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SINGAPORE – For 12 minutes on Tuesday (September 15), an SBS Transit bus driver was reprimanded and then beaten by a passenger who boarded the bus without wearing a mask.
SBS Transit detailed the assault in a Facebook post on Wednesday, saying it happened around 2.45 p.m. when a 52-year-old male commuter boarded service 21 along Pasir Ris Drive 6 without a mask.
The man, who put on the mask only later, hurled vulgarities at the 39-year-old bus driver, and this continued for two bus stops.
He began physically abusing the bus driver after the driver stopped the bus in front of Block 210 along Pasir Ris Drive 1 to wait for police to arrive.
“The man grabbed the neck and neck of the bus captain (BC), holding him for more than a minute. He refused to let go even when our BC begged him to do so,” SBS Transit said.
“You could see our BC cowering with his arms protecting his face when the man started hitting him repeatedly on the head,” added the public transport operator.
Three young men at the bus stop boarded the bus and accosted the man, dragging him off the bus.
SBS Transit said they pinned him down until police arrived.
In a statement, police said they arrested the man for willfully causing harm as well as possession of an offensive weapon. Investigations are ongoing.
SBS Transit noted that several of its drivers have been targeted for enforcing the requirement to wear a mask.
Reporting the assaults, the operator said: “This is disgusting. And this must stop.”
SBS Transit said it had about 40 cases of assaults on public bus personnel this year, about half of which were related to masks. This was higher than the 33 cases in all of last year.
Service and transportation personnel have come under increased pressure during the coronavirus pandemic, and some customers or travelers are unhappy when told to follow regulations.
The bus driver was consciously transferred to Changi General Hospital after the assault and was granted three days of medical leave.
Attaching a photo of the abused driver, SBS Transit said: “We are grateful that he was not seriously injured. He is in shock but remains in a good mood.”
Last month, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung denounced the abuses against transport personnel, saying they were unforgivable.
In the incident that prompted its posting, a man was seen in a 15-minute long video yelling at a bus driver not to let him get on the bus, as he was wearing a neck gaiter instead of a face mask.
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