'Stranded for 4 hours': Tourists say bus driver left them behind in Little India over poor sales of souvenirs

A group of tourists from China have accused a bus driver from a local travel agency for leaving them stranded in Little India, following an argument over the purchase of souvenirs last Friday (Aug 16).

A nearly two-minute-long video reposted to TikTok shows the tourists claiming that the tour bus driver had scolded them. It cuts to another clip showing their luggage being unloaded from the vehicle.

The last clip shows them standing on a pavement along Race Course Road as a woman, presumably a tourist, makes a phone call to relay their situation to another person.

The netizen who originally posted the now-deleted video had said there were over 20 people on that bus, reported Shin Min Daily News.

According to her, the bus driver was selling souvenirs to passengers. However, he was dissatisfied with the low sales of the items and refused to let a tourist with high blood pressure board the bus to retrieve her medicine, scolding the group for not buying the items.

Another tourist was also allegedly hit by the bus door when it opened. When the tour group asked the driver to apologise, the latter purportedly refused and unloaded their bags before driving off.

"[The driver] left us stranded on the street of a foreign country for four hours in near 40 degrees Celsius weather. We wanted to call the police but the tour leader threatened us," the netizen reportedly said.

When Shin Min contacted the travel agency involved, they declined to comment.

Another bus driver says tourists not forced to buy souvenirs

A reporter from the Chinese evening daily spotted several similar-looking tour buses ferrying tourists to restaurants along Race Course Road on Tuesday morning.

One bus driver, who declined to be named, said the driver in the video is his colleague.

He explained that drivers will sell souvenirs to passengers for extra cash, and that the agencies are aware of the practice.

"We sell small items that only cost a few dollars, and we don't force tourists to buy them," he said.

"We don't collect tips [for handling luggage], and some can weigh up to 50kg. If tourists don't want to buy souvenirs, we'd let it go. There's no need to scold people."

A restaurant owner in the vicinity said the dispute had occurred after the group of 20 tourists had lunch at their eatery.

His staff offered them drinks and ice cream when they returned to the restaurant to wait for their transport. Another bus soon arrived to pick them up.

According to Shin Min, the tourists have lodged a complaint with the Chinese embassy in Singapore.

ALSO READ: Don't buy, can't leave: China tourists held captive in bedding shop after refusing to buy anything

lim.kewei@asiaone.com