Fight breaks out at Fort Canning Park after tourist takes too long for photo op

SINGAPORE: Tourists recently got into an altercation at Fort Canning, allegedly over the long wait to take photos at the Tree Tunnel, which many people place on their Singapore bucket list due to its picturesque nature.

A long queue to get snapshots, however, seemed to be enough for some people to lose their cool.

A video of the incident, in which a Caucasian woman argued with a Chinese man, was uploaded to the Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu.

In the clip, the woman, wearing a long yellow sundress, appears to be scolding the man, who is kneeling and taking photos.

Appearing to be fed up, he then stands and tells her, “Shame on you.”

She then answers back, “Shame on you.”

It is believed that the woman and the group of tourists she was with had been waiting for quite some time for their turn to take photos.

The video also shows that at least a dozen other people were waiting for their own photo ops, and the woman may have gotten upset that the man in black was taking his sweet time.

According to a report in Shin Min Daily News, during a visit to the Fort Canning Tree Tunnel earlier this week, around 50 people were in the queue waiting to take pictures. One woman had come after seeing a recommendation about the spot on Xiaohongshu.

The other tourists present were from Indonesia, Thailand, and India.

The woman suggested that a sign indicating the recommended time for each person to take pictures should be considered for posting by the authorities. She added that people who take too long are not very considerate of others, and that the children whose parents allow them just to run around everywhere ruin the experience for others.

On TripAdvisor, the Fort Canning Park Tree Tunnel is ranked 1,009th of 1,292 things to do in Singapore

While certainly picturesque, a number of reviewers point out the large number of people waiting to take photos.

“It’s just a hole where people line up huge lines to take a picture. It’s almost out of the park. We have to go down a lot of stairs,” a tourist who rated the experience 2 out of 5 wrote.

“Visited here around 9 a.m. and had a long queue already. Had to wait for more than an hour to even make it to the staircase… Crowded by people who are there for photo shoots. Has a spiral staircase, and the tunnel opening towards the sky above looks beautiful. But the wait is exhausting,” another wrote.

For others, however, it’s worth the wait.

“The view is amazing. Took so many photos, and it’s beautiful. Convenient location as well. Love the place. Best out of all locations,” a visitor enthused.

A tourist who had seen a long queue the first time they went returned at 7 a.m. the next day.

“We found only a few people present, allowing us enough time to capture a lot of cool photos. We highly recommend that travellers visit this famous spot early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

Finally, we obtained a collection of memorable pictures that will serve as precious reminders of our trip to Singapore.” /TISG

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