No let up in rant from netizens over bus incident despite man's claim of 'psychological issues'
by Amir Hussain, TODAY, 8 Jun 2012
by Amir Hussain, TODAY, 8 Jun 2012
A 25-year-old man who pushed an old woman off a bus on Tuesday has come under fire from netizens, even after posting an explanation online.
In a video taken by a passenger, Mr Alex Ong is seen shouting and threatening to slap the 76-year-old woman. Both were on SMRT bus service 167 travelling along Upper Thomson Road.
The video, posted on YouTube, had garnered some 74,250 views as off 10pm last night.
Police have classified the case as "voluntarily causing hurt", reported Channel NewsAsia. It is unclear whether he will be charged, as police investigations are still on-going.
In a post on Facebook and microblogging platform Tumblr, Mr Ong said he told the woman not to press the stop bell at the last minute but she "simply and suddenly shouted back at me".
"In a fit of anger, I threatened her to either get off the bus or that I will slap her", said Mr Ong.
"All I wanted was her out of the way so I can continue my journey. So I gave her a light push to get her off the bus."
He claimed he was "struggling with psychological issues", citing obsessive-compulsive disorder, clinical depression and autism-spectrum disorder.
Mr Ong's posts attracted a flurry of negative comments, although some, such as netizen Darryl Kang, said it was good Mr Ong explained himself and apologised to the woman.
Mr Ong later removed the Facebook post and password-protected the Tumblr account. Attempts by TODAY to contact Mr Ong were unsuccessful.
Adam Road Medical Centre senior consultant psychiatrist Ken Ung said those with clinical depression and autism-spectrum disorders have less control over their reactions.
He said depression is related to "increased impulsivity and reduced self-control" and people with autism-spectrum disorder are "very fussy and particular".
"So when something is not quite right they can react quite aggressively or violently," he said.
Man filmed shoving elderly woman off public bus
By Qiuyi Tan, Channel NewsAsia, 7 June 2012
By Qiuyi Tan, Channel NewsAsia, 7 June 2012
A man was caught on camera shoving an elderly woman off a bus, an incident police have classified as "voluntarily causing hurt".
Authorities told Channel NewsAsia that the 25-year-old has also been hauled in for questioning.
He shouted, threatened to hit her, and finally shoved the elderly woman off the bus.
Other passengers immediately responded - including Ms Tina Chang.
"It was not a light push, it was really hard! Had she not grabbed hold of the handle (on the door) when she fell, she would have flown off," she said.
The incident apparently started when the elderly woman pressed the bell late, resulting in the bus stopping past the bus stop.
"He started shouting at her first, and then he approached her, and threatened to slap her. She was quite shocked, (and) she was shaking," said Ms Chang.
The man, identified as Alex Ong, said on his Facebook page that he suffers from clinical depression.
Associate Professor Munidasa Winslow, senior consultant at Winslow Clinic, said: "Having a condition, having obsessive compulsive disorder or Asperger's or whatever else, is not a carte blanche credit for you to be able to misbehave or do whatever you want to.
"You still have to live by society's norms. If you find you have problems with that, then it's incumbent on you to go and seek help."
On his blog, Alex Ong said what happened was the result of anger simmering inside him - at the difficulty of finding a good job, and even at the recent fatal crash involving a Ferrari and a taxi.
Mental conditions are not necessarily increasing in Singapore, Dr Winslow said, but they are showing up more often with the help of social media and the Internet.
It may also be the impact of social change on the younger generation.
"(For) the early generations in Singapore, when we went to school the prevailing sentiment was that life is difficult," said Dr Winslow.
"But in later generations, some people at least, seem to go in with the feeling that life is supposed to be easy, and why is it that everybody is making life difficult for me?"
It's unclear whether Ong will be charged, as police continue their investigations.
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