A rant about public transport
Am fed up with SMRT and SBS. Having to take the bus and MRT everyday is a mind-numbing, soul-sucking experience that makes me grow more and more disenchanted with this island and its inhabitants every day...
Notice each morning nobody is smiling as they squeeze body-to-body (or nose to armpit, yuck) in the train/ bus... Worse, some refuse to move in and make space for others, jostle for the best position to rush into the trains without making way for alighting passengers, and blatantly ignore 'Keep left' signs on the escalators. The sight of trains spewing passengers out onto already crowded platforms is truly nauseating.
The other morning in the train an old man down my carriage fainted and the train was stalled momentarily as officials rushed to find out what was wrong. While he recovered quickly and was helped out onto the platform where there was more air, someone shouted "Could you press the [emergency] button and tell the train driver to close the door? I'm going to be late for work!"
Who are the clever people at Mercer who named Singapore 2009's "most liveable city in Asia"? (Ok, other than the marvellous spread of food available.) I can get from London to Cambridge in the time it takes me to get from Tanah Merah to Buona Vista.
Yes, SMRT and SBS were punished for overcrowded and late services but the figures were laughable (SMRT paid $100, or 0.00024% of its Q1 profits). And I am forced to continue to grow their coffers cos a car would be too financially and environmentally unfriendly :( Suppose I could take cabs everywhere (since I seem to have a face that cabbies love, they stop for me when I'm just walking along the roadside minding my own business...) but then that would preclude saving up for a vehicle.
Just goes to show that comparison is the game of the devil. Having once had possession of (at least 0.5) of a (temperamental, but usually working) car, and enjoyed the incredible underground networks of Tokyo, New York and London, it's quite impossible to get used to not being mobile for cheap anymore.
Bicycles anyone?
Notice each morning nobody is smiling as they squeeze body-to-body (or nose to armpit, yuck) in the train/ bus... Worse, some refuse to move in and make space for others, jostle for the best position to rush into the trains without making way for alighting passengers, and blatantly ignore 'Keep left' signs on the escalators. The sight of trains spewing passengers out onto already crowded platforms is truly nauseating.
The other morning in the train an old man down my carriage fainted and the train was stalled momentarily as officials rushed to find out what was wrong. While he recovered quickly and was helped out onto the platform where there was more air, someone shouted "Could you press the [emergency] button and tell the train driver to close the door? I'm going to be late for work!"
Who are the clever people at Mercer who named Singapore 2009's "most liveable city in Asia"? (Ok, other than the marvellous spread of food available.) I can get from London to Cambridge in the time it takes me to get from Tanah Merah to Buona Vista.
Yes, SMRT and SBS were punished for overcrowded and late services but the figures were laughable (SMRT paid $100, or 0.00024% of its Q1 profits). And I am forced to continue to grow their coffers cos a car would be too financially and environmentally unfriendly :( Suppose I could take cabs everywhere (since I seem to have a face that cabbies love, they stop for me when I'm just walking along the roadside minding my own business...) but then that would preclude saving up for a vehicle.
Just goes to show that comparison is the game of the devil. Having once had possession of (at least 0.5) of a (temperamental, but usually working) car, and enjoyed the incredible underground networks of Tokyo, New York and London, it's quite impossible to get used to not being mobile for cheap anymore.
Bicycles anyone?
Labels: pass the chocolate
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