Crossing the Line

One thing that has gotten on my nerves since I moved to Singapore is how people get on and off the trains. They PUSH their way to be first, and then they proceed to stand (not walk) on the escalator. They're clearly not in a hurry. They just want to be first. When trying to get out of the train, you have to literally plow over people who stand right in front of the doors when they open. I have taken to just putting my arms up, over my chest, and walking. Sometimes I sort of walk into people, but I decided that I don't care too much. Get out of the way, right!?!

Well, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this is just annoying. The MRT has a new campaign to get people to stand to the side when people are getting off the train. There are a few parts to this campaign. One is these two famous Singaporean actors who have their pictures up on the glass of the MRT doors, and they have bubbles that say "Let me come out first" and stuff like that. I did notice that their bubbles were first filled with Singlish that made no sense to me, but after editorials on the issue in the (government run) newspaper, the (government owned) transport system has changed it to proper English. In addition to those guys, they also replaced the yellow lines that tell you where you can stand while waiting for a train with green and red lines. They are more noticeable, and it is clear that you cannot stand in the red zone. Finally, they have these ladies at the MRT stops watching to make sure all is according to plan.

Two weeks ago, before the campaign, I put my bag down while waiting for the train on the MRT platform (it's not like NYC - we can put our bags down. It's clean!). Apparently my bag was sitting on the yellow line that you can't step over to be too close to the edge of the platform. A woman came over to me and asked me to move my bag (an inch). I sort of giggled in her face. Didn't mean to, but come on!

Today, there were three minutes until the train was coming (there is a screen that tells you). I put my bag down to get out some readings, but I was stepping on the line behind which you should stand when people come off the train. The nice woman came over to me and asked me to move. I did. (I sort of giggled again). Then a woman came and stood in front of me, and she was standing on the line. The MRT nice woman came over and asked her to move. She was very sorry and jumped back as if she had done the worst thing in the world. It was such a strange reaction to me, as I think the rule is ridiculous, and she obviously didn't even think about that - just that she was breaking it.

This country loves rules. And apparently it helps employment, as they can have nice elderly ladies employed to uphold them.