A 45-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly attacking attacked an SBS Transit bus driver while drunk, National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) executive secretary Melvin Yong said on Friday.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a press release that they were informed about the assault by a male passenger at the Bukit Merah Bus Interchange at around 11.49 pm on Thursday. The driver sought help from his colleagues and a security officer while the incident happened.
The police said investigations revealed that the driver was attacked by the suspect when he tried to wake him up to alight the bus.
On Friday night, Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Melvin Yong posted on Facebook that the National Transport Workers' Union had learnt of the assault. According to him, the bus captain involved had "suffered facial injuries" and had been given three days off to rest and recover.
"Such unprovoked acts of violence cannot be condoned. Our public transport workers are protected under the Protection from Harassment Act," Yong wrote in the post.
"I intend to raise this at the Public Transport Tripartite Committee as we call upon all stakeholders of the public transport industry to come together, to raise awareness against the abuse of our bus captains who work hard to provide commuters a safe ride to their destination," he added.
On Saturday, the suspect will be charged in court for voluntarily causing hurt and drunkenness in public. If the man is convicted of voluntarily causing hurt, he will face up to two years of jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.While for the latter charge, he can get a penalty of up to six months' jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, for first-time offenders.
This incident comes less than a week after a series of assaults took place on SBS Transit bus drivers on New Year's Eve. A 23-year-old man is helping police with investigations into the attacks.
