Smoker taxi driver should be made easily identifiable

There should be a tag or sticker to identify taxi whereby the drivers smoke. Taxi made easily identifiable would be useful to passengers who are asthmatic, allergic to chemicals derived from cigarettes, pregnant ladies who are health conscious, families traveling with babies (and concerned about the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes), and people who would prefer "fresh air" in the air-conditioned taxi. It is really unbearable to be confined in an air-con vehicle with strong scent of cigarette smoke. Worst are those taxi drivers who smoke inside the car, thus leaving an unbearable cigarette smell.
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Why am I writing about this?

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For parents with children who are car sick, having them endure a trip in a cigarette-smoke choked taxi is a torture. Worst is when the smoker taxi driver was unwilling to let passengers to unwind the car window. I have came across this taxi driver and when we told him that our kid is car sick and requested to unwind the window, his reply was this,  "No. You can use plastic bag instead". With that response, we quickly requested that he stop his car. We opted to get out of his car this time rather than have our kid endure his inconsiderate attitude and smell.
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Sometimes I think that the Transport authority or Health authority should ban taxi drivers from smoking inside their cars. This is crucial for passengers who are sensitive, asthmatic, allergic, and also those who travel with babies. If it could be helped, I wouldn't want taxis with strong cigarette odor to stop by maternity hospitals to take passengers. Sorry, it is just too unacceptable to let my baby endure the lingering cigarette smoke during our travel.
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Having said that, I am still appreciative of taxi drivers who let passengers like me to unwind their car windows when requested. Their thoughts make our baby's journey comfortable without risk of puking (or sneezing). 

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Just a thought.

Re: Video of passenger scolding taxi driver goes viral

Recently, a rude passenger scolding a taxi driver went viral in social media. The daughter of the taxi driver took action in order to seek "justice/respect" (or as an education to others about mutual respects) for her father by exposing the rude passenger's behaviour (without photo) to the masses. This caused the collective effort by the masses to start exposing (although she "pleaded" for netizens not do so) the rude passenger.
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The taxi driver's daughter who worked for the media industry pleaded that we should forgive him and that everyone makes mistakes. However, surely she should have known better that her action would inevitably cause the person on the receiving end damage (especially considering that we have a posteriori cases such as the Sim Lim and Anton Casey saga just to mention a few). What is there "to forgive" if her action caused devastation to that person (especially considering how eager Singaporeans are to destroy someone based on a single reported action).
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As expected, the taxi driver's daughter's action produced another internet "kill".
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First, the rude passenger was identified, then insulted/humiliated online (and it would have been worst if his Facebook account was still active). Subsequently, the masses dragged his family and friends into the picture. On top of all these comes the harassment and ridicules from the public (I guess).
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I would say that she (taxi's daughter working for the media industry) should know fully the consequences of her action (especially considering her profession and exposure) although she claimed that her action was just to get an apology.
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She was reckless in her action to destroy someone in social media by her action. What prior cases have taught us is that the people and the family will suffer the consequences of being demonized in social media (based on a mistake).

Father of rude passenger blames self for son's behaviour. Singaporeans should all be very proud by now (or are we equally guilty)?

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Now, are all of us saints?
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Did Singapore education system penalize us for the first mistake we made in tests (and hence the inexplicable eagerness of the populace to penalize a person for his/her first reported mistake while ignoring all else)? If not, why do we still judge a person by one mere action/mistake (or are we shallow or angry people nowadays)?
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People are rude, obnoxious and repugnant. That is unavoidable fact. But how do we judge a person? Based on a single action/mistake or based on the overall picture? Surely, lacking the latter shouldn't be an excuse to form biased judgement on anyone, yes!?
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If the education system is based on judging a student's intelligence based on the first response to the first question in a test, most students will be doomed to be called "STUPID".
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To the taxi driver's daughter (I have this to say):

1. Your father did well in this situation BUT you didn't. As a service provider, your father knew the concept of "Customers are always right (even though when they aren't)". 
2. In your line of work (based on your age of 27 yo I would gather that you have at least two years working experience), surely you have encountered unruly and rude bosses or superiors (or customers), no? For examples, superiors who demanded more of your work performance than you can handle and would be unreasonable and insinuative about your competency? Did you expose and demonize these superiors the same way as your father's "boss" (the rude passenger)?
3. People are rude but did it ever occur to you that there was a possibility that this particular rude passenger was "preconditioned" by previous/recent experience with a taxi driver (or few taxi drivers) who cheated him (and thus explained his irrational defensive behaviour and obsessive thought that taxi drivers are conniving and deceitful)? So, who are we to judge a person and what right do we have to expose this person to "netivultures" (netizen of vultures) when we are no better ourselves (e.g. failure to empathize or being more considerate)?
4. Are you proud of the result, to see the person who insulted your dad gets "justice"?
5. FYI, most people in Singapore are rude and sometimes we are rude too. We are trigger-happy to get emotional and angry at the slightest provocation, and we are impatient and reckless to form quick judgement on any other people. Probably being a too-educated-society has its disadvantage that we are becoming too demanding of society (and government) in terms of expectations. Sometimes, I think we should reflect on ourselves before seeing others in the same light.

 For the netivultures:

1. Did hiding behind IP addresses (or VPN) and anonymity shed our human-selves and reveal our true-selves?
2. To those who betrayed your friends/colleagues/neighbours/personal-data-protection-act by exposing people to netivultures, are you proud of yourself?
3. Lastly, to those involved in furnishing personal data of the above passenger, be prepared to face any legal consequences of your action for all the rules that were broken to expose the above person, e.g.

• By misusing the CCTV spy-camera mounted on the taxi clip of passenger (although the face of person wasn't shown) - I'm NOT sure if it had been a spy-cam or the regular CCTV on the road because these days, taxi are mounted with spy cams (which is invasion of privacy to me).
• By the action of taxi driver's daughter to upload it on the net (instead of handling them to police or making a police report or civil case), or
• By the taxi company in exposing certain clients' particulars (which is way serious than the rest).
• The above are all illegal (e.g. in breach of personal-data-protection-act) and legal action can be brought against those involved (especially the taxi company). If we wanted legal justice, the taxi driver's daughter or the taxi company should have brought a civil case against the rude passenger instead of putting the latter in harm/danger of public harassment (in which case you are legally liable if your action caused harm to this particular passenger). Legal definition of "harm" is broad and general and it could be defined as physical or psychological (e.g. suicidal) effect.

When will we learn?
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We shouted freedom of expression but when we got that, it doesn't come together with responsibility/moderation in our expression. If the passenger is rude, what makes the rest of us?
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Are we any better than the rude passenger? Read this.
I am sickly sad of the comments made in Yahoo News pertaining to Lee Kuan Yew

How we can improve evacuation and rescue during plane crash

It is sad to follow the news regarding retrieval of bodies, wreckage, and personal possession of ill fated Asia Asia flight QZ8501. The location of the crash site took more than 2 days to accomplish, mainly due to the lack of real-time tracking of airline flights and in my opinion, tracking of evacuees. Two days in the open sea is not conducive to survival chance!

In my opinion, the current evacuation and safety measures implemented on air travel is poor and insufficiently practical (in short, IMPRACTICAL). If you are a flyer, you would have been exposed to this safety card on-board the plane. For most people like me (e.g. cautious type who will read safety diligently), we are only theoretically wise in terms of aircraft evacuation and handling life-jacket. But truthfully, I am a fool in the practical aspect, especially when I have not seen the life-jackets and just took the words of flight attendants about them stored under the seats.

To open the emergency exit for evacuation, I only can hope that someone will be able to work with that come crucial moment because I don't know how to do that. Fortunately, I think it won't be difficult especially considering that first-timer Chinese passenger on-board Xiamen Air could open it for fresh air.

Now, if we are lucky and the plane landed on water, what is expected of the evacuation procedure? From the safety card, there are several things that can happen.

1. Prior to impact, the plane could lose cabin pressure (air is too thin that oxygen will be depleted), and if that happens, oxygen mask will be dropped from the upper compartment. Use it on yourself before attempting to help others because losing consciousness while helping the next person will be useless.
2. If there is time, wear the life-jacket. Hopefully they are not nicely wrapped in plastic wrapper or else you will have to tear them with your nail and teeth (while cursing the safety officer for the oversight). 
3. Brace yourself for impact by holding onto something (e.g. the seat in front) and lowering your head and body. This will ensure no flying debris hits you upon impact.
4. While wearing the life-jacket, you should proceed to the nearest emergency exits calmly (but I don't think it will be calm). Wait for someone to work on the emergency exit (or be proactive) so that an inflatable slide-cum-raft will be dispensed. Slide down in an ordered fashion (while giving priority to the needy).
5. This is the time to inflate your life-jacket now. 
6. The slide will be your raft (I have no idea how it works, see how dumb I am with just theoretical knowledge), so hold on to it and try to climb up. 
7. Wait for rescue.

 The above "expected evacuation procedure" is ideal in an ideal situation. Now, what the aviation and safety authorities need to ensure in reality is the following possibilities (in my opinion).

1. What happens if the aircraft went tail spun (or spin) and landed upside down on water? Would the "expected" evacuation procedure be applicable then?
2. Had the aviation industry (and safety authorities) estimated the time it takes for a floating plane in sea water to sink completely? Would the time be sufficient to evacuate everyone? Aren't there any mechanism/technology (that can be implemented) that could inflate parts of the plane to prolong buoyancy time of plane during evacuation?
3. Considering that the time ( > 2 days) needed to search and rescue (or retrieve) survivors, hadn't the aviation safety authorities came up with a more realistic evacuation kit for air passengers. This is considering that a life-jacket (with light and whistle) is hardly practical to save life (except to serve as a floatation device and attracts sea predators at night). Furthermore, who would want to float under the intense sun, dehydrated, and lost while waiting for either the inevitable or miracle? Hadn't the Asian Tsunami thought us anything, especially what happened to the ones who got swept away in mid-sea waiting for rescue? Dehydration.

 My suggestions to the aviation and safety authorities:

1. If the plane is lucky to crash on water intact, please have a mechanism to increase buoyancy of the aircraft so that there is sufficient time to evacuate all passengers.
2. Life-jacket (with whistle and light) is alright, but to have a manual water filtration system (those used by the army but with special filter to cutoff salinity) attached to the life jacket will be a blessing especially when dehydration will more likely kill evacuees faster than anything.
3. If you are going to provide the incidental (or accidental) inflatable slide-turn-raft, at least provide several floating (or attached) packages containing potable water bottles for evacuees. No food is okay but please let there be water (no pun intended).
4. Please oh please, provide radio transmission devices (aka radio transmitter) for evacuees who are stranded in the open sea. This is the 21st century for goodness sake. Is it really too much the cost to bear for attaching a radio transmitter in life-jackets or rafts for easy search and rescue mission during aviation accidents? If we can tag migratory birds or animals with radio transmitters for easy tracking of these migratory animals in National Geography, surely we can't be too stingy to bear the cost to save lives no? Do note that radio transmitter works better in the open sea than jungle (containing trees blocking the signal). For further information, refer to distress radiobeacon (Wikipedia) and note that the signal can also be used to triangulate the location of the transmitter/evacuee (with detection radius of >10 km for some model.
5. If it's not too much to ask, attach a water-proof, shock-proof, weather-proof satellite phone to assigned safety officer on-board (could be one of the flight attendants) so that he/she can call for help (or at least inform the authority that there are survivors and so please work your butt faster in the rescue operation rather than retrieval mission). Note that I'm sicked of following news reporting about effort to retrieve the "black box" (or orange box) for investigation. It seemed that "retrieval" is more practical than rescue in air disaster! In addition the satellite phone can be used for locating the caller.
6. Provide real-time tracking of planes!

 Keypoints

• Implement a more practical evacuation protocol (and mechanism) for aviation accidents or crash.
• Provide practical survival kit in addition to the life-jacket. A whistle and light at night can attracts sea predators (unless rescue boat can reach survivors/evacuees sooner). Without the crucial water supply, and no means to purify sea water, consuming the sea water will be toxic (Natl Ocean & Atmospheric Administration, NOAA), and survivors will perish before rescue arrives.
• Provide radiobeacon to life-jackets.
• Implement real-time tracking of flights.

My condolences to the victims family.

Foreigners are rude; Singaporeans are...

Whenever a customer is being ill-treated, Singaporeans will form a quick thought about the whole affair, e.g. "How freaking rude, was he/she Singaporean?".

If the service staff, e.g. Bus captain shouted, "Ooii... Knn, tap the card", when a passenger forget to tap his/her Ezlink card upon boarding the bus, the Singaporean passenger will form a thought, "either he's Singaporean or Malaysian".

Lately, a KOI staff was rude to a customer, and the customer subsequently posted her complain on social media that got viral. Therealsingapore picked it up and posted the story with the first paragraph "KOI Café announced on Monday that they have now fired the foreign staff member who was involved in the incident resulting in a customer complaining about her treatment in a viral video".

The description "foreign staff" seemed to suggest that, "oh, no wonder la.... It's a foreigner. It's not surprising then.... That's our foreign talent (FT) at work. We should thank the garment".

Wait a minute.

Don't we see something wrong here?

Rude staff is a rude person. To give them a benefit of the doubt, their behaviour could have been attributed to bad management. OR it could be the reciprocal/reaction towards an unruly customer, or it could be the late salary, among others. However, as customer service staff, there shouldn't be an excuse for being rude to customers. Similarly, there shouldn't be an excuse that since he/she is a Singaporean or foreigner, hence is alright/expected.

Most of the time, bad service stem from bad management. A management that constantly take into account staffs' input about status quo of business operation will alleviate staffs' stress and improve service operation. Alas, in Singapore, it's easy to fire a staff rather than put the blame on management. Employers here are lucky that Workers Union in Singapore is not strong, so it's easier to blame everything on a single staff (and fire her) rather than itself.

An example would be on our SBS/SMRT buses. The bus captains are "pressured" by management to ensure that each customer is tapping their Ezlink card upon boarding. In addition, captains need to ensure that no passenger is standing on the upper deck of a double-decker bus. One problem though. There is no internal communication system for bus captains to communicate with passengers. As a result, they have to shout most of the time. If a passenger is standing on the upper deck, the bus captain had to stop the bus, move up the deck and ask the passenger to move down. Imagine the repetitive action everyday and the stress on the throat and mind! Surely someone must have highlighted the problem to the management? Or is there lack of communication with management too?

Even if bus captains are rude and can't communicate with passengers in decent way, as a management, surely is not costly to implement a buzzer/warning tune to remind passengers to tap their cards rather than asking bus captains to shout their lungs out, or worst, shouting vulgarity.

Last, it's UGLY that some Singaporeans and especially Singapore alternative online news, are inculcating bad values to people of multi-ethnicity and culturally and religiously diverse Singapore. There is the good of being nationalist, but a great risk of being plain Xenophobic pain-in-butt if left unchecked. Don't blame everything bad on "someone else" (them/their kind) without thinking out of the box (e.g. figuring out the real issue at hand). Bad management/staff is just that and doesn't involve skin colour, culture, religion, sex, and others. 

Just a thought.

Ezlink card expiration a nuisance especially when the renewal is cumbersome

Consumers are left without a say in this matter. The Ezlink cards that they possess have expiration dates and when these cards are expired, they will have to renew them. The renewal process is very cumbersome. Consumers have to locate the nearest ticketing offices to have these cards renewed. The control stations or customer service counters at MRT stations can't renew your cards.

Here are the points that get on my nerve

1. The ticketing office is available at certain hours and locations (Transit Link ticket office & working hours). So, it means that for those who travel to work and home at odd hours will not be able to renew their cards.
2. There is no alternative means but to renew expired Ezlink cards at ticket counters. How inconvenient is that?
3. Expired cards can't be top up at the top up machines. The only way that consumers are able to top up the card value is via the control stations/customer service centers.

Now, wouldn't it be more convenient if

1. Renewal machines/kiosks are setup at MRT stations for consumers to transfer the remaining credit value from their expired card to the new card issued by the machine. The expired cards can be discarded in the bin provided (if there is a need for recycling). Wouldn't that be more convenient, especially considering that Ezlink card expiration is inevitable (or continuous event) and involves large amount of people?
2. Allow top up function for expired cards at top up machines. I guess the reason for causing inconvenience to consumers is motivation to renew their cards sooner? That's not really fair considering that the renewal process can be cumbersome. For example, what if I travel at 6.30 am to office and at 7.30 pm back to home? When and where is convenient for me to renew my cards?

To me, there is no real motivation to renew my Ezlink card. I guess the only motivation is actually attributed to compelling prospect of inconveniences for not renewing these cards. Well, at least add machines to help the renewal process!

I'm always thankful to kind people on the MRT, proud to reciprocate

Being kind is inherent. Kindness never fade in people. Kindness can only mature to be realistic and sophisticated. The latter quality is important to prevent from being taken advantage of. 

MRT passengers are kind. Forget about those who aren't. Focus on the positive people.

Most are willing to let go of their seats for needy passengers. Ladies who are moms themselves are more empathetic and they are frequently seen giving up their seats to pregnant/expectant moms (with the "I know how you feel" look).

Guys, who have got wives are willing to give up their seats to expectant moms. They are empathetic too. 

If SMRT and SBS are willing to start a campaign to introduce "care bands" (or other identifiers) for MRT users, so that needy passengers will be able to identify who are willing to give up their seats, I believe there will be a lot of takers. These good Samaritans will be "beacon" for needy people. A beacon of care. A beacon that is contagiously good. 

We have been exposed to the bad/ugliness of MRT passengers in Singapore, mostly thanks to Stomps, Blogs, and YouTube for the negative portrayal. What is lacking is to show to Singapore and the world that there are good, majority, but silent apples too in any society.

I slap you you know oh, ugly uncle at mrt

This uncle physically pushed a female passenger, verbally threatened to slap her. Then when he realised someone took his video, he changed his tone and started and repeatedly explained what was going on.

His famous word was,  "I slap you you know ah/oh".

Oh ya, he also pushed the female passenger at the buttock area (from what I gather). It's interesting to see that most other passengers were not getting involved. They were probably waiting for the quarrel to get really ugly before intervention/help (from what I gather).

I couldn't find the video link to share (by Emilianay Eng). Just got the snapshots. 

Unruly passengers on board flights should be banned from flight

If a passenger can be banned from flight just because he/she is overweight (which is not his/her fault), there should also be ban for people considered as being a danger, menace, and irresponsible. This ban should especially apply to the reported unruly, drunk, violent passenger who assaulted flight attendants and other passengers on board India Air.

There should be an global/International identification system to list these people and accessible for all other airlines. The allowance/permission for such individual to travel should then be made under special arrangement, such as travel under security, prohibited from drinking, and he/she must pay extra "good-behavior bond" (or something similar) prior to boarding (in which failure to adhere to stipulated condition will forfeit any sum of money placed as guarantee). In addition, for repeated offense, the offender will be barred from traveling by plane for a specified period of time.

Some people place the fault to the airline for providing alcohol to passengers in the first place, and allowing him to drink more than the allowed dose (or number of drinks). Although alcohol is required by some passengers to induce sleep and to calm the nerve, some people just have the opposite effect and become agitated, unruly, disorientated, and irrational. It would be a difficult task to identify the latter group. However, with a system to identify such individual, extra precaution can be made to prevent them from being a danger on board flight.

Ban from flight should also be applied to selfish, irresponsible, and suicidal people. For example:

• Passenger who ate peanuts (although given warning not to do so due to the presence of a girl who is allergic to them on board) nearly caused the death of a girl who is allergic to them.
• Passengers who didn't heed advise to follow stipulated rules to minimize chances of terrorist attack, e.g. passengers with uncharged mobile will be turned away, passenger who made callous joke about bomb on board plane, etc.

In my opinion, passengers who failed to follow instruction given by flight attendants should also be blacklisted and grounded. If these people want to fly, they should do so under supervision and bond.

Just a thought.

I support police action to issue fine to cyclist found to ride illegally in Bedok Town Center

I am referring to this article about 11 cyclists so far being issued a fine amounting to SGD 100 for riding ILLEGALLY in town center. However, some in the cyclist community (without understanding the issue in full) did not support such move. To some of them, I have to highlight the keyword here ILLEGALLY, which was the reason for the police fine. I have been to town center markets where bikes are not allowed to be ridden in the compound, but some apathetic cyclists rode in anyway and risked knocking down children who were walking about, running, or coming from a corner. These irresponsible cyclists are the ones who would risk knocking down the elderly, kids, expectant moms, and anyone else just for their own convenience to park their bikes near an NTUC store/wet market to go shopping. There are sufficient signage before the entrance indicating that riding a bike is not allowed (FOR a reason), and there are enough parking spaces for bicycles. If cyclists wants to park their bikes in the market compound, they should push their bikes into the compound instead of riding them.

Photo from SG Cyclists facebook page. Some cyclists commented that it is this cyclist who give bad impression of cyclists in general.

Drawing; MRT station

The 1st drawing shows two commuters, one female and the other male seated side by side. The way they say can really tell who is who.

The 2nd piece shows people queuing up at the MRT platform waiting for the sliding door to open.

The 3rd drawing shows a lady standing inside the train,  near the exit for.

Dear nasty Ah Pek (uncle) on MRT

Dear nasty Ah Pek on MRT,

I know you must think that other people should give way and give up their seats to you whenever you are present. I have seen you Ah Peks nudging towards occupied reserved seats with your mouth mum but your EXPECTATION high. I don't really know why you don't ask nicely for a seat in front of you, BUT instead use a nasty look of contempt on youngsters who were too green to know better. As an "old ginger" (aged with experience), I am clueless as your approach to "communicating" with youngsters. In my opinion, you Ah Pek built up such negative energy unnecessarily (or is that your true character, persisted even after you have aged?), when you should be positive and make the first move to ask for seat graciously. The kid in front of you will surely give up his or her seat. Even if one doesn't, then surely the one seated next to him or her will give up his or her seat to you. When you say, "thank you", your gesture is encouraging and fulfilling. However, you nasty Ah Pek never open your mouth. You nudged, you sat and you disregarded the person who moved away.The only time I have seen you Ah Pek open your mouth was when you yawn and dozed off afterwards.

It seemed to me that age didn't increase your wisdom. It didn't tone down your nastiness. It didn't improve your patience. Your pride prevented you from asking people for help properly and it made you look pathetic. You are the creator of bad karma in this world. You mistreat and people reciprocate. You are the bad apple of the older generation and you make it more difficult for the rest of gracious Ah Pek (old "uncle"), or Ah Gong (grandpas) to receive help.

For that reason, I'm writing this entry to remind myself that there are the nasty Ah Pek and there are the good ones. I won't allow a few bad apples to affect me. If I observe an ingratitude gesture by nasty Ah Pek on MRT, I will say, "THANK YOU" on his behalf. That gesture from me will remind the nasty Ah Pek about graciousness and to motivate the person giving up his/her seat.

Just a thought.

Some elders, be courteous or get karma

Most elders are friendly and courteous. However, there are some elders who were brats when they were young, and end up a grumpy and nasty people when they get old. Unfortunately, we will bump into these people occasionally.

A word of wisdom, "don't be misled into thinking that age will tone down the nastiness of people". It won't. Nastiness is an integral part of certain people. It is their character trait. Although some people will grow out of it, a significant will harbor this trait until their last breath.

On the MRT, I have seen plenty of times how nasty and grumpy some elders can be. These elders mistreat others. Remember the grumpy old man who poked his stick/umbrella at a youngster to signal to the young man to leave his seat so that the old man can take it? What an ill-mannered way to ask for a seat! Age doesn't give a person the license to be obnoxious and ill-mannered. As expected, the young man didn't budge and refused to let his seat. The old man took the young man's picture and posted it on Facebook. How vindictive this grumpy old man can be?

Today, I've seen an old man in his 50s. He was not frail and didn't look like he needed seat. Anyway, he needed a seat. What happened next was unexpected, the uncle moved to the reserved seat where a young girl was seated. The old man gestured with his hand for the girl to stand up and move away. How rude can the uncle be? The young girl left her seat. Out of the blue, this uncle started grumbling about how rude the young girl was for not letting her seat "willingly" or on her own accord.

What happened to courteousness? Shouldn't we lead by example? Did age wasted away good-manners in certain old people? Would age erode kind words from our vocabulary, such as "please, thank you, may I have your seat, you are really kind, god bless you, appreciate your kind help, thanks for your understanding" when we get old? Should we expect people to let their seats on their own accord and expect to reciprocate by being a nasty old person if they failed to do so? How on earth do people know who needs a seat? Being courteous is a two way traffic.

My conclusion is that, nasty old people are sometimes derived from the nasty and bratty youngsters. Age obviously didn't change their character nor tone down their nastiness. If I were the receiving end of this ill-mannered treatment by grumpy and nasty old people, I will surely shoot back, "Uncle! be respectful if you want to be respected!!!"

Lastly, don't be misled by appearances.

Just a thought.

MRT captain had no choice but to key in available announcement for train delay

Train stalled due to congestion was used several times,  then an announcement about train fault. Later, the train sped at full throttle. To me, it didn't feel like train fault. To me,  the announcements were made at intervals to act as "fillers" and to break the silence commuters experienced while stranded at the station. True enough, the train sped off the station and made jerky journey due to abrupt speeding and brakings, probably to adhere to the right schedule again. Now,  how I wished all MRT trains were automated. How I wished technology was playinh a part in driving the MRT as well as buses. 

In addition,  how I wished the MRT rails ran in loops. Isn't that the most efficient way rather than to wait for the train on terminals to clear before the next train could dock. Furthermore, to decommission the train for the day, just exit at service points for daily maintenance. Alas, that is not to be. 

Now, how I wish that I'm with SMRT, SBS and major public transit companies, working at managerial level to oversee the running of Singapore's mass transit. I will enforce a rule for my managerial level staffs to take the public transit at least three days per week to taste the running of our business.

Order of importance to let seat to the needy in MRT

In my opinion, letting a seating to someone else will be in this order of importance: frail elderly (who stood wobbly and holding grab-pole for support), last trimester expectant moms (who seriously have backaches and swollen feet), parents holding babies (less than a year old who obviously can't stand on their own; but without a baby pram on sight), someone holding a clutch (or walking with a limp, but could still hold steadily on a grab-pole), elders especially grandmas (with grey hair, but still sturdy, 55 to 65 years old), and grandpa (55 - 65 years old).

I will not let a seat to children (who are 5 to 12 years old) because they have the lowest center-of-gravity and unlimited power. Furthermore, they need to be beefed up and not whine for being "forced" to stand too long (especially when they did not complain about running like crazy around children playground while refusing to go home). Aunties and uncles in their early 50s who could still run into the MRT to grab seats and stood up early (while the train was still moving) so that they could inch nearer to the exit door for speedy exit. I have seen rare incidence (not common but it happened) where aunties/uncles competed (like athletes) with expectant moms (slow-mo and bulky) for seats without guilt. Probably such incidents molded my perspective towards the need for prioritizing my offer for seat to the needy in MRT.

Good Samaritans: Grab a seat in MRT

To the people who won't hesitate to let their seats to those in need (good Samaritans), I know most of you would prefer to stand rather than grab a seat during MRT ride so that others in need will have a chance to sit.  However, there are those who for their convenience sake will take up these seats. The latter won't let their seats for anyone. 

Knowing this fact, it is a more proactive way if we take up empty seats firsthand so that in case of someone who need them later, we have the chance to offer these seats rather than relying on other people to do so.

Doing that is more helpful.

Changi airport, beware... no printer

Don't go to the airport leaving behind (or missing) printouts important for departure or else you will be stuck.

My maid had a printout for ICA clearance for her flight home. She handed the document along with her e-ticket. After check in, the document was no where to be found. Asked the staff at the desk for help as we had the pdf copy in our email. The only suggestion was go to service counter on the lower floor for printing because there is no service at Silk Air counters.

At the customer service centre, the staff needed the pdf on a thumbdrive for printing. We told her it's accessible in our email account and asked if there is any computer terminal with printer. There is none.

Asked for alternative; the staff suggested business centre at Crowne Plaza. Went for it and that didn't work.

We ended up missing the flight and had to pay penalty for no-show at ~SGD150. The next available flight is next day at 7.50am. Good, that mean we'll have to travel from far west to far east early in the morning with a year old baby just to send of our maid....

It's our mistake to have lost the printed document, but what irks me about the whole thing afterwards were the following:

1. Can't the customer service help us with this simple request as to print a document? We are more than happy to pay nominal fee for the service...
2. I can't believe that the whole of Changi airport is lacking a simple computer terminal with printer. Are you kidding us? At least provide a service counter with such access! What a disappointment.

It's so easy to step on someone's foot in Singapore

Talk about overcrowding. In Singapore, it's very frequent that you will be stepping onto someone's foot while you are out. Be it in public places or transport. Probably you have said your apology numerous times, or for some not more than the digits on your right hand. People of the latter perplexes me. It's as if, apology is a difficult word (or incriminating). Are we all lawyers nowadays?

I have the feeling that, there are some people out there in Singapore street purposely stepping on people's feet. They are doing it intentionally, just to bring a message across... "out of my way!". If you are stationery, the "foot-steppers" would intentionally assault your foot with, "you are on my spot!". That should be an explanation for the reluctance of people to say their courtesy sorry, whenever they accidentally step onto someone.

How do we as society guide these lost sheep back into the flock? The next time someone steps onto you, don't hesitate and wait for an apology. Just say "ouch, you stepped onto my foot". If without response, add in, "aren't you going to say sorry?". If that didn't evoke any response too, just step onto his/her foot and say, "I'm sorry".

Bus - Door hoggers

I believe daily commuters should have realised that there are bus doors hoggers. How do we classify them? Well, they hog the exit door and very reluctant to move further back into the bus (thus preventing other commuters from entering).

What are the reason for their hogging? I can only think of easy and quick access to exit door.

Good intention, bad presentation

Today, boarded a bus. The bus captain (aka driver) could be inexperience and was not comfortable with all the buttons he has to operate before, during, and after each stop. In one stop, he forgot to close one of the bus doors and one teen commuter tried to highlight this. The commuter's intention was good, he cared and worried that someone might be flung out of the moving bus. The commuter said to the captain, "close the door".

However, the above three words were uttered as if the speaker was really irritated (similar to a parent saying something to the kid for the upteepth time). So I wondered. How true it is that kids learn/emulate parents. We sometimes forget that by shouting or speaking in an angry/irritated tone, we aren't actually increasing the efficiency of passing a message. It is rather, diluting the message with distraction (loudness, tone, emotion) for the person on the receiving end. This I'm afraid is contagious, and kids will follow.

SBS BUS upper deck uncomfortable seat near window

My left (or right) sole is killing me. It's so uncomfortable resting your feet when you are seated near the window on the upper deck.

The reason is due to the uneven, and awkward surface/floor at the side of the upper deck (see pic). I would have preferred that the uneven surface could have been modified into elevated flat surface.

Fig shows the uneven flooring that is uncomfortable and awkward to rest your foot there.