Tit-for-tat exchange over reserved MRT seats
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sing...change-over-reserved-mrt-seats-084554302.html
A young man's refusal on Tuesday to give up a reserved seat on the MRT train for a senior citizen has sparked a tit-for-tat exchange online.
Debate over the incident has raged online with the thread on local forum fuckwarezone.com having more than 800 comments as of Thursday afternoon.
Most of those who commented accused the younger man of being rude and inconsiderate, but some said that commuters, whether they are handicapped, aged or pregnant, did not have the right to demand the reserved seats.
Jason Wang, a 63-year-old architect, took to social networking site Facebook to voice his disapproval of the younger man who refused to give up his seat. He also posted a photo, shot with his camera phone, of the seated commuter, who is said to be Joel Liang, 23.
Wang said he boarded the train at Tanah Merah station at 7:35am and saw that the reserved seat was taken by a young man who looked to be sleeping. He woke Liang and asked for the seat.
The young man then asked for his age, to which Wang shot back, "Definitely much older than you."
To his surprise, Liang went back to sleep.
"'I'm not really frail-looking, but I'm overweight. That's why my knees are bad. I even had knee braces on and was using an umbrella as a crutch," admitted Wang.
Liang took to the forums yesterday evening to clear his name.
He claimed that he was "on drowsy medication" when he was awakened by somebody tapping his foot with an umbrella. He was also commuting with half his vision as one of his contact lenses had fallen out before his encounter with Wang, and "couldn't guess his (Wang's) age at all."
Wang's sarcastic reply to his question left Liang bitter, hence he decided not to give up the seat.
However, at the end of his post, Liang apologised for being "socially irresponsible."
"I am very sorry, Mr. Jason Wang, for your extended sufferings due to standing with your bad knees while I was in the reserved seat."
Because Liang was wearing a lanyard of HSBC Bank, Wang also sent an e-mail to the bank and to SMRT about the incident to raise the public's awareness of commuters who really need a seat, reported The Straits Times.
HSBC Singapore confirmed that its chief executive had replied to Wang to apologise on behalf of the employee. The bank disclosed that Liang, a temp, would be counseled and his supervisor and the temp agency informed.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sing...change-over-reserved-mrt-seats-084554302.html
A young man's refusal on Tuesday to give up a reserved seat on the MRT train for a senior citizen has sparked a tit-for-tat exchange online.
Debate over the incident has raged online with the thread on local forum fuckwarezone.com having more than 800 comments as of Thursday afternoon.
Most of those who commented accused the younger man of being rude and inconsiderate, but some said that commuters, whether they are handicapped, aged or pregnant, did not have the right to demand the reserved seats.
Jason Wang, a 63-year-old architect, took to social networking site Facebook to voice his disapproval of the younger man who refused to give up his seat. He also posted a photo, shot with his camera phone, of the seated commuter, who is said to be Joel Liang, 23.
Wang said he boarded the train at Tanah Merah station at 7:35am and saw that the reserved seat was taken by a young man who looked to be sleeping. He woke Liang and asked for the seat.
The young man then asked for his age, to which Wang shot back, "Definitely much older than you."
To his surprise, Liang went back to sleep.
"'I'm not really frail-looking, but I'm overweight. That's why my knees are bad. I even had knee braces on and was using an umbrella as a crutch," admitted Wang.
Liang took to the forums yesterday evening to clear his name.
He claimed that he was "on drowsy medication" when he was awakened by somebody tapping his foot with an umbrella. He was also commuting with half his vision as one of his contact lenses had fallen out before his encounter with Wang, and "couldn't guess his (Wang's) age at all."
Wang's sarcastic reply to his question left Liang bitter, hence he decided not to give up the seat.
However, at the end of his post, Liang apologised for being "socially irresponsible."
"I am very sorry, Mr. Jason Wang, for your extended sufferings due to standing with your bad knees while I was in the reserved seat."
Because Liang was wearing a lanyard of HSBC Bank, Wang also sent an e-mail to the bank and to SMRT about the incident to raise the public's awareness of commuters who really need a seat, reported The Straits Times.
HSBC Singapore confirmed that its chief executive had replied to Wang to apologise on behalf of the employee. The bank disclosed that Liang, a temp, would be counseled and his supervisor and the temp agency informed.
