Netizens took the side of a SMRT staff after a post of him sitting on a train’s priority seat surfaced on Complaint Singapore’s Facebook page on Friday (June 12).<\/p>\n
In the post, the staff, who was seen in a red SMRT jacket and uniform, was looking at his phone as he sat in the seat. The seat beside him is empty and there are no visible crowds on the train.<\/p>\n
The contributor wrote in the caption of his post: “Please ask your staff\/colleague to occupy other seats.”<\/p>\n
Netizens urged for more empathy in the comment section of the post, pointing out that the cabin looks empty, and the staff would have voluntarily given his seat up to those who needed it.<\/p>\n
A few of them also wrote that more appreciation should have been given to the staff.<\/p>\n
One wrote: “Staff are human being also… because of you people, we lost the caring Singapore… We have become a toxic society.”<\/p>\n
“They work hard and walk a lot in the trains, cut them some slack,” another netizen wrote.<\/p>\n
A netizen commented: “Appreciate the hard work by general workers. When we shake our legs at home during public holidays and weekends, these heroes are [working] around the clock.<\/p>\n
“At night when we’re in our beds playing with our phones, these heroes are busy doing maintenance work on the train for us to travel seamlessly the next day. He may have just ended his shift from such work. Have some compassion for these heroes.”<\/p>\n
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Some netizens also commented that the contributor should have directed his concern to the staff directly instead of posting his photo on social media.<\/p>\n
According to SMRT, designated priority seats are located near the doors in all train carriages for the convenience of pregnant, elderly or young passengers.<\/p>\n
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