SINGAPORE: An expat who has apparently lived in Singapore for 20 years is being blasted online for his “arrogant” behaviour on board a Malaysia Airlines plane after the flight landed at Changi Airport.

A fellow passenger on the plane took to Reddit and revealed that the incident took place on Sunday (May 3) and said the Caucasian man “played traffic police on MH0607 and blocked the aisle with his leg,” asserting that the plane doors were not open yet.

u/PAPasNCMP said that the plane had already reached the gate when passengers began standing up to retrieve their belongings from the overhead compartments, but a man seated around rows 26 or 27 allegedly refused to join the queue and instead obstructed others from doing so.

“Not sure if it’s his ego or what, but he decides to stay seated and literally stretches his leg out into the walkway to physically block the people behind him from moving forward,” the Reddit user wrote, “He actually tells us: ‘You all are not leaving this plane anyway, the door is not open.’“

One young passenger reportedly managed to squeeze past before the man could fully block the aisle, and the move appeared to irritate the Caucasian man. The Redditor recounted, “The guy got annoyed and asked the kid, ‘What is the rush, you are not able to leave the plane.’”

“The young chap just casually replied: ‘It’s ok, I’m a Singaporean, we will rush to the queue and are willing to queue for a long time.” Honestly, massive respect to this kid.’”

The man then apparently responded, “I’ve lived in Singapore for 20 years, I don’t think so.”

The netizen said the man continued to block the aisle until the space in front of him had cleared, only then choosing to stand and disembark. As a result, passengers behind him were forced to wait.

“He just sat there, blocking the way, until the path in front of him completely cleared out. Only then did his majesty finally stand up and exit, while the rest of us behind him were basically stuck waiting for him.”

Expressing frustration, the Redditor asserted that no one has “the right to play traffic police and physically stop people from queuing to exit just because you personally don’t agree with it.” He added, “Honestly, don’t fly. So entitled.”

The post has since drawn attention online, with the man’s actions described as arrogant and inconsiderate by commenters. Others, however, asked why the passengers were trying to rush anyway.

One commenter said, “I stay seated usually too. But blocking others is grade A Karen behaviour.”

Another netizen felt, “But why do Singaporeans insist on pushing towards the front of the plane before the doors are open? It can be pretty aggressive with ppl pushing, etc.”

Another commenter offered what they called an “unpopular take,” saying, “Ang Moh is right in his comments. Rush what la sial… You all already suffered hours in a flight, wait another few more mins to queue up orderly to leave the plane is fine, relax lah. BUT Ang Moh is an asshole for stretching his leg to block.”

They added, “I think some passengers legitly [sic] need to go off earlier, like urgently need to go to the toilet, or maybe they have a connecting flight.”

Others said that the passengers should have just pushed through like the young man who did so. One netizen wrote, “Why didn’t people just push past his leg? He’s not supposed to be obstructing the aisle, right? And if he tries to physically restrain you, that’s wrongful restraint/confinement.”

This article (Expat labelled ‘arrogant’ after blocking plane aisle at Changi arrival) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.