'He looked frightened and confused' — Singaporean shocked after foreign worker 'jumped up and offered' his seat to her on MRT

Independent Singapore

4 days ago

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user had questions after an encounter on the MRT with a foreign worker left her puzzled. She wrote that the man had exhibited 'weird behaviour.'
In a post on r/ askSingapore on Sunday (Jun 1), u/a_nonny_mooze wrote that while she is a 'young-looking' 48-year-old without any injuries or disabilities, when she and a foreign worker made eye contact on the train, he 'immediately jumped up and offered me his seat.'
The worker's good manners could explain this, but it was clear from the post that it was about more than that.
' I did not make a fuss or in any way indicate I wanted the seat. The poor guy looked frightened and confused when I told him to sit back down, as I was getting off in a few stops. He was looking round for someone to take the seat, and only reluctantly sat back down when there were no takers,' she wrote.
She asked whether this is 'common behaviour for foreign workers,' adding that she's taken public transport for a number of years now, which is why she was surprised that the man felt the 'need to surrender his seat' to her. See also Wake Up, Singapore: Ban and probe racist social media accounts
'We all paid the same fare, so why?' the post author added.
Some commenters on her post surmised that the foreign worker may have had a prior negative experience with locals, adding that her experience is not that unusual.
'My guess is that the poor guy may have been treated badly and told to give up seats for locals before. Too many people think they don't deserve to sit smh,' wrote one.
Another agreed, writing, 'Yeah, have seen that happen quite often. That's why they usually give up the seat.'
They added that it is usually older Singaporeans who do this, and at times, middle-aged locals as well.
'Probably some self-righteous auntie/uncle spoiled his public transport experience before,' one wrote.
'I live in a building full of foreign workers. Most of them would insist I enter the lift first, even though they might be there earlier than I. Sometimes I feel like they feel secondary to us,' a commenter observed. See also Malaysian Airlines got its geography wrong and they fly planes?
This prompted the post author to answer, 'That is a very sad indictment of our society. We need to do better for these people who come here to make our lives better.'
'This reminded me of a similar incident I witnessed yesterday. A foreign worker was seated at the reserved seat with an empty seat next to him. An uncle walked towards the empty seat, and the foreign worker immediately jumped out of his seat (in fear?), and the uncle had to reassure him to sit back down,' another Reddit user wrote. /TISG
Read also: Jamus Lim proposes CPF-equivalent scheme for foreign workers to level workforce playing field for Singaporeans