SINGAPORE: Two incidents of public urination nuisance have been reported in recent news, raising concerns on the matter.
According to a report by The Straits Times, a netizen, Stella Kee, shared a three-second video on behalf of a friend. The footage featured a man who was seen urinating on an escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT station.
“One of us immediately rushed to the nearest passenger service counter, located near Exits 7 and 8 (serving the TEL and EWL lines), to report the issue while the other stayed to keep an eye on the man,” she wrote.
“However, SMRT informed that they were not responsible for Exit 3 and that Exit 3 falls under SBS Transit’s jurisdiction. They could only help to inform SBS Transit about the incident.
The other one of us stayed and was about to confront the man, but the man noticed someone was observing him and quickly left using the lift. Upon closer inspection, the entire handrail of the escalator was contaminated by his urine.
It is concerning that due to the lines being managed by different operators, an incident reported in one area may not be addressed promptly because of the separation of responsibilities, leaving no one to respond immediately.
The offender would be able to leave without any immediate intervention from staff.
In the meantime, the delay caused by the reporting process between operators meant the escalator would have been left unattended for a period during which unsuspecting passengers may have touched the contaminated handrail.”
Ms Kee ended the post by calling for such public hygiene issues to be addressed “without delay.”
Man seen urinating on MRT station handrail arrested
The Straits Times reported that the 41-year-old man seen in the video urinating was arrested.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) was also reported to have released a statement on the incident, saying that it was aware of the issue and that “SBS Transit staff promptly arranged for the affected area to be cleaned and lodged a police report.”
The LTA also stated that the concerned citizen had requested SMRT staff at the TEL station to use their CCTV system to identify the perpetrator.
However, SMRT staff clarified that the CCTV at NEL Exit 3 is managed by SBS Transit, the operator of NEL, and could not be accessed from the TEL passenger service centre.
In response to the news, many called for stricter fines and punishments to be imposed on such actions. “Hope relevant authorities can take action against such perpetrators! This is Singapore!” said one.
Others called out the man’s actions, pointing out free toilets around stations. “We have easy-to-find, free toilets at every MRT station…” wrote another.
Another reported incident of public urination nuisance
On Monday (Jan 13), another similar report caught the attention of many on social media after another man was spotted urinating right outside an MRT car. Many were outraged and responded to the post by calling out such behaviour.
“It’s like one does it and all start doing it…” said one. “Another one taking a leak in public?” wrote another.
A third made reference to the previous incident and said, “Again…(first, a man was arrested for doing that), then (there’s) another one again… why can’t (they) go to the toilet.”
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