A video taken by a woman in a stalled MRT train went viral yesterday, getting posted on the Facebook pages of news commentary sites The Real Singapore and All Singapore Stuff.
In the two-minute video, an SMRT announcer was heard asking on-board commuters multiple times if anyone had a pair of scissors.
Said the female announcer: "Attention all passengers, any passengers on the train, if you have a pair of scissors, can you kindly activate the emergency call button?"
The woman passenger originally uploaded the video on Saturday to her Facebook profile.
According to her, as stated in the video's description, the train was stalled for almost 45 minutes between the Tanah Merah and Changi Airport MRT stations. It was not clear how close it was toExpo Station, which is between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport MRT stations.
She also complained that there was no air-conditioning when the train was stalled, and that it was stuffy. There were several other passengers in the train carriage with her.
Her video has since garnered about 370 shares and 90 likes as of 11pm yesterday.
The same video on The Real Singapore and All Singapore Stuff saw close to 800 shares and 200 comments at 11pm.
Not as bad
Not everyone agreed with her, though.
One netizen said she was on the same train, and that things were not as bad as the woman made them out to be.
She wrote: "The power was shut down only for a while and there was air-con after that."
She also praised the train captain for handling whatever the problem was in a professional manner.
"Didn't you see him running from one end to the other a couple of times, with stains on his uniform?" she asked.
Regarding the incident, an SMRT spokesman could only say that it was related to another incident that happened on the same day.
That incident, which TNP reported on Monday, involved a man in his 70s, who was found unconscious at about 1.40pm on the elevated train tracks near Expo MRT station on Saturday.
While the police confirmed that the incidents were related, they could not comment further.
Netizens who saw the video had speculated that the scissors were to be used to help save the man on the tracks.
Facebook user Zulraihan Kazuki wrote on All Singapore Stuff: "The train operator wanted a pair of scissors to cut the clothing of the old man."
The elderly man was reported to have suffered head injuries, and hip and wrist fractures. He was later taken to Changi General Hospital.
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