TORONTO – A bizarre and shocking exchange on a Singapore train has gone viral and grabbed headlines in the Pacific city-state after it was posted to Facebook last week.
The video, originally shared by Singapore resident Nabilah Nasser on July 7, shows a group of passengers crowded aboard a Singapore MRT train.
Within moments, the reason for the camera being turned on becomes apparent: an older man with a strong British accent is loudly berating a Singaporean teenager standing across from him.
The reason: his t-shirt, which allegedly read “I’m F-cking Special” across the front.
“Do you want to fight?” the unidentified man asks. “If you’re so special, do you want to fight? DO YOU WANT TO FIGHT!?”
Initially we can’t see the teen’s physical reaction, if any, but he doesn’t reply to the man’s challenge as an awkward, deafening silence descends on the carriage – broken only by the unknown man’s continued ranting.
“Shake your head, huh? Shake your head enough and it’ll come off,” the man continues. “I could beat the sh*t out of you.”
After a few minutes, the train arrives at the Ang Mo Kio MRT station. The man asks the teen if he’s getting off “or am I going to have to throw you off?”
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At this point, a bystander intervenes to try and calm the old man down, as we get our first real glimpse of the teen and his shirt – which by now is covered by his backpack as he sheepishly moves away.
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This prompts another heated exchange.
“F*ck you,” the unknown man says to the intervener. “Why should he wear that t-shirt? What’s it to do with you?”
“Who are you to speak like that to him?” the stranger asks in return, and while his next words aren’t clear on the recording he seems to be indicating that if he has an issue, he should take it up with transit police.
“Why is he wearing that t-shirt?” the unknown man asks again.
‘That’s his problem, not your problem,” replies the bystander, whose voice is slowly but surely being joined by several other passengers in the train car who yell out things like “stupid idiot!” and “get off!”
Eventually, the man steps off the train and begins speaking to a group of police officers waiting by the doors. We hear him explain the contents of the teen’s shirt moments before the video ends.
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The video has gone viral since it was originally posted last week, garnering over 20,000 shares and generating numerous stories in local news outlets.
The increased attention has caused two of the people involved in the incident to come forward – the woman who shot the footage and the bystander who came forward to try and stop the exchange.
The fellow passenger who chose to intervene is also speaking up to share his side of the story.
He also sent a thanks to Nasser for posting the video online.
“This is the woman Nabilah Nasser that am highly proud of her who’s captured the record of the old Ang Mor insulting the young man.. Brilliant job Nabilah.”
“Ang Mor” is a slang term in Singapore and Malaysia for a white person or person of Western descent, meaning literally “red hair”.
The identity of the older man as well as the teen wearing the offending t-shirt has not been revealed. According to multiple news reports, no charges of any kind were filed over the incident.
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