Man hurt in public bus brawl
Horrified passengers watch as elderly man battered in fight
By Andre Yeo
November 04, 2006
IT was a sickening bus ride.
In front of several horrified passengers, an elderly man was being
battered by another passenger in an SBS Transit bus.
The assault was so vicious that the man's spectacles broke and
blood oozed from above his eyes.
John (not his real name) witnessed the incident and called The New
Paper hotline.
He had boarded SBS Transit service 265 on Monday in front of the
NTUC Fairprice outlet at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8. He was on his way
home.
He lives in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5.
It was about 1pm. After he took a seat, he heard a commotion.
The 22-year-old student said: 'There were about 15 passengers in
the bus. They were mostly elderly.
'I did not understand what the commotion was all about as it was in
Hokkien.
'I don't know who started it, but there was an exchange of words
between a man in his 40s and the old man.'
John said the old man, who looked to be in his 70s, was seated
three seats behind the driver.
VIOLENCE
He doesn't know when the exchange of words began.
Then it turned violent.
John said: 'He punched the old man several times on his face until
his glasses broke. His shirt tore and he started to bleed from the
top of the left eyebrow.
'His shirt had blood stains. The bus driver then separated
them.
'The younger man then left and the driver called for help on a
radio receiver next to the driver's seat.'
The other passengers then alighted.
SBS Transit's director (corporate communications), Ms Tammy Tan,
confirmed the incident.
She said the bus was moving along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 when the
driver heard a commotion.
He pulled up by the side of the road to check on the
situation.
Ms Tan said: 'The bus captain (driver) immediately went to check on
the elderly passenger who first declined assistance.'
She said he then changed his mind and decided to seek medical
help.
Ms Tan said the bus captain immediately called for an ambulance
which took the elderly passenger to the Singapore General Hospital
(SGH).
Said Ms Tan: 'A check with the police showed that the elderly
passenger has yet to lodge a report with the police.
'It is not possible for us to lodge a report given that our bus
captain did not witness the alleged assault.'
A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman told The New Paper they
tended to the elderly victim who suffered a cut on the left eye
brow and took him to SGH.
