A video of a woman causing a ruckus on a Batik Air flight by refusing to fasten her seatbelt before take-off has gone viral.
The incident occurred on a January 6 flight from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur.
According to reports, cabin crew repeatedly asked the passenger, who was with her young daughter, to fasten their seatbelts, but the instructions were ignored.
The video uploaded on Instagram captures the heated argument between a flight attendant and the woman.
“Stop yelling at me!… This is for safety reasons, not just for you but also for your child,” said the flight attendant firmly.
“I don’t care! I will not listen to anybody. You do not disrespect me like this, yelling at me and pointing at me,” shouted the passenger.
The escalating argument not only delayed the flight’s take-off but also left other passengers visibly annoyed.
Airport authorities were eventually called in and the woman and her daughter were removed from the plane to cheers of other passengers.
Netizens had plenty to say about the incident.
While most criticised the passenger for being disruptive and disobeying safety instructions, some felt the flight attendant should have kept her cool and not raise her voice at the woman.
There was also a group of netizens who were more interested in the passenger’s nationality, with many speculating that she is Singaporean.
The reason?
Her accent and “entitled attitude”.
“Singaporeans act [like] they’re better,” commented one user, while another asserted: “Singaporeans are literally Asian Karens.”
A third averred: “Not all Singaporeans are like that…but always Singaporean.”
Er, so this means all Karens are Singaporeans?
However, another argued that the woman can’t be Singaporean ‘cos they “know consequences [of] breaking the law overseas unlike other nationalities”.
According to media reports, the passenger is believed to be Vietnamese.