Workers brawl on S’pore chartered bus, allegedly ‘pushed & manhandled’ bus driver - Mothership

The driver said he "experienced some pain and discomfort" following the incident.

A 40-year-old bus driver was allegedly “dragged, pushed and manhandled” by a group of workers while ferrying them from Woodlands back to their dormitory in Jurong on Sep. 13.

The incident occurred after the allegedly intoxicated workers got into a brawl among themselves on board the 49-seater bus, prompting Cai Zhi Feng to pull over and refuse to continue the journey.

According to Cai, the migrant workers then “manhandled” him, forcing him to continue driving.

Videos of the incident were posted on Facebook on the same day by the owner of the bus chartering service, Singapore Bus Charter, Jitesh Dhillon.

Speaking to Mothership, Cai said he had picked up the workers as part of an ad-hoc job order to ferry them to and from a company gathering.

At around 10:30am, Cai picked up the workers from Jurong Penjuru Dormitory and drove them to Woodlands Link for the gathering.

He said the journey there "went smoothly".

At around 4pm, Cai picked them up from Woodlands Link for the return journey to their dormitory. He said many of the workers were "heavily intoxicated" when they boarded the bus.

There was no site supervisor on board at the time, he added.

An argument broke out among the workers shortly after they boarded and escalated into what Cai described as a "full bus brawl" minutes after the bus departed.

"I urged them to stop but no one listened," Cai told Mothership.

He subsequently pulled over and asked the workers to get off the bus, telling them that he could not continue driving safely and would call the police if the fighting continued.

After the bus stopped, Cai said some of the workers "dragged, pushed and manhandled" him while trying to force him to resume driving.

Another photo posted online by Jitesh showed a worker grabbing Cai's face.

He then told the workers that he had called the police and could not safely continue the journey.

The scuffle continued after Cai pulled over.

Another clip showed several workers outside the bus pushing and shoving one another.

According to Cai, the fight only subsided after a supervisor from the workers' company arrived.

He told Mothership that he kept video evidence of the incident and handed it over to the police when officers arrived.

He subsequently left after the police finished speaking to the parties involved.

Mothership understands that there are no current investigations ongoing at this time.

Though Cai said he did not sustain any "obvious injuries", he said he "experienced some pain and discomfort" following the incident.

"I was frightened because they treated me in a rude manner," he told Mothership.

He added that he did not know if any of the workers were also injured.

To his knowledge, Cai said the workers’ company is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.

As of Sep. 16, the bus driver of 11 years told Mothership he has not received any compensation.

Jitesh told Mothership that this was the first fight the company had encountered on one of its buses.

He said he shared the videos "to raise awareness of the situations faced by public service vehicle operators".

However, Jitesh said he was disturbed by some comments on his Facebook post that had turned the incident into a racial or nationality issue.

"This was not why the video was made public," he said, adding that he hoped residents would not use the incident against others.

Jitesh said the company does not wish to pursue the matter further.

He said he hopes the individuals involved will be given a warning and will not be prosecuted.

"We will just take the damages of the bus in our stride and move on from here. We are not looking for any compensation," he said.

Jitesh added that he hopes "better processes and regulations" can be put in place for construction companies ferrying workers when alcohol is provided freely.