‘We would have stood up from our MRT seats’
A young lady who was exposed online for not giving up her seat to an elderly woman on the MRT train said that she did not see the other passenger as the train was crowded.
On Sunday, citizen-journalism website Stomp published the picture of Lee and a male companion seated on board a train. The Stomper who submitted the image wrote that the couple did not give up their seats to the elderly woman even though latter was staring at them.
The 21-year-old, who only wanted to be known as S. Lee, told my paper: "If we had seen the elderly lady, we would definitely have stood up. It's a basic thing."
Lee said she took a south-bound train from Dhoby Ghaut to Marina Bay in order to secure a seat on the north-bound train to Choa Chu Kang, where she was going to watch a movie.
Marina Bay station is at the end of the line, which would ensure her a seat for the long commute. Lee said that she would only do this if she was travelling to far-off places like Choa Chu Kang or Yew Tee.
"If I heard other people saying negative things about me (on the train), I would have given up my seat straight away," she said, revealing that she was oblivious to being photographed.
She added that because she was listening to music through her earphones -- which she does regularly -- she did not know what commuters were saying nor the sound of any camera.
According to Lee, her friend was sleeping and failed to see the elderly woman holding the metal rail beside them for support.
She only discovered the post on Stomp after a friend notified her through Facebook.
"My friend posted a link (to the Stomp post) on my profile page and commented, 'Is that you?'"
Lee hopes that members of the public would not judge a person too quickly. "If a person sits on a reserved seat and falls asleep after a long day of work, is it his fault?
"If they (commuters) are angry with us, why don't they just approach us directly? If you post photographs online, it wouldn't change a thing."
