Helper criticised after elderly woman falls from wheelchair on bus, Singaporeans urge netizen not to point fingers

SINGAPORE: A netizen has criticised a domestic helper after allegedly witnessing an elderly woman in her care fall from her wheelchair on a bus.

In a post to the Complaint Singapore (Anonymous) Facebook group on Tuesday (Sept 29), the netizen claimed that the elderly woman’s wheelchair had supposedly been positioned incorrectly, causing the woman to fall headfirst onto the bus floor.

“This helper did not take care [of] ah ma well, the whole wheelchair is reversed. ah ma head directly fell down to the floor of bus. For those who know this ah ma, inform the family, bring ah ma to see the doctor, fall down sound is loud,” the netizen wrote.

He added that the incident happened on bus 991 towards Choa Chu Kang Interchange, with the pair getting off around Bukit Gombak at about 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

‘They are not here to replace any of our family members’

Rather than agreeing that the helper was solely responsible, several users urged the poster to consider the difficulties involved in caring for an elderly person.

One netizen told him: “Helpers are just helpers. They are not here to replace any of our family members. There should be another family member around with the helper to look after ah ma together. My aunt was the main caregiver of my grandparents, and she hired a helper to assist her because she cannot carry or lift the elderly on her own. Other than that, she was always around and didn't just leave the elderly parents to the helper.”

Another commenter criticised the poster for judging the helper without knowing the circumstances. “You have no idea what it's like to take care of someone, and all you do is point fingers. One day you're going to be in the same situation, and you'll know.”

A third said, “I hope you can stop being a keyboard warrior and extend some help to both the maid and ah ma instead of whining here like a sick dog. Stop getting people in trouble. I hate this mentality.”

Others pointed out that there could have been several factors behind the fall.

“The helper should look out for her safety; however, the bus driver also needs to drive carefully and avoid any sudden brake jams. I noted most drivers like to press on the brake very frequently and cause brake jams,” one said.

“Accidents happen. Sometimes oldies are stubborn and refuse to be strapped down; my mum refused walking sticks and seatbelts and kept falling over. Can't blame the helper when mum won't cooperate,” another wrote.

Despite the overwhelming criticism, there were a few others who sided with him, saying he was right to bring the helper’s action to light.

One user commented, “I hope Auntie is alright. The original poster is nice to post to inform Auntie's family so they can bring her to see the doc ASAP if anything.”

Another added: “With that kind of dressing and hair colour, she looks like she's going out for fun rather than working as a caregiver. Her mind clearly wasn't on the job, which is why a dangerous accident like this happened.”/TISG

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