Even if you live under a rock in Singapore, you probably know that there are many, many things that can happen on the roads in our country despite how safe it is.
More recently, you might have even noticed a trend of pedestrians trying to block cars from moving with… their own bodies.
And of course, these incidents often end up being filmed and uploaded to social media, simply because it’s 2022.
For those who find everything that I’ve just said familiar, you might have seen the following video pop up on your Facebook feed recently:
And if you haven’t, here’s all you need to know about it.
Based on the caption of the video, the driver of a Mercedes C180, with its car plate number attempted to run a pedestrian down by driving dangerously along Geylang Lorong 35 on National Day, which was just two days ago on 9 August.
The black Mercedes car was also parked at a no-parking spot, and a woman in a grey dress nearby soon got into an argument with the driver after she stopped him while he was trying to get into his car.
At one point, the man also shouted loudly, “This is Singapore! Not China!” in both English and Chinese.
After a heated confrontation, the man got into his car, prompting the woman to throw herself right in front of it to prevent him from driving off.
While some sympathised with the woman and called the man out for laying hands on a woman, others were quick to draw parallels between this incident and the other recent incidents involving people blocking cars with their bodies, and felt that it could have been the woman’s fault instead.
Some even found the situation comical and laughed at the duo’s behaviour, leaving light-hearted jokes in the comments section as well.
Apart from that, there were also netizens who noted that the incident took place near Geylang, and hence speculated that they might have had… another kind of relationship.
But before any of us continue to speculate, the woman in the video has recently come forth to give her side of the story.
And according to her, she is the victim in this case.
Here’s why.
Woman Said Argument Started After Driver Ran Over Her Toes
After the incident went viral, the woman in the video, who goes by Lisa, contacted Shin Min Daily News to offer her side of the story.
Lisa, 40, who is from Vietnam, explained that she had gone to a temple at Geylang with her daughter on National Day to do some volunteer work.
Just before the video was filmed, they had finished their volunteer work and were waiting for Lisa’s husband to pick her up.
She recalled how she was leaning on the railing while using her phone when she felt something crush her toes.
Upon looking up, she realised that a Mercedes car was driving extremely near where she was standing, and that the car had run over her toes.
Man Blamed Her Hurled Vulgarities at Her
However, rather than apologising for accidentally running over her toes, the male driver of the black Mercedes car started blaming her once he got out of his car.
According to Lisa’s recount, the man started questioning why she did not walk away and even hurled vulgarities at her.
Lisa was left stunned and tried to reason with the man, but he started to provoke her and push her shoulders instead.
She added that he tried to challenge her to hit him.
Tried to Flee When She Wanted to Call the Police
After realising that she would not be able to communicate effectively with the driver, Lisa decided to call the police.
However, after seeing that she had indeed called the police, the driver attempted to get into his car and leave the scene.
In order to try and prevent him from leaving, Lisa had no choice but to thrust herself in front of his car while calling her husband for help.
This prompted the driver to get out of his car and started arguing with Lisa, which was what the argument captured in the video was about.
However, as most of us would know by now, Lisa was still unable to stop the man from eventually fleeing the scene before the police arrived.
Badly Affected by Netizens’ Comments
Lisa then tearfully told Shin Min that many netizens have since speculated that she and the male driver got into an argument due to some sort of dispute between sex-related services, and that such remarks made her feel extremely aggrieved.
She then highlighted once again that she was the victim in the scenario, and that the video failed to fully reflect the entire incident.
Lisa also expressed how upset she was after seeing people make assumptions without knowing any facts about the situation, and said that she had to come forth to reveal the truth.
Featured Image: Facebook (SG Road Vigilante – SGRV)