A man who was on a North-East Line (NEL) train lashed out at a passenger after he felt someone's touch on his butt.

Tensions rose as the man, who kept shouting as he did not get the response he wanted from the other party, was put in his place by other commuters on the train who felt that he was going too far.

The video was posted online by Stomp and has garnered over half a million views and 2,000 shares in a day.

What happened

The video posted by Stomp on Jun. 6 starts with the man saying to another male passenger, "You can just walk pass by? Touch my ass and walk? What?" The other party's response is not audible in the video, but the man raises his voice in response: "Say excuse me! Do you understand? Eh! Do you understand the word? Answer! I said, answer!"

According to the train's LED display, it had just left Farrer Park station.

Despite the other person keeping his voice level, the agitated man gets even more incensed as he yells, "Say excuse me! Did you say?"

At this point, the person taking the video interjects and tries to calm the man down, but ends up bearing the brunt of the man's anger as he turns around and shouts, "Eh f*ck you, who are you?" while pointing his finger at the person behind the camera.

By now, it is also apparent that the man is not wearing his mask properly as his entire face can be seen in the video.

The person behind the camera continues to try to deescalate the situation as the man repeats "who are you?" like a broken recorder. Another commuter points out that they are all in a "public space", but he is ignored by the yelling man. He pulls up his mask when someone asks him to wear his mask properly, but it quickly slides down and uncovers his nose.

The enraged man is aware that a video is being recorded as he says, "You take video, I not worry!" but attempts to cover the camera by stretching out his hand towards the camera.

As the confrontation drags on, he walks closer to the person taking the video.

"I got the right to tell people not to touch my backside"

After fellow commuters point out that the man should tone things down, he attempts to defend his actions with, "I got the right to tell people not to touch my backside!" When this fails, he tells the person behind the camera: "Ok, don't be kaypoh (...) You kaypoh. Not your problem! Now I say is not your problem."

Other insults made by the man in the course of the video include:

• "You human your f*cking problem bro!"
• "Public? Public your father place ah? Public. Can touch backside and go in ah?"
• "You are rowdy lah, you are nobody lah."

Man leaves after MRT staff alerted

While there seems to have been a lot going on, the entire episode seems to have only lasted for the duration that it took to get from Farrer Park to Boon Keng stations -- which are only one station apart -- as the train stops at the latter.

This is also when one commuter alerts MRT staff to what is going on by telling them about the "rowdy passenger" via the intercom.  Although the man tries to act aloof by grandstanding, he quickly exits the train and signals to a woman, who seems to have been traveling with him, to follow. However, the train doors close before she is able to do so.

The commuter speaking to a SBS staff member on the intercom describes the man's appearance and informs them that the man has left the train at Boon Keng station.

Stomp reported that one of the passengers who shared the videos with them was told by a station manager at Potong Pasir station that the matter would be reported to the police.

Mothership has reached out to SBS Transit.

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Top screenshots via Stomp Singapore.