Drunk man who verbally abused MRT staff, dared them to call police and refused to wear mask arrested in Yishun

Submitted by Stomper Anonymous, David, Seet

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A man who caused a scene while onboard a train along the Circle Line and then at Bishan MRT station was arrested in Yishun on the same day.

Stomper Anonymous had earlier shared videos of the man's antics on the Circle Line on Sunday (Aug 23), at around 3.30pm.

Anonymous, who had boarded the train with the man at Holland Village MRT station, said: "I could tell that he was drunk because I saw him drinking earlier. He was even carrying a few bottles of alcohol."

The man was seen hurling vulgarities at train staff and challenging them to call the police before he eventually alighted at Bishan MRT station.

However, his tirade did not end there.

Stompers David and Seet shared another video that has since surfaced online, showing the man continuing to verbally abuse train staff at Bishan MRT station.

The man can be heard saying, "I'm not scared of being shy" and "I'm not going to wear [a mask]" multiple times, before challenging the staff to call the police.

He then continued to spew vulgarities and yelled at one of the staff members, "Use your brain to think a bit."

At the end of the video, he is heard saying: "Mask no need money to buy ah?"

In response to a Stomp query, the police said they received a call from SMRT for assistance at 201 Yishun Avenue 2 at 3.51pm.

A search of the location reveals that it is the address for Khatib MRT station.

The police told Stomp: "A 51-year-old man who reeked of alcohol was subsequently arrested for causing annoyance to the public when drunk under Section 14(2)(b) of the Liquor Control Act and using abusive language against a public servant."

Police investigations are ongoing.

In response to a Stomp query, Ms Margaret Teo, chief communications officer at SMRT Corporation Ltd said:

"On 23 August, a commuter travelling in a Circle Line train heading in the direction of Bishan was spotted not wearing his mask properly.

"An SMRT staff onboard the train then approached him and advised the commuter to wear his mask properly.

"But the commuter verbally abused the staff and continued the abusive behaviour while travelling in the network.

"Transcom was activated and police subsequently arrested him.

"We do not condone any kind of abusive behaviour towards our staff as they do their best to provide a safe public transport environment for all commuters."

A spokesman for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) also provided a statement about this incident and said: "As frontline workers who provide an essential service, our public transport workers follow Singapore’s safe management regulations and laws strictly to protect themselves and other commuters.

"These measures include mandatory mask-wearing on buses and trains. Commuters who do not comply can be denied entry.

"Generally, most commuters comply after being reminded to wear their masks correctly, but there have been a few who refused to cooperate and resorted to verbal and physical harassment.

"Since April this year, there have been around 80 cases of disputes involving commuters who did not mask up on public transport. About 40 have been fined for not doing so.

"We do not condone such behaviour towards our public transport workers and offenders will be dealt with according to the law."