The uncivilized ppl here

Being in taipei with my lil sister for 6 days taught me a lot of things... the usual stuff like learning independence, getting to know my sister better, learning how to take care of someone else, navigating around a foreign country, how beautiful taipei is, etc shall not be talked abt today.

One thing that really caught my eye in taipei is how civilized and gracious the taiwanese are! Definitely something Singaporeans or ppl living in singapore have a lot to learn about.

Just have a glimpse of what my MRT trip from lakeside to bedok was like yesterday and u'll be filled with disgust! I usually have my MP3 player and wonderful earpiece on when i travel. (my earpiece is wonderful cos it's shaped like the stethoscope earpiece and once it's stuck into my ear, it blocks off at least 80% of ambient sounds!) Alas! I left my MP3 player charging at home. In my carriage, there were 2 guys (judging from their crew cut and lingo, must be booking out from NS) speaking at the top of their voices. Everyone could hear how they were punished cos they forgot to do dunno-what and how dunno-who sabo-ed who. At another corner, there was one guy sharing his PSP game music with all of us. Just 10 min from boarding the train, i feel like knocking myself in the head for leaving my wonderful MP3 player at home.

And i swear i could smell something funny in the train... a mixture of sweat with horrible perfume plus some food "aroma". Great... now i need a nose plug too...

When i alighted, ppl at bedok station just can't wait to get onto the train. This is becoming such a common sight that ppl are starting to think it's the NORM??! Having super a lot of barang on me (my paddle, lifevest, big bag), i really need space to get outta the train lor. Would really prefer to walk out of the train like a gracious lady rather than bumping all my stuff on incoming ppl and squeezing outta the lil hole like a rat.

I had a pleasant surprise when i was travelling around in taipei via their MRT. They have the same system as us... escalators with the keep-right rule, lines on platforms to guide passengers during boarding and alighting, priority seats for ppl who need them more, no eating/drinking rule. And PEOPLE FOLLOW THEM ALL!!

I'm used to standing on the left and many times, i go up the escalator to find that i'm the ONLY one standing on the left. everyone lines up nicely on the right side for ppl to walk up and down the escalator. That actually made me very embarassed and i either quickly stood to the right or started walking on. Even when there was a huge crowd and everyone was in a rush, they still followed the keep-right rule! amazing!!

The lines are drawn on only one side of the door. and they draw many lines for many ppl to queue along them. and when we arrived at the platform the first time, we saw neat lines of ppl waiting for the trains. wow... nobody tries to cut queue when entering the trains. everyone waits patiently for ppl to alight and their turn to board the train.

Next is the priority seats. They're made obvious by being dark blue in colour instead of the usual light blue. Even when all the light blue seats are taken and only 2 dark blue seats are empty, an able-bodied young woman/man will bypass those seats to go to another carriage or stick to standing. That's the spirit man!

I did not spot a single person who ate or drank in the station/train. Not even from the waterbottle. So much so that when i subconsciously took out my bottle to take a sip, i felt some stares and immediately felt SOOO embarrassed.

Other countries like taiwan and japan have shown that even in an effluent society, social grace and courtesy is definitely possible. So why can't Singapore be the same too? The standards are definitely dropping steadily with time to the extent that i actually feel embarrassed to show overseas friends around on our MRT. I love Singapore but this aspect of our society is definitely not something i'm proud of.