'Why can't you just let me rest?' Singaporean guest yells at Bintan hotel staff for waking him up after elderly mother got lost

Upset that he was woken up at 3am, a Singaporean on holiday in Bintan yelled at hotel employees for disturbing his sleep.

They knocked on his door after finding his elderly mother, who left her room in the wee hours, lost and confused on hotel premises.

A TikTok video shared on Wednesday (May 31) showed the man yelling at staff at the lobby of Doulos Phos The Ship Hotel the previous day. 

Pointing his finger at a staff member, the Singaporean guest scolded him for waking him up over a "non-emergency".

"Why do you keep on hammering on my door as if I've committed a crime?" he said. "Why can't you just let me rest?"

Speaking to AsiaOne on Thursday (June 1), a hotel guest named Dan, who filmed the video, shared that he was in the lobby for breakfast that morning.

Dan said that he decided to post the video on social media "as evidence in case anything happened".

He added: "I felt sorry for the staff who were being shouted at in such a way that was totally uncalled for.

"That hotel guest could have just addressed his issue in private and not cause a scene."

The video has since garnered over 1,300 comments and 210,000 views on TikTok.

In the comment section, several netizens criticised the Singaporean for causing a scene while on holiday abroad.

But others felt that the hotel staff should not have woken up the man in the early hours of the morning.

Guest's mother was in 'imminent danger': Hotel owner

In an interview with AsiaOne, the hotel owner shared that he woke the guest up at 3am "since the man's mother was in imminent danger".

Eric Saw, 71, recalled how one of his employees informed him that a woman in her eighties was seen walking along the corridors of the hotel in the middle of the night.

She had also knocked on the door of another guest's room.

"The old lady didn't know which room she was in," Saw shared, adding that she appeared confused and "thought that she was in her own home".

Concerned that his elderly guest might wander off again, the hotel owner said that he knocked on the woman's son's door. 

"[The man] got extremely aggravated and refused to tell us if he was related to the woman," Saw said, adding that his staff tried explaining that she almost walked to the external staircase and was at risk of falling.

The hotel owner said: "He came out of his room, pointed his finger at us and shouted that we did not understand the meaning of the 'do not disturb' door sign.

"I was surprised that he appeared not to be concerned about his mother's well-being."

Saw added that he did not accede to the guest's demands for a refund, adding that  “the circumstances did not warrant one”. 

Following the shouting match, Saw added that the man and his family checked out of the hotel at around 10am without settling a $90 "food and drink bill".

But the hotel owner said that he is willing to "let the matter rest".

"I've decided not to harbour any ill will and just put it behind us," Saw added.

ALSO READ: Littered with cigarette butts and used Q-tips: Singapore family complains about Genting apartment, gets threatened by staff

chingshijie@asiaone.com