S'porean TikTokers jump on 'Tube Girl' trend, film themselves dancing in trains and HDB lifts

Elaine Lee
The Straits Times
Sept 27, 2023

It took Ms Siti Nurhidayah Sajuna an entire day to practise her dance moves before she was confident enough to show off her routine in a public train.

She went to the front of the train, where there were fewer people around, and filmed herself bursting into an energetic dance routine.

It was a nerve-racking experience, but a 13-second clip posted to Ms Siti’s TikTok account soon garnered close to 450,000 views.

@hidayahsajuna my anxiety but it was SO FUN!! ib @Sabrina Bahsoon ♬ greedy tate mcrae unreleased - babytatie1

The 23-year-old content creator is among a growing group of TikTokers who have embraced the social media platform’s latest viral trend, known as “Tube Girl”, where users film themselves dancing in the train or other public places.

The Tube Girl trend started just over a month ago in Britain, where Sabrina Bahsoon posted a video of herself miming to the lyrics of the song Where Them Girls At by David Guetta while twirling around in a train on the London Underground.

@sabrinabahsoon Gotta match the vibes when i arrive #londontiktok #nickiminaj ♬ where dem girls at - fee✩

Ms Bahsoon, who was raised in Malaysia and moved to Britain to study law, told the BBC that she would bop along to music on her commute, and decided to film herself dancing. The videos have taken social media by storm, earning her more than 567,000 followers and more than 20.1 million likes.

Those who have followed in her footsteps told The Straits Times they wanted to challenge themselves to do something out of the ordinary in a public space.

“This trend has helped me to grow my confidence and fight my insecurities about filming myself in public,” said Ms Siti.

Polytechnic student Ho Swee Chin decided to film herself in the train because she was curious as to how “something like this would be received in a country like Singapore”.

Ms Ho, who recorded two videos of herself dancing, said she noticed how commuters in New York and London were unfazed in videos she watched, and was curious about how people here would react.

“I did make awkward eye contact with some commuters but I guess they were just curious and not malicious in any way,” said the 19-year-old, who got more than 68,000 views for her videos.

@sherrysicle Replying to @nomorenomorestop the train passing by was a paid actor #tubegirl ♬ original sound - habz.fx

Other TikTokers have taken the viral trend beyond public transport and onto the streets.

Nurse Almahirah Shafirudin, 25, who has recorded videos of her dancing in a HDB lift, and in the hospital during her break at 2am in the morning, said dancing in public is a nerve-racking, anxiety-inducing experience.

That said, she added that the fun lies in plucking up the courage to express herself confidently in public spaces.

“Regardless of whether there are people around, our viewers like that we’re not shy to be ourselves and just have fun in others’ presence,” she said.

@gfusgfu

sayang sembawang

♬ greedy tate mcrae unreleased - babytatie1