asked one.
Others who knew Miss Chee, a national boxer, praised her for remaining calm despite being provoked. Some even joked that she should have retaliated by delivering a knock-out blow.
“Good thing you kept your cool. Stay safe!” commented one netizen.
There were also comments speculating about the other woman’s behaviour.
“Could (she) be mentally not stable?” one netizen asked.
The video was later shared on Facebook page The SG Daily, where it has garnered more than 189,000 views, 740 reactions and 190 comments.
Several Facebook users were critical of the original poster, whose details were not shared in the post, for recording the incident.
“Think let the captain handle it... Small matter, everything must video – make tiny sg very stressful,” said one.
Another said: “Please stop video on others (sic).This is privacy.”
Others, however, felt the accusing passenger had overreacted.
“Sometimes we forget to tap also – don’t judge too fast,” said one user.
Another commented: “It’s time for everyone to calm down and be kind to one another. You never know what someone might be going through.”
Stomp has reached out to the police for comment.
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