A 38-year-old Malaysian man, Lei Kaiye, who is a Singapore permanent resident, has been sentenced to six weeks in jail after he lost his temper while waiting for a bus and violently assaulted a female SBS Transit bus driver.
The incident took place on the morning of 21 January at around 8am. Lei was waiting at a bus stop near Block 141, Tampines Street 21 when he grew frustrated that the bus had not arrived after about 11 minutes. When Service 59 eventually showed up, driven by a 47-year-old female driver named Parvathi, Lei boarded the bus in a rage. Without warning, he started shouting at her and then punched the left side of her head repeatedly — at least six times.
A fellow passenger intervened to stop the attack and pulled Lei off the bus. Another passenger assisted in evacuating the rest of the commuters onboard. The bus driver was later sent to Changi General Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries and given three days of medical leave.
Police arrested Lei the next day, 22 January, and charged him in court. He faced five charges in total, including voluntarily causing hurt, mischief, and causing a public nuisance. He pleaded guilty to one charge, with the remaining charges taken into consideration during sentencing. Lei also underwent a psychiatric assessment at the Institute of Mental Health.
On 7 April, Lei appeared in court and pleaded guilty. During his mitigation, he asked for leniency. However, the court noted his criminal history and found no strong reason to reduce the sentence. He was sentenced to six weeks in jail.
Prosecutors revealed that this was not Lei’s first brush with the law. In 2015, he was sentenced to 24 months of mandatory psychiatric treatment for reckless behaviour. Then, in January 2023, he was convicted again and sentenced to five months in jail for causing serious injury and another three months for voluntarily hurting someone.
According to The Straits Times, Lei was involved in a fatal accident in September 2023, when he chased after a bus near Block 101, Tampines Street 21 and knocked over a 76-year-old man, who fell and hit his head on a railing. The elderly man later died in hospital, and Lei reportedly fled the scene without helping.
He has also been involved in other violent and inappropriate acts, including pushing a 67-year-old woman, causing her to suffer head injuries, a broken tailbone, and elbow abrasions. He was also reported for sexually harassing a 27-year-old woman and urinating in a private condominium without permission.
A psychiatric report confirmed that Lei has autism and bipolar disorder, but noted that during the assault on the bus driver, he was mentally sound and fully capable of controlling his actions.
