SINGAPORE: When bus driver Hue Sze Wei found out that service 173 that he operates will have a bus featuring artwork by students with intellectual disabilities, the 41-year-old was happy to hop on board with the initiative.
He is no stranger to the invasive stares and rude remarks that members of public sometimes have for those with intellectual disabilities, as he has a son who attended a kindergarten for autistic children.
Once, his son had a meltdown on public transport when he was a toddler.
“A passenger came over to us and scolded my child, and I had to nicely tell him that he’s just a child, there’s no need to be so harsh.”
His son, now eight, attends a mainstream primary school.
“As a bus driver, I understand how parents with kids with such disabilities on public transport feel,” he said in Chinese.
Mr Hue was speaking at an event at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Wednesday (Apr 24) where two buses with artwork by students with intellectual and developmental disabilities were launched. The aim is to educate the public and fight the stigma on their conditions.
The two buses will be operated by Tower Transit, and are deployed on Mr Hue’s service 173, which serves MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok, and service 859, which serves Rainbow Centre Admiral Hill School.
About 15 students from both schools were present on Wednesday to witness for the first time their artwork printed on the two buses, which began operating on Wednesday.
Some gestured excitedly at the artwork, which also featured quick reminders to the public on what to do when a child has a meltdown.
“Give care by not staring at me and giving me personal space” read one message.
“Give time for me to calm down,” read another.
Bus captain Hue Sze Wei, 41, at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Apr 24, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
Bus driver Hue said that the public needs to be more understanding so parents with intellectually disabled children are not ostracised.
“Members of the public shouldn’t raise their voice at (intellectually disabled children having a meltdown), nor should they give them weird stares, otherwise they may feel self-conscious,” he said.
Other than having a new livery on two buses, the drivers of service 173 and service 859 earlier this month also visited MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok and Rainbow Centre Admiral Hill School respectively.
Managing director of Tower Transit Winston Toh told CNA that the visit to the schools was to help bus drivers gain a better understanding on how to deal with situations where children with intellectual disabilities have a meltdown.
“The bus captains will have a better understanding of how they can help … if an autistic passenger has a meltdown, they can now look at it and manage the situation better,” he said.
He added that all bus drivers under Tower Transit are trained to deal with situations involving those with disabilities.
“We continuously train our bus captains to handle many things other than the professional job, also customer service, and now more importantly, to be able to identify those with disabilities, including those with invisible disabilities, so they know exactly how to handle the situation and calm down the situation.”
Mr Hue said that he learned how to better handle situations involving special needs children.
“It’s a matter of telling the public to be more caring, to not get angry when children cause a ruckus, don’t scold them.
“It’s no use getting angry, the children may not know why you’re angry,” he said.
“Instead, the student may need some space to calm down,” he added.
The two buses were unveiled by Tower Transit in partnership with the Public Transport Council (PTC) under the Caring Commuters Assist Readily with Empathy (CARE) bus initiative.
Eight students from Sembawang Secondary School, which is on the same route as Rainbow Centre, were also present. They had participated in a public bus inclusivity course conducted by Tower Transit, and were taught simple skills to help commuters with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The CARE bus initiative started in November 2022 with bus operator Go-Ahead Singapore. The collaboration with Tower Transit is the second under this initiative.
12-year-old Austen Lim, a student at Rainbow Centre - Admiral Hill School, looks at his artwork on a bus with his mother at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Apr 24, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
Also present at the event were parents of special needs students, who were proud to see that their children’s artwork had been featured on the buses.
One such parent is 37-year-old Muhd Sarhan Shafiee, whose 11-year-old son has autism and attends MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok.
His son’s artwork, which features a child having a meltdown on public transport with four passengers looking on, is displayed on the side of Bus 173.
He said: “It’s a good initiative … They can create better awareness for our (special needs) kids, so that everybody is more aware of this and how to react more properly outside and render more help to them,” he said.
He was also heartened by the move to get bus drivers to visit his son’s school.
“Bus drivers meet a lot of people every day with different types of background, and for them to come down to learn more of this shows that they really care about the commuters, and how to better understand them in future.”
Asked how he felt about his son’s artwork, Mr Sarhan said: “Of course, as a parent, I’m very proud.”
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He is no stranger to the invasive stares and rude remarks that members of public sometimes have for those with intellectual disabilities, as he has a son who attended a kindergarten for autistic children.
Once, his son had a meltdown on public transport when he was a toddler.
“A passenger came over to us and scolded my child, and I had to nicely tell him that he’s just a child, there’s no need to be so harsh.”
His son, now eight, attends a mainstream primary school.
“As a bus driver, I understand how parents with kids with such disabilities on public transport feel,” he said in Chinese.
Mr Hue was speaking at an event at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Wednesday (Apr 24) where two buses with artwork by students with intellectual and developmental disabilities were launched. The aim is to educate the public and fight the stigma on their conditions.
The two buses will be operated by Tower Transit, and are deployed on Mr Hue’s service 173, which serves MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok, and service 859, which serves Rainbow Centre Admiral Hill School.
About 15 students from both schools were present on Wednesday to witness for the first time their artwork printed on the two buses, which began operating on Wednesday.
Some gestured excitedly at the artwork, which also featured quick reminders to the public on what to do when a child has a meltdown.
“Give care by not staring at me and giving me personal space” read one message.
“Give time for me to calm down,” read another.
Bus captain Hue Sze Wei, 41, at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Apr 24, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
Bus driver Hue said that the public needs to be more understanding so parents with intellectually disabled children are not ostracised.
“Members of the public shouldn’t raise their voice at (intellectually disabled children having a meltdown), nor should they give them weird stares, otherwise they may feel self-conscious,” he said.
Other than having a new livery on two buses, the drivers of service 173 and service 859 earlier this month also visited MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok and Rainbow Centre Admiral Hill School respectively.
Managing director of Tower Transit Winston Toh told CNA that the visit to the schools was to help bus drivers gain a better understanding on how to deal with situations where children with intellectual disabilities have a meltdown.
“The bus captains will have a better understanding of how they can help … if an autistic passenger has a meltdown, they can now look at it and manage the situation better,” he said.
He added that all bus drivers under Tower Transit are trained to deal with situations involving those with disabilities.
“We continuously train our bus captains to handle many things other than the professional job, also customer service, and now more importantly, to be able to identify those with disabilities, including those with invisible disabilities, so they know exactly how to handle the situation and calm down the situation.”
Mr Hue said that he learned how to better handle situations involving special needs children.
“It’s a matter of telling the public to be more caring, to not get angry when children cause a ruckus, don’t scold them.
“It’s no use getting angry, the children may not know why you’re angry,” he said.
“Instead, the student may need some space to calm down,” he added.
The two buses were unveiled by Tower Transit in partnership with the Public Transport Council (PTC) under the Caring Commuters Assist Readily with Empathy (CARE) bus initiative.
Eight students from Sembawang Secondary School, which is on the same route as Rainbow Centre, were also present. They had participated in a public bus inclusivity course conducted by Tower Transit, and were taught simple skills to help commuters with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The CARE bus initiative started in November 2022 with bus operator Go-Ahead Singapore. The collaboration with Tower Transit is the second under this initiative.
12-year-old Austen Lim, a student at Rainbow Centre - Admiral Hill School, looks at his artwork on a bus with his mother at Sembawang Bus Interchange on Apr 24, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
"GOOD INITIATIVE TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND"
Also present at the event were parents of special needs students, who were proud to see that their children’s artwork had been featured on the buses.
One such parent is 37-year-old Muhd Sarhan Shafiee, whose 11-year-old son has autism and attends MINDS Hub @ YMCA-MINDS Bukit Batok.
His son’s artwork, which features a child having a meltdown on public transport with four passengers looking on, is displayed on the side of Bus 173.
He said: “It’s a good initiative … They can create better awareness for our (special needs) kids, so that everybody is more aware of this and how to react more properly outside and render more help to them,” he said.
He was also heartened by the move to get bus drivers to visit his son’s school.
“Bus drivers meet a lot of people every day with different types of background, and for them to come down to learn more of this shows that they really care about the commuters, and how to better understand them in future.”
Asked how he felt about his son’s artwork, Mr Sarhan said: “Of course, as a parent, I’m very proud.”
Continue reading...