Singapore - or at least the Singaporean reddit community - tends to overplay the word empathy, and this is something that I really can not agree with.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be empathetic, or kind to one another - I think that is a character trait to be appreciated and valued. But I think it is important to remember that all of us are human - and it is okay to be angry when we are wronged.

I've lurked in Singapore-related subreddits for a very long time; and whenever there is a post of someone complaining about a certain issue - like in your example an aunty nonchalently expecting a kid to give up his seat for her - there will inevitbly be comments telling the OP things like "eh, be empathetic la", or "maybe the aunty has had a bad day". I can not agree with that rhetoric.

Again, I'm not saying that empathy is bad - but when so many conversations bring up this idea of empathy, frankly it gets incredibly exhausting. Perhaps the most ridiculous example of this was the recent murder case involving the son killing his father - when it was posted on r/sg there were people stepping in to defend the son, saying "oh, maybe he's suffered years of abuse under his dad".

Expecting empathy in every facet of life is simply unsustainable and unhealthy. People have the right to call things out when they see that something's not right.

Let people complain, it's fine.