Woman accuses bus passenger of touching and shouting at her, all because she was maskless

Crowded, stuffy buses are a nightmare on their own. 

So, you can imagine how frustrated one woman felt when a stranger allegedly started touching and shouting at her repeatedly during her commute to Choa Chu Kang.  

The woman, who goes by the name Hyzelle, showed how her exchange with that stranger went in a TikTok video uploaded on Monday (Feb 20). 

At the start of the 50-second clip, Hyzelle could be heard telling the other woman: "I said don't f***ing touch me." 

In response, the stranger said: "Don't f***ing take my picture." 

The two continued to bicker while the stranger lifted up her hand to block Hyzelle's phone. 

In the midst of their argument, a male passenger chimed in and asked the stranger to put her hand down and stop "causing a scene". 

Despite this, the stranger allegedly refused to comply and kept her hand up. She also continued to ask Hyzelle to stop recording her. 

"You move your hands away first and I'll put my phone down," Hyzelle said.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@med2sa_/video/7202195696643083521[/embed] 

Speaking to AsiaOne, Hyzelle said that she had been on bus number 985 headed towards Choa Chu Kang.

"The bus was pretty crowded with no seats available. So, I had to stand and hold on to the pole besides the lady's seat," recalled Hyzelle. 

She had been using her phone with her headphones on when she felt someone touch her arm. 

"Thinking it was probably accidental, I ignored it until it happened again right after I sniffled," she said.

Then, the woman allegedly started raising her voice at Hyzelle. 

"I didn't want to retaliate in a crowded bus full of people. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I continued to ignoring her."

"[But] right after I sniffled again, that's when she pushed my arm that was holding onto the pole," recounted Hyzelle. 

Told woman to stop touching her

The woman continued to repeatedly push Hyzelle away and eventually, the former said she lost her cool and told the woman to stop touching her. 

Hyzelle said she had her Telegram messaging app open and quickly turned on the video function.

"I didn't know if she was going to be aggressive, so the next best thing I could do was to take a video of her if things went south," Hyzelle told AsiaOne. 

And the woman really did get more aggressive, she claimed. 

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"She put her hands really really close to my face in an attempt to snatch my phone away from me," recounted Hyzelle, adding that as the bus was packed like sardines, she was unable to move away even if she wanted to. 

During the fight, Hyzelle had her headphones on so she couldn't completely hear what the stranger was saying. 

However, she could vaguely make out the woman asking her to wear a mask and move away if she was sick. 

"I couldn't move away even if I wanted to because the bus is crowded. But if you really wanted me to move away because I was sick, why touch me and my face in the first place," justified Hyzelle in the TikTok video. 

'Definitely not the way to act'

The two then alighted at the same stop and went their separate ways. 

"I chose to upload the video to TikTok to sort of vent my anger and also show people that [this] is definitely not the way to act." 

"Perhaps my reaction wasn't the best way to resolve the issue but when I've been patient and someone decides to touch me, that's when I lost my cool and decision to be civil," she reflected. 

In the comments, several praised Hyzelle for being composed and patient. 

One woman also said that if she had been in her shoes, she wouldn't have the courage to speak up. 

However, one netizen pointed out that the stranger may have accidentally touched Hyzelle if the bus was "very bumpy". 

Man raises fist at another female passenger

In a separate incident last September, a man was allegedly asked to get down from an SBS Transit bus after he reportedly behaved in a threatening manner toward a woman.

According to another passenger, the woman had sat down in front of the man on the upper deck of the bus when he suddenly shouted "what the f***" and "started screaming vulgarities and kicking her chair super hard".

"At one point when she turned around, he raised his hand up and threatened to punch her," wrote the eyewitness.

The eyewitness then "ran down to tell the bus driver" about what was happening, but added however, that the bus captain "was super hesitant" about confronting the man, and "only when I kept insisting, asked the guy to leave the bus".

melissateo@asiaone.com

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