An elderly man on board an SMRT bus mistakenly pressed the bell before the wrong stop, which irritated the bus driver.

The passenger, who looked to be in his 70s, was dubbed an "old naughty boy" by the bus captain.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, a witness said the incident took place on May 26 at about 6am.

Pushing buttons

The double-decker bus service 180 was travelling along Bukit Batok Road when the bell for alighting chimed.

"An uncle who looked to be in his 70s rang the bell and prepared to get off the bus," the witness said.

Realising that it wasn't his stop, the man then hurried to inform the driver and apologised.

"Unexpectedly, the driver got very angry and loudly scolded the passenger, saying that he should not press the bell if he didn't want to get off the bus," the witness claimed.

The elderly passenger explained that he was not able to see clearly as it was still dark in the early hours of the morning.

"Old naughty boy"

Instead of accepting the apology, the driver went on to reprimand the elderly man.

He said he should wear glasses if he had problems with his eyesight and not press the bell randomly.

He also called the elderly man an "old naughty boy" in Mandarin.

The bus driver did not finish ranting even after the man alighted.

"He kept mumbling to himself that the uncle was a naughty boy playing with the bus bell," the witness said.

Action taken against driver

The bus captain has since been taken to task.

SMRT informed Shin Min:

"We regularly remind our bus captains to be respectful and polite when interacting with passengers. Following an investigation, it was found that this bus captain failed to meet the professional standards we expect. We have taken disciplinary action against him."

Top images via Shin Min Daily News and Unsplash