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She hits driver so hard his glasses fly off ...
SHE looked to be in her 30s, but when she tapped her ez-link card after boarding the bus, it registered as a senior citizen concession card.
When confronted by the bus driver, she claimed it was her dead grandmother's card and that she had the right to use up the remaining value in the card.
No, you can't, senior bus captain Lim Ming Kong told the woman and proceeded to confiscate the card.
Then, as he started to drive off, the woman allegedly punched his face so hard that his spectacles were flung off.
The incident took place on 13 Aug on board Bus No 139, which was heading from Bukit Merah Interchange to Toa Payoh Interchange.
Mr Lim, 61, who has been a bus driver for 31 years, said he never expected to be assaulted by a female passenger just for taking away her card.
'Most of the fare evaders are embarrassed when caught. I didn't expect this one to hit me, especially while the bus was moving,' said Mr Lim.
About 10 other passengers were on board the bus when the incident took place, near Block 55 Lengkok Bahru.
It was there that the woman, who was dressed in a cream-coloured top and orange skirt, boarded the bus with a young child.
Recalled Mr Lim in Mandarin: 'The passenger appeared to be in her 30s, but when she tapped her ez-link card, my system showed her using a senior citizen concession card.'
Mr Lim called out to the woman who had sat down at the third row on the left side of the bus to come forward.
'I asked her to show me her ez-link card and she did,' he said.
'When I saw it was a senior citizen concession card, I explained to her that it is an offence for her to misuse it.'
Mr Lim said the woman responded angrily that the card had belonged to her deceased grandmother and insisted she had the right to use the balance of the card's value.
Only Singaporeans aged 60 and above are eligible to use senior citizen concession cards.
Said Mr Lim: 'I explained to her that I had to confiscate the card.'
He then took the card and kept it in his right trouser pocket.
But the woman refused to return to her seat.
'She started shouting at me and demanded that I return the card,' said Mr Lim.
'When I refused, she tried to reach across the console to grab at my right pocket.'
When that did not work, the woman continued to stand beside the driver console and badgered Mr Lim to return the card.
Mr Lim then started to drive off.
'There were other passengers on board and it was peak hour, I didn't want to delay the journey further,' he explained.
What he did not anticipate was a sudden punch to the left side of his face. The impact sent his glasses flying to the floor.
'I immediately hit the brakes and stopped the bus. She punched me so hard the clasp of her watch had loosened. I found my glasses near the brake pedal,' Mr Lim said.
He said that while he did not suffer any visible injury, the right nose peg of his glasses was bent out of shape.
'I was shocked and angry but I had to control myself. She continued shouting at me even when I activated the emergency button to inform the operations control centre,' he said.
The emergency button, located at the driver's console, allows the bus driver to get in touch with the operations control centre in case of an accident or other emergencies.
It took another female passenger to scold the woman before she finally went back to her seat.
'Two other passengers, one female and one male, scolded her for hitting me while I was driving because she didn't consider the safety of others,' said Mr Lim.
He continued to drive until the bus stop outside Peace Centre at Selegie Road where a Traffic Inspector had been despatched.
He handed the confiscated card to the inspector and pointed out the woman.
As the other passengers were ushered out of the front door to transfer to another bus, the woman passenger tried to leave as well but was stopped by the traffic inspector.
The police, alerted by SBS Transit, also arrived at the scene.
The woman's husband, who had presumably been contacted by her, also showed up shortly after and approached Mr Lim.
'He apologised to me in Hokkien and kept pleading with me to not pursue the matter, but I said it was not up to me,' said Mr Lim.
'He kept apologising for about five minutes and even told me he had just been released from prison and asked me to give his wife a second chance.'
Said Ms Tammy Tan, vice-president of corporate communications for SBS Transit: 'We do not take assaults on our bus captains lightly, particularly since they are just doing their jobs.
'In this case, the bus captain was correct in retaining the concession card as it was misused. We have made a police report and are seeking the assistance of the police.'
The police confirmed the incident and are investigating.
A spokesman for TransitLink told The New Paper that when a concession card holder dies, a family member can take the card and the death certificate to any TransitLink ticket office.
The remaining value stored in the card will be refunded and the ticket office agent will retain the card.
Under the Public Transport Council's Penalty Fare regulations, from 1 Jul last year, commuters who are caught not paying or under-paying their fares will face a $20 fine, while those who use improper concession cards can be fined $50.
In the first three weeks of July last year, just under 400 cheats were nabbed, down from more than 6,200 the month before.
Before the penalties were introduced, transport operators caught almost 10,000 cheats a month.
SHE looked to be in her 30s, but when she tapped her ez-link card after boarding the bus, it registered as a senior citizen concession card.
When confronted by the bus driver, she claimed it was her dead grandmother's card and that she had the right to use up the remaining value in the card.
No, you can't, senior bus captain Lim Ming Kong told the woman and proceeded to confiscate the card.
Then, as he started to drive off, the woman allegedly punched his face so hard that his spectacles were flung off.
The incident took place on 13 Aug on board Bus No 139, which was heading from Bukit Merah Interchange to Toa Payoh Interchange.
Mr Lim, 61, who has been a bus driver for 31 years, said he never expected to be assaulted by a female passenger just for taking away her card.
'Most of the fare evaders are embarrassed when caught. I didn't expect this one to hit me, especially while the bus was moving,' said Mr Lim.
About 10 other passengers were on board the bus when the incident took place, near Block 55 Lengkok Bahru.
It was there that the woman, who was dressed in a cream-coloured top and orange skirt, boarded the bus with a young child.
Recalled Mr Lim in Mandarin: 'The passenger appeared to be in her 30s, but when she tapped her ez-link card, my system showed her using a senior citizen concession card.'
Mr Lim called out to the woman who had sat down at the third row on the left side of the bus to come forward.
'I asked her to show me her ez-link card and she did,' he said.
'When I saw it was a senior citizen concession card, I explained to her that it is an offence for her to misuse it.'
Mr Lim said the woman responded angrily that the card had belonged to her deceased grandmother and insisted she had the right to use the balance of the card's value.
Only Singaporeans aged 60 and above are eligible to use senior citizen concession cards.
Said Mr Lim: 'I explained to her that I had to confiscate the card.'
He then took the card and kept it in his right trouser pocket.
But the woman refused to return to her seat.
'She started shouting at me and demanded that I return the card,' said Mr Lim.
'When I refused, she tried to reach across the console to grab at my right pocket.'
When that did not work, the woman continued to stand beside the driver console and badgered Mr Lim to return the card.
Mr Lim then started to drive off.
'There were other passengers on board and it was peak hour, I didn't want to delay the journey further,' he explained.
What he did not anticipate was a sudden punch to the left side of his face. The impact sent his glasses flying to the floor.
'I immediately hit the brakes and stopped the bus. She punched me so hard the clasp of her watch had loosened. I found my glasses near the brake pedal,' Mr Lim said.
He said that while he did not suffer any visible injury, the right nose peg of his glasses was bent out of shape.
'I was shocked and angry but I had to control myself. She continued shouting at me even when I activated the emergency button to inform the operations control centre,' he said.
The emergency button, located at the driver's console, allows the bus driver to get in touch with the operations control centre in case of an accident or other emergencies.
It took another female passenger to scold the woman before she finally went back to her seat.
'Two other passengers, one female and one male, scolded her for hitting me while I was driving because she didn't consider the safety of others,' said Mr Lim.
He continued to drive until the bus stop outside Peace Centre at Selegie Road where a Traffic Inspector had been despatched.
He handed the confiscated card to the inspector and pointed out the woman.
As the other passengers were ushered out of the front door to transfer to another bus, the woman passenger tried to leave as well but was stopped by the traffic inspector.
The police, alerted by SBS Transit, also arrived at the scene.
The woman's husband, who had presumably been contacted by her, also showed up shortly after and approached Mr Lim.
'He apologised to me in Hokkien and kept pleading with me to not pursue the matter, but I said it was not up to me,' said Mr Lim.
'He kept apologising for about five minutes and even told me he had just been released from prison and asked me to give his wife a second chance.'
Said Ms Tammy Tan, vice-president of corporate communications for SBS Transit: 'We do not take assaults on our bus captains lightly, particularly since they are just doing their jobs.
'In this case, the bus captain was correct in retaining the concession card as it was misused. We have made a police report and are seeking the assistance of the police.'
The police confirmed the incident and are investigating.
A spokesman for TransitLink told The New Paper that when a concession card holder dies, a family member can take the card and the death certificate to any TransitLink ticket office.
The remaining value stored in the card will be refunded and the ticket office agent will retain the card.
Under the Public Transport Council's Penalty Fare regulations, from 1 Jul last year, commuters who are caught not paying or under-paying their fares will face a $20 fine, while those who use improper concession cards can be fined $50.
In the first three weeks of July last year, just under 400 cheats were nabbed, down from more than 6,200 the month before.
Before the penalties were introduced, transport operators caught almost 10,000 cheats a month.
no $ to drive car, no $ to pay full busfare..
