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.

Doddle about Singapore

Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).
Male and female passenger on board the MRT. Long queue for boarding MRT (safety barriers on platforms). Tuna-ed inside MRT, and others.

Types of baby's cough

There are two main types, such as dry and wet coughs. Dry cough is usually caused by a cold (viral infection) or allergies, whereas wet cough is due to bacterial infection which causes phlegm/mucus.

Coughing in baby (< 4 months old) shouldn't be taken lightly and hence decoding baby's cough is important. Refer to this website by parents.com for detail.

Common cold/flu (viral): Cough sounds like "hacking" (not the literal meaning, but rather the "hacking" sound) sound. For discerning different types of coughing sound and the term used such as "whooping" (sound ending in the each coughing), dry/"hacking", productive(with phlegm)/wet, and "wheezing" coughs can be referred to in webmd.com site. Cold (viral origin) normally requires the immune system to beat, and there are several ways to alleviate the symptoms such as more fluid, rest, regulating fever (by damp cloth), humidifier (to alleviate blocked or irritated nose/airway), honey (make sure baby has no allergy to pollen; Asian has less problem), Luo Han Guo (or monk fruit, or scientifically Siraitia grosvenorii) which has been known to have no reported toxicity, among others.

Croup (viral origin is common): common in countries with winter season. The cough sounds like barking. Refer to kidshealth.org site.

For other illness such as pneumonia (productive/wet cough), bronchitis/asthma (cough with "wheezing"), whooping cough (pertussis), you can refer to parents.com site.

About sextortion in crime watch Singapore

Most will say that the victims were gullible. My opinion is that they were brave. Their moves to report helped others from ending with the same fate.

The perpetrator struck by providing very narrow time window for his victims to response. Most of his victims were under distress at the time and whatever decision they made was of poor judgement. That's how con-men normally operate. In this case, the perpetrator was also a rapist. Unfortunately,  he (Mani Velmurugan , 28) was not charged and convicted of the crime, except for a conviction on criminal intimidation (sentenced to 32 months behind bar). To me, a rape is when victims didn't have a choice and the "consented sex" was under duress. But legally,  it's difficult to determine this type of rape. It's not like statutory rape in which by clear definition, the act is punishable.

The next question is why would victims still be unaware of the risk of sextortion? Were they unaware of the technological capability of webcams to record (and not just for real time viewing)? Did they think that they have found their trustworthy soul mates (and hence sending compromising pictures of themselves was safe)? But how could you be sure without even meeting the person in flesh? I hope public awareness on this subject will help highlight this risk. 

One thing we need to bear in mind,  the victims were given very narrow time window to act. Victims acted under extreme duress. The prospective damages to the victims were usually too great that they would be willing to do anything. 

One thing we have learnt, the more the victims give in and suffer in silence, the more the motivation for this crime to thrive. When a crime idea works, it will be copied and used extensively. However, when victims start reporting to the police and the action is translated to convictions (as well as providing the public an awareness of such crime), they helped to prevent the crime. I respect that. 

Update: Mani Velmurugan was not charged with rape because his victims did not file them. Would they have succeeded in getting justice if they did? "Consented sex" under duress is no consent.

"Never mind, boy", said you?

This morning, the NTUC queue at my place was very long. It's a Sunday. Everyone was looking for the shortest queue. I was in line waiting to pay for my bread and several can-food items. When it was my turn, a boy in school uniform (8 to 9 years old) tried to cut queue by pretending to be unaware of the long queue behind me. He was holding just a bread. I told him that, "the queue is at the back". He moved to the other counter and came back. The old couple behind me told the boy,  "Never mind, boy. You just got a bread". They made way for the boy to cut queue,  without the having the courtesy to ask the next six or seven people who were queuing. 

I was flabbergasted. 

First,  the old couple failed to inculcate and impart good value to the boy. A queue is a queue,  regardless of number of item (unless he is disabled or frail). There was a 7-11 shop nearby and there is bread and no long queue. Obviously,  the boy didn't want Gardinia bread (at 7-11) and took the bread at NTUC.

The old couple failed to acknowledge the people queuing behind them.  The slot was not theirs to give the boy,  unless they wanted to forgo (or surrender) their spot and start queuing behind the 6 to 7 people. They didn't. 

A lot of parents inadvertently (or purposely) teach their children (above 7 years old) to cut queues,  grab seats in MRT like vultures, rudely move through crowds,  impatiently waiting for their turn to view books at bookstores by repeatedly saying, "excuse me,  excuse me, excuse me...." to drive the person in front to move away,  and many more. 

When these kids become adults. I hope the old couple will not complain if they can't find a seat on MRT (when these young adults pretend to sleep), or seeing their queues being cut frequently.

If you allow children to do the things you wouldn't want adults to do, don't be surprised when these children will grow up being inconsiderate. That's called karma.

There was no good deed the old couple did today. Just like giving handouts to beggars (the easy way out). You might feel good about it,  but the aftermath will bite you back one day, e.g. More people cutting queues or more "beggars" on the street.

How to test if an electrical cable/wire is live

If you hired a professional electrician, your wiring will be properly colour-coded. If not, it can be dangerous to assume which wire colour is live, neutral or ground. In Singapore the colour code for electrical wires can be found in energy market authority site (https://elise.ema.gov.sg/safety/about.html); whereas for colour codes used in other countries, you can refer to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring). In Singapore, the older code is as follows, i.e. the live wire is red, neutral is black, and protective conductor (ground/earth). The newer code is as follows, i.e. live (brown), neutral (blue) and ground (yellow-green). My HDB flat uses the older wiring code, whereas new appliances uses new ones.

To test which is live, there are two methods that I know. First is by using a test pen, and the second one is by using a VOM (volt-ohm-meter; or multimeter/multitester). The easiest would be to use philip test pen. There are other safer alternatives, e.g. multimeter, and non-contact test light, among others (wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_light).

FYI, while using my water heater, a loud pop sound and a foul burnt smell were detected. Next thing I knew, my water heater was not working. I bought a new one (with exact brand and model) and installed it myself. The water heater was not working. I tried to change the wall switch (dual pole switch), it didn't work either. In the end, called an electrician. He checked the whole thing and found out that the thing that burnt was the electrical cable. It was a 240-440 volt-ampere (1.8A) type. The load must have been too much and this caused the neutral wire to explode leaving black stain. He switched the cable to higher load type with thicker copper gauge.