10:29 am Thursday, May 10, 2007
Hey! Mornings are supposed to be happy
Was in a good mood this morning cos my boss is on leave for the next 2 days yippee! Stepped into the train happily, plugged in and jiving to my mp3 player. Took me a while to realise that 2 guys in office wear were shouting at each other in my cabin. One of them then taunted the other to call the police, while a bystander tried to dissuade him.The man really did call the police, as well as the station manager. Everyone was staring at them, and the look of stress on everyone's face was very obvious (almost amusing if the tension in the air wasn't so thick). At this point I felt that this man was a troublemaker, and had probably provoked the other guy, who was ignoring him now.At Dhoby Ghaut station, the station manager came in and the train stopped for a while. The man on the phone explained to him the situation. I couldn't hear, so being the kaypoh that I am, turned to the lady beside me and asked what happened. Turns out I was wrong.The 'bystander' was the victim in this case. He was a foreign worker, simply minding his own business. Apparently the guy who taunted felt he was breathing in too much of the limited air in the cabin and told him to "F*** the hell off". The guy on the phone told him not to be impolite. And that turned into a shouting match when the baddie unloaded more expletives and threw a punch. Whether it landed or not, I'm not sure, as I entered only after this.As the station manager questioned the good guy, the baddie tried to twist the story. One lady angrily stood up and told him not to lie, and that everyone around bore witness to his actions. Oh boy, that sparked another round of expletives and threats for her to keep her mouth shut. Woah he was really pissing me off!Eventually the station manager asked the parties concerned to step up to his office to settle / wait for the police. I was touched when some people actually stepped forward as witnesses and went together with them.It's a little traumatising. I'm not sure why. Is it because of the conflict (I generally hate confrontations)? Or is it because of the realization that racism / elitist discrimination is well and alive in some unenlightened people, and can rear its ugly head in such trivial matters like a train ride? Or is it because of the fear, that when such things happen again, no good samaritan will be around to stand up for the victim? The poor foreign worker was so nice that he even tried to dissuade the fight, all the time keeping silent and not retaliating. Is it because it has happened to him too many times that he has submitted to his 'fate'?Or is it the fear of being a good samaritan who is then misunderstood by other Singaporeans like me, as troublemakers or nosy-parkers?Labels: Being Random
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