Actress’ S’pore experience: from ‘rude’ Grab encounter to finding positivity among ‘wonderful’ locals

SINGAPORE: British-Czech model and actress, Nicole Crewe, recently shared her disheartening experience with a Grab driver during her first visit to Singapore in a TikTok video titled “Singapore: First Impression.”

The video, posted on 1 November, recounts her “rude” encounter with a Grab driver who missed her hotel drop-off point, leading to a series of distressing events.

Ms Crewe, who is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, began by expressing her unfavourable first impression of Singapore, characterizing it as “very, very bad” and describing the people as “rude.”

She then narrated the incident with the Grab driver, emphasizing her plight.

@nicolecrewe

So so so so bad… I miss my beloved Malaysia so much. #singaporetiktok #singaporetrending #singaporelife #rudedriver #fyp #foryoupage #foryou

♬ original sound – Nicole – Nicole

According to Ms Crewe, she had initially booked a Grab ride to her hotel, but the driver inadvertently reached a different location, approximately a five-minute walk from her intended destination.

Despite her luggage being heavy, the driver insisted that she should “walk it” to her hotel.

Upon her repeated requests for the driver to take her to the correct location, he allegedly threatened to drive with her to his next customer if she didn’t exit the vehicle immediately.

When he refused to change course and head to her hotel, the driver began driving recklessly, leaving Ms. Crewe distraught and compelled to alight from the car.

“And he starts driving recklessly, and I just start crying. I’m, like, fine, I will walk, whatever,” Ms. Crewe said at the end of the video, visibly upset.

Grab statement and woman’s full refund

Grab Singapore had told TODAY on Nov 3 that investigations are ongoing after “feedback” was received from a passenger.

“Our driver-partners are expected to drop passengers off at the drop-off point indicated in the app.

“In the event that they do miss the drop-off point, they should drive the passenger back to the agreed drop-off point,” Grab said.

Additionally, MS News provided an update, explaining that Ms. Crewe had received a full refund on Nov 5 for the trip.

She mentioned that one of her bags at the time had a weight of approximately 17 kilograms.

Moreover, she was fatigued from her travels and hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep.

“I paid to go to the hotel instead of taking public transport for a reason,” she said, and when the driver declined to transport her back, she was taken aback and experienced a feeling of despair.

“I was tired and my bag was heavy and the only thing I wanted was to get dropped at my hotel, so I could sleep,” she explained.

Woman’s journey from initial disappointment to a positive connection with locals

In spite of her initial unfavorable impression of Singapore, Ms Crewe conveyed to MS News that her experience improved as she had the opportunity to connect with many “wonderful” people.

Although she couldn’t explore as much as she had hoped, she said that several Singaporeans had reached out to her after her video went viral on TikTok.

“I am believing there are many amazing people out there,” she said.

“I just had really bad luck at the beginning.”

She has since posted another TikTok video titled “Comparing Malaysia and Singapore,” from her personal “tourist view.”

In the video, she began by addressing the fact that her previous video had offended some Singaporeans but clarified that it was solely her first impression.

“I didn’t say the whole country is bad,” she added.

@nicolecrewe

And what do you guys think? I noticed there is this “battle” between the countries. 🙈 #singaporetiktok #singaporetrending #singaporelife #malaysia #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #livinginmalaysia

♬ original sound – Nicole – Nicole

Ms Crewe acknowledged that she had met many wonderful people in Singapore, but her overall perception is that Singapore comes across as a more “hostile” and expensive version of Malaysia.

In her view, the latter is characterized as being “more welcoming” and “more warmer.”

“I did not really feel like much difference,” she said, concluding her “tourist opinion.”

Online reactions vary regarding Ms Crewe’s “rude” Grab experience in Singapore

In response to her TikTok video, some online users reported experiencing similar account with ride-sharing services.

While others considered Ms Crewe’s encounter as an uncommon occurrence, saying that “drivers usually aren’t like that.”

A TikTok user empathized with her bad experience and reassured her that there are more kind and friendly individuals in Singapore than there are those who are not.

One user from Singapore expressed their belief that the society in Singapore can sometimes come across as “hostile.”

Ms. Crewe responded by stating that it’s “not everybody, lah.”