‘No need to be harsh’: Public buses feature artwork by students with intellectual disabilities to fight stigma

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.