Monday, July 27, 2009.

a belated post, maybe just to wake this blog up, i dunno. did this on the mrt as the incident happened, and as such it isn't very nice to read lah. some post of substance should come soon.

A few days back, i was on the mrt. a civic-minded commuter (by the looks of it, he should be in a tertiary institute/poly? His ez-link card was orange.) decided to either be kind/anal/civic-minded and told 2 people who were drinking on the MRT to stop drinking and keep their drinks.

Of course, being Singaporeans (which must necessarily include a whole tablespoon of pride within it) the 2 poor/inconsiderate commuters caught in the deed of drinking on the MRT took offense at him. A young girl (about my age) shot him pointed looks, while another man just turned away and refused to look at him.

And he continues, without shame or worry, to stare and be SMRT’s new Big Brother.

Evidently this shows Singapore at its finest.

One can view this incident differently depending on the type of society one is in - which goes to say, how one views this shows the level of maturity the society is.

Both customers looked affronted (and honestly, so did I), and evidently this implied that Singaporeans simply thought that that man was being kaypo and poking his nose into others’ affairs.

How others would view it: That man was just being considerate. Given that SMRT changed its stance on food and drinks on trains, it was a kind and considerate act to save those 2 people $30 from fines. But evidently both of them did not take it very nicely, and felt it as an intrusion into their privacy, i.e. he was being extremely kaypo.

The standard rebut: MYOB.

Well, this IS Singapore. I’m a skeptic; I don’t deny that, and I’d proudly wear a cardboard claiming I’m one. And of course, I don’t believe Singaporeans change in this aspect. From the 60s, till the new millennium, and onwards, Singaporeans will continue to wear their pride on their sleeves till eternity.

Do you see people, worried for the cleanliness of the trains in Singapore? And everyday you see complaint letters in the ST Forum, deriding the state of trains in Singapore and claiming that train operators do not do a satisfactory job. This goes to illustrate that Singaporeans have a VERY VIVID imagination. They know the concept of ‘perfection’, but fail to understand HOW to get there. Indeed, idealists, not realists.

This is Singapore, a bunch of spoilt brats who dream of but never reach perfection.

And I’m proud to be one.

Labels: Life