Nice guy waves at cars to exit bus lane in Bugis as enforcement officer ready to take photos

There are many instances in life when a Singaporean's baser instincts might surface — and being on a busy road in Bugis could very well be one of them.

One man who happened to pass by a bus lane paid witness to this.

In a video uploaded online, TikTok user @thesingaporearab, also known as Syed, stood outside Bugis Junction on Nov. 30 at about 7pm, filming various cars that slipped into the full-day bus lane.

With the exception of Sunday and public holidays, bus lanes demarcated with a continuous red-and-yellow line are off-limits to other vehicles from 7:30am to 11pm.

Syed told Mothership that he'd only hung about the area for 10 minutes, but it was enough for him to spot about nine vehicles in total trying their luck.

Friendly warnings from a stranger

Syed had brought his family to Bugis to enjoy a Christmas event, but stumbled upon an empty bus lane coveted by cars stuck in a jam.

"I saw one car go into the lane already and thought it could be fun to watch," he joked.

When he spied an enforcement officer stationed at the side of the road, his follow-up thought was: "Okay, let's see who kenna.'”

He ended up being more than just a silent bystander.

Instead, he waved good-naturedly at several cars to warn them off the lane, much to the embarrassment of his wife and children.

Some of them heeded his advice to back off, with one BMW driver quickly signalling to return to his original lane.

Others ignored him only to meet their fate.

Their violation was often accompanied by Syed screaming "wooooooaaaaahhhh" behind the camera.

Amused officer

Syed added that the officer had noticed his involvement, and "didn't really like it" at first when he was recording the scene.

But the tone shifted when a police vehicle drove into the bus lane.

The officer smiled sheepishly as he let the vehicle pass.

Syed said the police vehicle switched on their blinkers soon after.

Emergency service vehicles and police vehicles on urgent duty call are allowed to use bus lanes.

According to Syed, the enforcement officer later reached out to him on Facebook, after which Syed told him to "keep up the good work".

All the good karma

Reflecting on his impromptu stint as a Good Samaritan, Syed added that he was having a blast, but his wife, maybe less so.

Rather, she had been "a bit pissed" by her husband shouting and waving at the cars like a maniac.

"She was like, 'Don’t do this, you're making me lose face,'" he quipped.

He added that his video had also gotten some backlash from the public online, who asked what was he doing sticking his nose into other people's business.

The critics did not seem to faze the man, who simply laughed and said: “It's good karma.”

Top images via thesingaporearab/TikTok