Woman has ‘weird incident on MRT’, wonders if she should report it AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user took to the platform seeking advice after their friend had an unpleasant experience on the MRT, as they were unsure of what to do after such an incident.

In a Sep (Tuesday) post on r/askSingapore, u/Exciting_Jury_6731 wrote their friend, who is in her 20s, was accosted on the MRT in broad daylight by a man more than twice her age.

The man “smiled at her twice before moving in to be very close to her and kept asking to be friends and asking personal questions”, the post author wrote, and asked her name, where she came from, where she was headed, where she lives, her phone number, and social media details.

As can happen in such situations, the young woman was in shock and pretty much froze. With the train cabin fairly crowded, the man kept leaning in close with his questions, and she couldn’t move away from him.

The young woman tried to make eye contact with others on board, especially other women, but no one met her eye.

“The guy was very insistent and would not stop asking to be ‘friends’ for at least three or more stops until he realised she wasn’t gonna give in and got off at the next stop,” the post author wrote, adding that they feel that the man “could be some type of predator” who had targeted a young woman who was alone.

“Is it significant to report or should she just take extra precautions next time?” they asked. The post author was also somewhat upset “that everyone on the MRT minds their own business and ignores their surroundings, cause what if my friend was younger and naive and took the bait the creep gave, and nobody protected her?”

Commenters on the post tended to believe that a police report should be filed, either in person or online.

“No harm making an online police report,” wrote one, adding, “Any female reading this — pls remove yourself from such situations immediately by taking the next train or seeking help from the MRT staff.”

“If you remember the exact details: date, time, and station he exited the train, how to identify him and such, please make an online police report. If he did that to you, I’m certain you aren’t the first or the last. And the more people report about him, the more likely the police will do something about it,” wrote another.

A Reddit user added that since there are cameras in multiple places, the man won’t be able to hide.

“You can report, but nothing might really come of it for your friend. But it will help the next victim, a string of reports will raise alarms more,” another observed.

Others said they’ve had similar encounters:

“Is this around [the] East Side? Cos the same thing happened to me, except he followed me all the way to my bus, so I had to text my parents to meet me at the bus stop for help. Even after telling him I had a boyfriend, he said he didn’t mind and he would pay me money to hang out with him,” wrote one.

“Which station on the MRT was this? Sounds very much like a man I used to encounter several times when I used to work at City Hall. One time, I saw him on a bus at Commonwealth, too. Your friend really needs to have the courage to respond firmly and walk away from people like that,” another chimed in. /TISG

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