S'pore man, 33, writes open letter after SMRT staff did not open side gate for him to pass toddler over

Update on Jun. 12, 10:35am: This article was updated with a response from the Land Transport Authority.

When he and his wife have to work on some Saturdays, Daniel Chow would take the MRT train to a station in the morning and hand their toddler to his mother-in-law for babysitting.

The exchange would happen at the side gate of the EZ-Link gantry, which the station staff kindly opened for Chow to push his daughter through in her pram.

It is a practice his family has been doing occasionally since around October 2025.

On Mar. 14, however, the station manager stopped him and told him he was not allowed to open the gate for this, citing security reasons. He requested that Chow tap out instead.

There was a "showdown" when Chow questioned this apparent rule, causing his toddler to start screaming, he told Mothership.

The manager eventually relented and opened the gate, telling Chow it was the "last time".

Frustrated by the encounter, the 33-year-old father took to Instagram on Jun. 9 to pen an open letter addressed to Minister of Transport Jeffrey Siow.

"Is there... really such a rule that parents need to tap out to pass our babies to our parents and then waste S$2 tapping back in?" he wrote. "If yes, can we please remove it?"

'Ridiculous'

On past occasions, every SMRT staff member at the station, which is along the Thomson East Coast Line, had been "helpful and smiley in opening the side gate for the pram to be passed across".

They included the station manager, who informed Chow once that it was not allowed, but let him through the gate anyway, and Chow appreciated this.

He responded differently on Mar. 14, however.

"He started talking about just following the rules, needing to tap out for security reasons — which I found ridiculous," Chow recalled.

"At 8:20am, there was literally no one else but my in-law and [me]," he questioned in his Instagram post. "Why can’t a staff just open the side gate?"

According to him, the manager also claimed someone had complained about his practice of passing his daughter through the side gate, but said it was confidential when Chow asked for proof.

When Chow questioned if the supposed rule was something he truly wanted to enforce, the manager allegedly said he was "just doing his job".

An alternative

Since the incident, Chow has stopped passing his daughter to his mother-in-law at the gantry, but would do so over a glass barrier in the middle of the station.

He shared a video of this manoeuvre in his Instagram post.

Since his post, other parents have reached out to him to share that he could have gotten a free EZ-Link card to tap out for his child.

"I wished the station manager shared this precious information with me," he said.

SMRT offered to chat

On Jun. 10, SMRT sent him a direct message via Instagram.

According to screenshots shared by Chow, SMRT offered to arrange a chat between him and their head of community engagement.

He thanked them, but told Mothership he does not plan to meet with SMRT, as he does not believe it will be helpful.

He explained that he made his post to encourage others "to be more empathetic and think critically about unnecessary rules".

In response to Mothership's queries, an SMRT spokesperson said SMRT understands Chow's concerns.

The spokesperson added that they have spoken with their staff on circumstances when some discretion can be exercised, and that the majority of the station staff did so in this case.

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) website, commuters can apply for a concession card at SimplyGo ticket offices for free travel for their child between 0.9m and 1.2m tall, as long as they are below seven years old and not studying in a primary school yet.

LTA's response

On Jun. 12, LTA posted a response to Chow's remarks on Facebook.

While acknowledging his frustration, LTA emphasised that there are rules and regulations on the MRT for reasons such as safety, security, passenger comfort, and fairness.

Public transport staff apply these rules "judiciously and with compassion", including by opening the fare gate to facilitate transfers, the agency said.

They also highlighted the solution of applying a child concession card for children who qualify for free travel, to allow them to tap in and out for free.