MRT ‘Paikia’ Confronts Passengers Then Runs Away From Station
A recent video of an Indian man who proudly declared that he’s Singapore’s “paikia” (gangster) on the MRT went viral on Facebook. It sparked a debate amongst netizens as they tried to figure out who was right and wrong.
In the video, the Indian man was seen standing up to confront the three Chinese men who seemed to have been talking about him.
He then went on to tell the men that “finding a fault is okay, just don’t disturb other people like this” leading one to think that the 3 men said something provocative about him.
In response, one of the men asked “yenna dei” (what is this) trying to placate the man in Tamil. He wasn’t amused, telling them off, saying “you boh kao standard kong mai language” which translated to “you have no standard to be speaking my language”.
The man then asked him to make a police report if he wasn’t happy to which he replied,
“Eh I not hantu one, I paikia one.”
Hantu, which means ghost in Malay, is slang for a police informer.
They then asked him to go to the police station with them since he’s not afraid of the police. However, upon reaching the MRT station, the Indian man promptly tapped out and ran away from them.
Netizens were quick to point out that there are two sides to the story and the video is only showing the Indian man’s reaction.
Some called out the cowardice of the video poster.
One mentioned that the Indian man actually had the guts to prove that he wasn’t wrong in confronting the men. His reasons for running away were also valid.
Perhaps the funniest comments came from those who understood irony.
Judging by the viral video that’s circulating, it only shows part of what actually happened. There are always two sides to a story but viral videos on social media lack context and can easily spin stories one way or the other.
Reporter’s Opinions: I agree with the netizens’ sentiments. Don’t assume that people cannot understand or speak your language. It is not a ticket for you to happily trash talk about others thinking that people won’t react.
In colloquial terms: Backside don’t itchy go and talk shit about other races loudly in public settings.
This is Singapore, we do understand dialects and other languages because of the exposure we have when mingling with friends of different races. Learn to keep your opinions to yourself.
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