SINGAPORE: A man accused of verbally assaulting a bus captain with xenophobic comments went on trial in state courts on Monday (April 4).
Nimal De Silva, 44, is contesting a single charge of using insulting words against a public servant under the Protection from Harassment Act.
It was previously reported that the Singaporean pleaded guilty in September last year, but a district judge dismissed the plea at sentencing stage after finding the defense disputed the essence of the charge.
De Silva, who is self-employed, was trying to board SBS Transit bus 196 at the bus stop opposite Nicoll Highway MRT station on August 19, 2020 when he allegedly argued with the driver.
At the time, De Silva wore a neck warmer to cover his mouth, not a face mask.
The driver, a 44-year-old Chinese national, was unsure whether this was in line with his company’s policy on masks on buses and refused De Silva entry.
The driver then contacted SBS Transit’s operations center for policy clarification and motioned for De Silva to wear a face mask properly.
“Dissatisfied, the defendant used the door tap button outside the bus to open the bus doors himself and boarded the bus,” court documents say.
De Silva began streaming the incident on Facebook Live and told the driver, “That’s the problem when you have Chinese people working in Singapore” and “Speak English. You’re not in China right now. moment”.
The dispute to be decided at trial is whether these two sentences were insulting remarks, according to the prosecution.
De Silva also uttered two other lines that he admitted were insulting words: “You’re gonna get off”, followed by a swear word, and “These bastards are basically uh, play punk. Let’s play punk together.”
Throughout the row, the driver, who spoke no English, continued to check with the SBS Transit operations center to see if De Silva’s neck gaiter complied with the company’s mask policy.
He tried to get the operations center to speak to De Silva, but was told the center would seek police assistance.
He told De Silva about it and also repeatedly tried to explain that he was following his company’s policy.
According to video footage of the incident, at one point another passenger could be heard offering De Silva a mask to fix the issue. De Silva turned down the offer, saying he didn’t want to ‘give in’.
Due to the situation, the victim could not continue the bus service and the other passengers had to get off.
The Facebook Live video had been viewed at least 847,000 times and shared 8,900 times as of August 6, 2021, according to the prosecution.
The incident prompted then-transportation minister Ong Ye Kung to call on members of the public to respect bus captains. He added that there is no excuse for anyone to physically or verbally abuse bus drivers.
State Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat also told parliament of “zero tolerance” for any abuse of public transport workers.
The trial continues. De Silva is represented by defense attorneys Luke Netto and Aylwyn Seto.
Those who harass a public servant can be imprisoned for up to a year, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
