I'm interested in lifts! Man in Hougang Mall lift shouts at woman who asks him to delete recording

This man is really interested in lifts - but not the 'lift' you're thinking of with protein and gains.

In an Instagram post on SgfollowsAll admin's page yesterday (June 16), a 27-second video taken by a "lift enthusiast" shows a recording of the interior of a lift in Hougang Mall - but things got quite out of hand after a female passenger insisted he delete his recording, angering the man.

In the video, the self-proclaimed "lift enthusiast" was seen pressing the door buttons to hold the door open, allowing passengers in.

As he panned over to the other side of the lift, however, a lady in red standing by the other entrance of the two-way lift who was caught in the video wasn't too happy about it.

When the woman asked the lift enthusiast to delete his recording, he was exasperated and refused to comply.

"I'm just [recording] the lift because I'm interested in lifts!" the lift enthusiast exclaimed in response.

When the woman first raised concerns over his recording, the enthusiast offered to cut her out of the video.

However, the woman insisted that the man delete his entire recording, which frustrated him.

"No," the hobbyist vehemently rejected. "I will cut you out!"

Dissatisfied, the woman then started filming him and threatened to call the police, which prompted the man to upload this video as a precaution to show his side of the story.

Instead of commenting on this man's encounter with the woman, many users online were more intrigued by his hobby as they have never heard of a "lift enthusiast" before.

Said one user: "Bro what, is this satire?"

Another user also said: "Bus and MRT enthusiast, now lift enthusiast? What's next? Escalator enthusiast?"

Other comments on the Instagram post found the lift enthusiast's response too harsh and excessive.

"My boy over here [has got to] try being an 'anger management' enthusiast," one user said, targeting his sudden outburst over what was perceived to be a small issue to many.

Said another: "It's just a lift bro, everywhere have… even if you are an enthusiast lift won't run away. [sic]"

Some users also sympathised with this lift enthusiast and said that this was "just a hobby".

"How would you feel if your hobby was made fun of?" one user asked.

Explaining his outburst, the lift enthusiast said that his frustration was due to the crowds that kept coming through the elevator, making it difficult for him to film the lift while it was empty.

"Also, I had literally spent five minutes filming and I wasn't about to throw it all away. If I had just started I'd be fine," the man explained on Instagram.

The man, a lift enthusiast by the username of "PotatoLift1", uploads videos and images of lifts to his YouTube and Instagram accounts.

He admitted to AsiaOne that his outburst was an "overreaction on [his] part" and that he "should have handled it better".

"I got mad as I had already just offered to cut her out but she didn't listen," PotatoLift1 said. "At that point, I got defensive, as I assumed the situation would escalate, which it did."

He said that his overreaction was partly because "many transport enthusiasts have had problems with members of the public harassing them".

Citing multiple examples of such enthusiasts being labelled as "perverts", PotatoLift1 added: "I wasn't going to have something similar happen to me, so I got defensive."

He has documented numerable lift interiors and exteriors across Singapore in locations like Woodlands, Orchard Road, Bishan and Bukit Timah.

PotatoLift1 has garnered over 300,000 views on his YouTube page since 2017. 

This Hougang Mall lift, allegedly a 1997 Otis Spec 90, "has about another month to live", user PotatoLift1 said on his YouTube video. 

"I'm doing something useful by recording this lift that's about to be history and uploading it to remember its original state," PotatoLift1 added.

History does play a part in these lesser-known hobbies in Singapore - In April this year, bus enthusiasts gathered in Bukit Panjang to bid farewell to bus service 971, which has since ceased its operations.

READ ALSO: 6 types of car enthusiasts you'll see at any car meet or car event in Singapore

khooyihang@asiaone.com