Why do some Singaporeans behave badly on public buses and what can bus captains do?
Mr J Kong was travelling home on bus service 157 last month when he saw an elderly man put his feet up on the seat opposite him. The 38-year-old senior paralegal told The Straits Times he was aghast at the “unhygienic” and “inconsiderate” act.
Noticing that the passenger seated next to the old man looked visibly uncomfortable, Mr Kong told him to put his feet down. “But instead of doing so, the man told me that he could put his leg up as long as he was not wearing shoes,” said Mr Kong. “I was surprised by his reaction because most folks would apologise and proceed to put their feet down from the seats.”
Stunned and unsure what else he could do, Mr Kong whipped out his mobile phone and snapped a photo of the man, and then sent it to citizen journalism website Stomp. “At the end of the day, what can commuters do besides Stomping?” he asked. “I’ve not informed bus captains about these incidents before. But if I do, what are they able to do? I feel that it is important that commuters are willing to voice out on such matters so that we can make a difference.”
Bertha Henson 4h
Isn’t some of this behaviour because there is space? So you put bag on seat because bus is empty but you take it with you when it starts filling up. You hog a pole because no one else needs it?
Btw, what is manspreading ?
Woman who put feet up against pole in SBS bus arrested for public nuisance
In a video on TikTok, the woman is seen resting her feet on the seat in front of her, as well as against a pole in the bus. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM @BBSHIDAH/TIKTOK
A woman was arrested last Thursday for public nuisance after she had a dispute with a bus captain on an SBS Transit bus.
In a video posted on TikTok, the woman is seen resting her feet on the seat in front of her. Pasted on both sides of the bus – and on the same row where the woman was seated – are signs telling passengers not to rest their feet on backward-facing seats. In the video, when the bus captain approaches the woman to put her feet down, she is seen speaking rudely and arguing with him, before resting her legs on a metal pole in front of her.
The police confirmed that they were alerted to a dispute on a bus along Boon Lay Way towards Jurong East Central, on Oct 26 at 6.17pm. “A 50-year-old female passenger was subsequently arrested for public nuisance. Police investigations are ongoing,” the police said.
You again? Exasperated bus driver threatens to call police on notorious woman putting feet up on handlebar
A bus driver allegedly threatened to call the police on a female passenger who put her feet up on the handlebar of a bus
Despite getting the police called on her for being inconsiderate on the bus in February, it seems like this passenger hasn't learnt her lesson.
A video of a confrontation between the unruly and defiant passenger and another bus captain was uploaded on social media by Singapore Incidents on Friday (Oct 27). In the clip, the female passenger, donning a visor and a jacket, was seen taking a nap at the back of the bus while propping both her legs onto a handlebar. It is not known when or which bus service the incident took place at.
The latter part of the clip shows the bus captain asking her to put her feet down. "Like this, correct or not?" he asked the passenger, pointing to her feet. He also gestured towards a sticker pasted on the side of the bus urging commuters not to put their feet up and remarked: "You saw the sticker there or not?"
SBS bus driver calls police after woman refuses to put down her feet from grab pole
It is against the rule in Singapore to rest your legs on bus seats. Stickers indicating this rule are often found pasted in buses as well. However, one woman in Singapore may have found a loophole to this rule, as she decided to put her feet up on the grab poles of the bus instead.
Taking off her shoes and resting her sock-clad feet on the pole, the woman then covered her face with her visor and took a nap. But doing so is not without its consequences, as the bus captain came up to speak to her. Their heated exchange was captured by Tiktok user @bbshidah, who told Mothership that the incident happened on bus service 99 towards Jurong Town Hall.
In the video, the driver can be seen pointing towards the side — presumably at a sticker indicating the rule. He asked the woman, "You see the sticker or not?" The woman angrily replied, "You see your bus driver uniform or not? I put down now, what you want?" However, just mere seconds later, she put her legs back up nonchalantly.
'This is not your home, auntie': Man gets into heated debate with woman who put feet up by bus window
The bus is definitely not a place to make yourself feel at home. One woman was called out for her uncivil behaviour after she put her feet up against the window of a bus.
A heated argument on board a public bus was captured by a fellow commuter, who uploaded the clip to TikTok on Tuesday (Jan 3). A timestamp on the clip by TikTok user Joyang0422 showed that the video was taken in the morning that same day. In the video, the woman's stockinged feet are shown propped up against the frame of the bus window below the bell, with the action effectively blocking off the seat beside her.
Across the aisle from her, a male passenger berates her for her lack of civic-mindedness. "The issue is, this is not your home auntie, do you know?" said the man loudly in Hokkien, to which the woman retorted in a mix of dialect and Mandarin, "So what if I put my feet up, it's none of your business. This is also not your home."
Bus driver calls police on notorious passenger who keeps putting her feet up
A woman was seen up to her usual antics again, just slightly over a month since she made headlines for inconsiderate behaviour on a bus. The woman had earlier gotten into an argument with a commuter on bus service 160 on January 3 after being called out by him for placing her feet against the bus window.
A viral TikTok video shows the woman telling the man, "Diam (shut up) lah you," and "You poor ah?" According to the TikToker who took the video, the woman alighted at the next bus stop after the man said he wanted to call the police – but not before flashing her middle fingers.
The TikToker told Stomp that the woman appears to be a recalcitrant offender, as she had also been seen placing her feet on a handlebar on bus service 991 on Dec 28 last year. Well, it seems that the TikToker is right as the woman has been spotted up to her old tricks again.
Commuters in S'pore still put feet up on bus seats despite new sign saying not to
SMRT has introduced a new sign on its buses since August 2019
It is to remind commuters not to rest their feet on the bus seats for obvious hygiene reasons, and not to deprive others of a seat. However, the signs have been failing to do their job, as commuters openly violate the rule that is right in front of them.
The majority of responses to these photos have been to slam the commuters for a lack of civic-mindedness. However, there are two plausible-sounding explanations for why this behaviour persists even with the sign up, and they have nothing to do with ageist types of reasoning or blaming it on the boomers
Firstly, it could be because of the seats' inherent design, which invites commuters to naturally carry out this behaviour. Secondly, it could be that bus seats and rides in general are comfortable enough for commuters to have little to no qualms displaying such behaviour in public. So, if the designs of the seats cannot be altered, then the signs will just have to take the their time to have their intended effect.
Inconsiderate behaviour on public buses: 'What can commuters do besides Stomping?'
Mr J. Kong was travelling home on bus service 157 in August when he saw an elderly man put his feet up on the seat opposite him.
The 38-year-old senior paralegal told The Straits Times he was aghast at the “unhygienic” and “inconsiderate” act. Noticing that the passenger seated next to the old man looked visibly uncomfortable, Mr Kong told him to put his feet down.
“But instead of doing so, the man told me that he could put his leg up as long as he was not wearing shoes,” said Mr Kong. “I was surprised by his reaction because most folks would apologise and proceed to put their feet down from the seats.” Stunned and unsure what else he could do, Mr Kong whipped out his mobile phone and snapped a photo of the man, and then sent it to citizen journalism website Stomp.
Man allegedly 'rains blows' on Stomper for taking photo of him with his bare feet on bus seat
It must be a common sight, judging by the number of photos submitted by Stompers. Just go to the Stomp Instagram page and take a gander at the many photos of people sitting on the bus with their often bare feet resting on the opposite seat.
Stomper JL took one such photo of a fellow commuter on bus service 961 and was allegedly assaulted for it. He said it happened on Aug 19 in the morning. "This man put his feet up on the seats," recounted the Stomper, who shared the photo.
In the photo, the man can be seen with his slippers off and his bare feet on the seat opposite him. Next to him was a sign that prohibited feet on seats – with or without footwear. "When I took pics of him, he got furious and demanded my handphone," said the Stomper.
Woman called out by commuter for placing feet on bus window had also sat like this on another bus
A woman who was recently seen in an argument with a man for placing her feet against a bus window has been called out again.
The woman first made waves online after TikTok user Joyang posted a video that shows her placing her feet against the window on bus service 160 on Tuesday (Jan 3), at around 11.20am. In the video, a man is seen chiding the woman for her behaviour.
She later called him 'poor'. However, the man replied, "Being poor is my business. Being poor is okay, we take the bus but don't sit until like that" while pointing at the woman's feet.
Woman who said man was 'poor' in viral video being a nuisance again, tells bus driver to call police
A woman was seen up to her usual antics again, just slightly over a month since she made headlines for inconsiderate behaviour on a bus.
The woman had earlier gotten into an argument with a commuter on bus service 160 on January 3 after being called out by him for placing her feet against the bus window. A viral TikTok video shows the woman telling the man, "Diam (shut up) lah you," and "You poor ah?" According to the TikToker who took the video, the woman alighted at the next bus stop after the man said he wanted to call the police — but not before flashing her middle fingers.
The TikToker told Stomp that the woman appears to be a recalcitrant offender, as she had also been seen placing her feet on a handlebar on bus service 991 on December 28 last year. Well, it seems that the TikToker is right as the woman has been spotted up to her old tricks again.
There she goes again: Woman hurls vulgarities at bus commuter who told her to sit properly
A woman who made headlines earlier this year for sitting inappropriately on multiple buses has been seen up to her usual antics again.
Just months ago in January, she was filmed sitting on bus service 160 with her feet propped up against the bus window and chiding a commuter who called her out. It was also revealed that another commuter had called the police against the woman for doing the same thing on bus service 991 in December 2022.
In February this year, a Stomper witnessed the woman challenging a bus driver to call the police when told to put down her feet. Well, it seems like the woman has not changed her ways at all.
Commuter puts legs on seat while sitting beside sign that disallows this act: 'So big sign, can see right?'
A commuter was spotted with her legs on a seat in a bus even though she's sitting right beside a sign that disallows this act.
It was about 1.30pm and Stomper GGOng had just boarded a bus on service route 66 when she noticed a woman sitting with her legs on a seat opposite from her. She also contributed photos of the incident.
GGOng told Stomp: "I didn't go up to enlighten her or anything like that. The bus wasn't so crowded yet. When people came up the bus, they would look at her but she no reaction so I was getting a bit pissed off. "The bus passed by a primary school a couple stops before I alighted. A lot of students came up but she didn't give way. She continued in this position.
Man caught sleeping with feet on bus seat but netizens are on his side
It's well-established that feet do not belong on bus seats but one man is getting a pass from Singaporean netizens after getting caught in the act.
A photo of a man sleeping with his feet on a bus seat was posted on Facebook today (Nov 13) and captioned "to wake or not to wake".
In the photo, a middle-aged man could be seen sleeping with his back against a bus window and his bare feet on the seat next to him, using a small white towel as a blanket. There were three other empty seats in the frame. A sign prohibiting commuters from placing their feet on seats was also visible on the wall beside the man.
Shots of commuters putting their feet on bus seats next to warning signs go viral
It should already be common sense, but in case anyone’s struggling with the logic, putting your feet up on bus seats is considered A Rude Thing To Do.
Not only is it unhygienic (imagine sitting on the filth you might have stepped on), it also blocks other passengers from getting a seat. And no, it doesn’t matter whether the bus is empty — it’s just inconsiderate for everyone else when chairs get dirtied up.
Unfortunately, courtesy and graciousness aren't coming naturally to everyone. Last month, SMRT started putting up signs on buses that explicitly discourage commuters from stretching their legs onto seats opposite them.
No Putting Your Feet On Bus Seats Anymore
Stretching their legs while sitting, making good use of that empty seat opposite, that is.
Well, it looks like bus operators are aware of how ungracious bus passengers can be. And they’re already making an effort to discourage such behaviour.
Last Saturday (17 Aug), a Redditor noticed a new sign on a bus officially banning the act. The picture was uploaded with the caption “So SMRT has finally had enough.”
read more
Raise a hand if you’ve ever met passengers on the bus who enjoy the comfort of stretching their legs
Stretching their legs while sitting, making good use of that empty seat opposite, that is.
Well, it looks like bus operators are aware of how ungracious bus passengers can be. And they’re already making an effort to discourage such behaviour.
Last Saturday (17 Aug), a Redditor noticed a new sign on a bus officially banning the act. The picture was uploaded with the caption “So SMRT has finally had enough.”
read more
