'I would do the same unless anyone wants to sit': Tourists take up nearly entire MRT train row with bags, netizens oddly sympathetic

'I would do the same unless anyone wants to sit': Tourists take up nearly entire MRT train row with bags, netizens oddly sympathetic
Two tourists take up nearly an entire row of seats on the MRT.
PHOTO: Instagram/Singapore Incidents

From a man vaping in plain sight to a woman peeing with complete disregard — shenanigans on MRT trains filmed by hawk-eyed netizens are nothing out of the ordinary.

Sometimes a post seems to miss the mark, however, and ends up garnering sympathy instead of shame.

An Instagram post uploaded on Friday (May 26) by Singapore Incidents, credited to a netizen named Esther, was intended to call out an incident on an MRT train but fell short of unanimous derision by netizens.

"I guess MRT [train] seats [are] now meant for bags," the caption read.

The accompanying photo shows two tourists taking up nearly an entire row of seats on the train — only one other person is seated — while three large backpacks, a polka-dot bag and a brown paper bag take up four entire seats. One person is seen standing next to the door.

Many in the comment section did not see an issue with the hogging of seats.

"The train is not crowded, no one is standing or being refused a seat," one comment read.

Another read: "No one (old/pregnant/disabled) appears to be deprived of a seat in this photo. Is someone here bruised or hurt because some bags sat on an empty seat?"

One netizen even remarked: "I would do the same if I had multiple bags unless anyone wants to sit."

A commenter asked others to "chill", pointing out that the photo was taken at the airport if one looked outside the MRT train window.

"We all know how many people actually take the train out of the airport during off-peak hours," they wrote. "Even if it is [during] peak hours, the train will not be full as Changi Airport is the first stop."

If the tourists continued to take up seats when the train arrived at Expo, when a working crowd could "flood in," they added, then maybe they could be deemed inconsiderate.

A netizen shamed the "typical Singaporean" behaviour of only taking photos "quietly [to] go viral".

"You don't dare to reprimand in a polite way," they added.

Another suggested a solution to the dilemma of tourists having nowhere to put their large bags on trains.

"It is time for MRT to install overhead [luggage] carriage just like other countries," they wrote.

Despite several comments sympathetic to the tourists, some netizens did raise an issue with their behaviour.

One accused the tourists of being "typical ang moh backpackers."

"How many times did she tap the EZ-Link card ah?" One irate comment read. "If I were there I would make sure I kick all her bags down, it is illegal to use so many seats in an MRT."

"Please lah, be respectful in public transportation." another read.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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