SINGAPORE: A parent has made a complaint against a primary school teacher for belittling him and his job in front of his child, after the teacher allegedly said that the father is “just a Grab driver”.

A screenshot of the complaint email the father sent to the school principal is circulating online. Alleging that the teacher’s conduct was “inappropriate,” the father claimed, “The teacher made insulting remarks about me, referring to me as “just a Grab driver,” in a manner clearly intended to belittle my profession.”

While clarifying that he is not a full-time Grab driver and owns multiple businesses, he pointed out, “Regardless, all honest work deserves respect, and such comments are unacceptable.”

He added, “More importantly, to degrade my son and his father in a classroom setting is completely inappropriate and has caused embarrassment and distress to my child. My son looks up to me, and such remarks are harmful to his confidence and emotional well-being.”

The father asked the school to investigate the matter, take action against the teacher and update him on the outcome. He added, “If this matter is not addressed satisfactorily, I will have no choice but to escalate it further.”

The boy’s mother shed light on what happened in a comment on social media. She claimed that the class pupils were to get into two lines depending on whether they would be happy or unhappy when people spoke badly of them.

Sharing that her “cheeky son” joined the ‘happy’ line, the mother claimed the teacher asked him why he would be happy. To this, the boy apparently said, “So I can sue them and make money.”

The mother alleged that the teacher replied, “Your daddy got money meh? Don’t think I don’t know your daddy is sleeping now. He’s just a Grab driver! Where can [you] afford lawyers to sue? Grab drivers are broke!”

The mother also claimed that the teacher used the word “wasted” as she spoke to the pupil.

Reactions online were mixed. Some felt the child may have misinterpreted what the teacher said, while others censured the teacher for being elitist.

One commenter said, “I don’t really know, or care who is right or wrong in this particular case. But from purely anecdotal evidence, I have observed that the most messed-up people from my friend group went on to become teachers.

“With that in mind, I take the words of my child rather seriously when it comes to wrongdoings in the classroom. In fact, I have managed to elicit some apologies from my child’s teacher regarding an exchange that had happened in school. In fact, I wasn’t acting accusatorily and was just asking for clarification.”

The commenter added, “Teaching is a noble profession, but we are all humans after all.”

Some also said such incidents are not uncommon. A nurse said that one of her colleagues, a doctor, asked her why her father ” chose to drive a taxi when there are so many other careers available out there.” The doctor apparently added that “it’s like the lowest job”.

The nurse said she was “surprised and disgusted” by the comment but chose to laugh it off as she did not want to continue the conversation.

She added, “Also, who says taxi driver and PHV driver cannot be successful?! Success is one’s own definition anyway.”

Others urged the parents to escalate the matter to the Ministry of Education, while some wondered why the teacher had such a mindset in the first place.

One netizen quipped, “Bruh this teacher 100% used to be a bully.”

This article (‘Just a Grab driver’: Parent files complaint over teacher’s alleged remark) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.