Man confronts woman over child's behaviour on MRT: 'What kind of mother are you?'

A man seen having a spat with a mother over her child's alleged misbehaviour on the MRT has sparked online debate about parenting in public spaces.

In a video shared on Facebook on Tuesday (Jan 13), he can be seen confronting the woman for allowing her son to jump around on the train. 

Based on the MRT's next-station display, the incident is believed to have occurred on the purple line.

He can be heard questioning the woman's parenting, saying, "What kind of mother are you? Everybody is looking at you."

Unhappy with the confrontation, the woman responded, "I did not ask him to jump around."

Under the comments section, opinions were divided with some netizens saying that the woman should have done more to discipline her child, while others noted that the child was just trying to have fun. 

"Discipline your own child, this is not a playground. (If) your child falls and gets injured, who are you going to blame? It's your responsibility as a parent," said one user. 

Another added that "as parents, we are responsible for teaching our children, especially in public spaces. we should not wait until other people step in to correct or discipline our children".

Some users sympathised with the child, saying, "There are people in life who cannot stand to see kids have fun."

Another suggested a gentler approach: "Just ask the son to stop running around. Talk nicely to him; he listens."

The video has since garnered over 118k views and 590 likes. 

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xingying.koh@asiaone.com