Woman yells 'which country are you from?' at fellow bus passenger, only to find out she's Singaporean

Most of us have seen a ‘Karen’ in a video or a meme, behind the safety of our devices. We laugh, share, and roll our eyes at the absurdity of their entitled behaviour. 

But what happens when we actually bump into one in real life? What is the appropriate response to their unruly behaviour?

That was the unfortunate experience Hidayah, a 25-year-old Singaporean, had to go through while taking the bus to work yesterday (May 24).

She went on Twitter to speak of her run-in with a middle-aged woman on the bus, saying, “I just took a seat behind her and she started to yell at me and stare at me”.

The yelling continued as the passenger threatened to report her to the police for having "dangerous eyes".

[embed]https://twitter.com/splbx/status/1396669871706935297[/embed]

In the Twitter thread, Hidayah added that she reported the matter to the bus driver and decided to take a seat further away from the older woman. Even after doing so, the latter continued to make a scene.

This was when Hidayah whipped out her phone to record the incident. 

“Just keep on doing what you want to do, I didn’t do anything,” she started as she pointed her mobile phone towards the passenger who replied: “You didn’t do anything? You shot the dangerous eyes at me. That’s what you did.” 

She then went one step further by asking in an aggressive manner, “Which country are you from?”

When she heard that Hidayah is Singaporean, she said: “Here, is it?” Never mind.”

Racism experienced by Singaporeans

In her next two tweets, Hidayah shared more details on what had happened during the bus ride and how the passenger had also made hurtful comments regarding her skin tone a couple of times. 

She ended the thread, saying, “I have now felt racism towards me, targeted at me and honestly, it’s the s****iest feeling.”

Hidayah confirmed with AsiaOne that the incident occurred on May 24 whilst she was on bus service 190 from Dhoby Ghaut heading towards Clarke Quay. 

The cafe operations executive also noted how the bus driver seemed clueless when she reached out to him for help. He continued driving not long after suggesting that she take a different seat, Hidayah said.

AsiaOne has reached out to SMRT but has yet to receive a response by the time of writing. 

 

The clip of the incident, which has been viewed close to 140,000 times on Twitter to date, received many comments.

Some Twitter users chose to stay within the meme universe and point towards the supposed rise in the number of 'Karens' in Singapore as of late, while a few called the passenger's actions "Chinese privilege at its peak".

Others took a much more serious approach and wanted to provide support to the woman in any way they can.

They validated her experience and a fellow Twitter user said she hopes that the video can act as 'cold hard proof' should the police get involved.

This is the latest in a series of public racist encounters in Singapore, the most notable being the 'Hwa Chong' woman in April where she was filming asking fellow MRT train passengers "What's your race?". 

ALSO READ: Man, 30, arrested after alleged racist attack on woman

amierul@asiaone.com