Shock of the Day

[Photo is for illustration only]

Today is my day off and it began with a shock of my life when the cab I was in took a wrong turn and went against the traffic!

Instead of immediately turning back, the cab driver decided to drive on ahead till the next traffic junction before going back on the road of the right traffic direction.

Thankful to God when I finally reached my destination after long traffic jam due to an accident.

Overcrowding and Patience

Healthy living is about keeping your cool amid overcrowding
in public transport and other places, despite having
your patience tested over and over again

Onboard the Bus

The back of the shuttle bus was empty but the front was crowded. Stuck at the entrance, I had no choice but to relentlessly push my way to the back saying out loud "excuse me, excuse me."

The culprit was a guy with an oversized backpack probably housing a laptop and other stuff standing half way in the middle of bus at the exit door. A few passengers and I have to stare at him while I continue to say "excuse me" and added "I am going to the back" before the guy took down his bag to let the passengers move to the rear.

As a constant practitioner wishing to encourage and push people to put into practice acts of social etiquette, I sometimes find it really difficult to forbear such inconsiderate acts.

May all of us, especially those carrying backpacks, always remember we are not alone in our own world and pay attention to the needs of others!

Coins or No Coins

I was rushing to catch a shuttle bus this morning. A woman behind me seem in a hurry, so I let her board the bus first as I was still trying to get my coins ready for the bus fare. On boarding the bus, the woman started digging for coins from her bag, leaving me no choice but to queue behind her as I could not drop my coins in the box with her blocking.

The driver signaled me to bypass the lady, so I got to the side to drop the coins, but because of the awkward position, dropped my coins on the floor. Both of us—the woman and I—ended up apologizing for the delay to all the people behind us who were waiting to board. I then picked up my coins and dropped them into the box while the woman continued to dig.

This is kind of people we encounter every day, people who cannot wait to be first and have no regard for the interest of others. But as for me, I live by a code of conduct following the biblical verse that states:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 NAS)

Here’s a penny for your thoughts. When you are not ready, will you wait and not rush to get ahead of others?

Fare Heights

Ever since the public transport fare height from July 3, my usual once a week $20 top-up of EZlink has doubled.

The so-called travel fare by distance is a way to increase fare by justifying that more people are benefiting from lower fare if they transfer between different types of public transportation. This, in my humble opinion, is a rather stupid idea for many because it means more time wasted, and Time is Money!

I, for one, travel a straight route via the MRT train to and from work. This essentially means zero benefit and increased expense for me. Just some months ago, JTC also did a 'fare adjustment' to their shuttle bus service to my workplace at IBP from the Jurong East MRT station. The adjustment doubled the fare price. All in, my transport expense per month has increased exponentially. During these times when many corporations are still cutting cost and slashing or freezing employees' pay, it appears transport fare heights are simply inappropriate, yet it is happening all the time.

Over the last several days, the radio stations have brought this topic up for discussion. I see no point in this, however, because it is already a done deal and nothing is going to change. This is what people in Singapore know for a long time, for this is our country and this is our land, where things get done first before consent, so no one can later amend.

Price Up by 100% for IBP Shuttle Service

JTC announced to the IBP community yesterday that the fare for their shuttle transport to and from Jurong East will be increased from the current 20 cents per one-way trip to 40 cents.

This means people like me who rely on the shuttle service regularly will have to face a permanent income cut, while businesses at Jurong East, especially the food courts and coffee shops, will also be indirectly affected. Currently, many workers at IBP take the shuttle service to and from Jurong East to go for lunch which fare is 40 cents per round trip per person. Come December 1, this will mean an increase of 100 per cent of the cost at 80 cents per person.

Looks like I'll have to consider walking to office from Jurong East MRT station in the future, and will certainly cut down my frequency of having lunch at Jurong East!

So much for boosting the economic downturn and cutting cost!

Daily Shuttle Madness

Take a look at the picture below and you will understand why I am suffering every morning simply to travel to my office located at Jurong East's International Business Park.

Photo: October 13, 2009 at 08:27

The photo shows a typical daily scene of the morning queues for shuttles at Jurong East temporary shuttle 'interchange' near the JTC building below the Jurong East MRT staton.

This morning, I have to wait for more than half an hour before managing to catch the shuttle to IBP, causing me to be rather late to work.

Wonder why the shuttle 'interchange' cannot be arranged like the interchange for public buses. Presently, it is just a place to jam up all the company shuttles around the area.

Long Pick-up Queue at Jurong East

Not the longest queue yet, but this is the sight you can see every morning between 8am to 9am at the new shuttle pick up point at Jurong East next to JTC Summit, after the partial closure of Jurong East St 12 and Summit Lane from 5 July 2009 to facilitate construction work for MRT Jurong East Modification Project.

So far the weather has been fine over the last few days in the morning, but I wonder how these passengers are going to handle the situation on a raining day with such poor shelter that is not designed to brave the rain nor the sun.

Photograph: July 10, 2009 08:26

Photograph: July 9, 2009 08:24

Squeezed!

Ever experience being squeezed? This girl on the train must have felt it, having been sandwiched between two men.

Wonder how you girls feel when faced with such situation. Will you give up your seat or stay oblivious as if nothing has happened?

GuYs, pLease do not taKe advantage of the guRLs!

Confession of a Pusher

It irks me that I am a pusher and I have to do it daily. It is not as if I am enjoying it, but I don't really have a choice.

Let me tell you my story, how I became a pusher. I work it a place remote from public transport and I have to take a feeder bus to reach my destination. Each time the bus arrives, a huge crowd will gather to enter to a one door entrance up the bus. There is no queue whatsoever nor the cue to know the exact spot where the bus will stop, so everyone will have to move discerningly to position a good spot when the bus is seen arriving.

When the bus arrive and stop, all hell will break lose and everyone will be rushing to get up the bus relentlessly. Some passengers however will be stricken with fear of stampede and freeze without moving forward, and that is where I become a pusher.

I push people to move forward to reach the bus. Many people surrounding the bus will try all angles and means to make their way forward and up, inch by inch, step by step, but with some fear stricken people ahead, there is seldom chance to reach the goal. The only way, therefore, is to PUSH ahead using a finger or one's body, with a stare that can kill, to make sense to the person ahead, to quit being a stumbling block and move forward and up.

This is my story of how I became a pusher, and it is an unpleasant daily experience for me, because I have always pride myself in acting gracefully, but for this case, I do not have a choice, so if you are one of my victims, I hope you will understand.

Creativity With EZ-Link Card

The thing I like about using a public transport stored value card is the freedom to decide even at last minute my final destination. If I board a bus and change my mind where I wish to go, I freely choose to go some place else to disembark. I need not worry about the discrepancy I did not pay or have overpaid, because with the card, charges only deduct when I disembark. So I frequently change my mind where I wish to go in order to build flexibility to cultivate creativity.

Creativity is about observing things differently, seeing things as we have not seen before, reading details we frequently ignore. We sit on a chair daily, yet we seldom really care, to explore and see what material it is made of, whether there are any loosen screws or cushion tear, what mechanism is in it, how it turns, what type of rollers is used, because we fail to see things with a creative mind.

Creativity is also about being always ready for changes, a circumstantial or deliberate act to be different, to do things differently, and to break from routines. We can go to a regular destination by a different route on a different day, or walk a different path to where we work. We can take public transport instead of driving, or take a bus instead of the subway train.

Creativity is about listening or hearing the things that surround us, the noises and conversations people share, the sounds of nature and music everywhere. It is about smelling things in our surroundings, of fragrance and flowers, perfume and odors, food and many others. It is about being sensitive to our five senses.

In a busy world today, the things we see, smell, and hear, we seldom care more than superficial. We take for granted the things we have, and we fail to stop and listen. We do not pay attention because we are too busy, and it is for this reason I occasionally take a break, away from society, to get away from routines, to retreat, recreate, and rediscover self, to restore my soul, to make myself whole. As travelers for a little time while on earth, we need to regularly calm our souls, to enter into a mood of relaxation, to pay attention at all occasions, to close our eyes and ear all things, the likes of birds chirping, cricket and grasshopper calling, the dragonfly buzzing, the pin dropping, even the clock ticking.