"Uniquely Singapore"

Are Singaporeans Spoilt? Once again another complaint has managed to garner newspaper coverage, this time with regards to overcrowded trains. SMRT says that trains do not reach full capacity even during peak hours whilst commuters claim that trains are overcrowded and indadequate. What is interesting is the inclusion of opinion from "people who have experience of commuter trains overseas" who are full of praise of our train system. Comparisons were made with the London, Tokyo and NY with the final conclusion that our system is not as screwed up as theirs and therefore we should quit complaining. Being "very famous overseas" ( probably becasue of my chewing gum jamming up a train door in Tokyo) and having travelled on all the 3 subway systems mentioned I do agree that Singapore's MRT system is pretty SMaRT. BUT so what if their rush hour transport system is worse than ours? Does that mean that it is tolerable for us to put up with this status quo? Complaints and criticism is the way Singapore works, it is part of our culture making us "uniquely Singapore".

Admittedly, all we did in the past was to complain and complain but at least now the complaints have shifted into more credible forums (from kopitiams to intellectual blogs and the www). I believe that this need for criticism and synicism is a positive point that should be harnessed. It should also extend beyond the realm of public transportation. Take the recent Biennale 06 for example. Some people loved it and some people touted it as absolute rubbish. Those who loved it will feel that people who don't are probably ignorant and vice versa. The right view is not important. Rather what is important is the discourse itself. And with that I think that the Art Scene in Singapore is off to a good albeit late start. Fabian has always been moaning and groaning about the state of architecture in Singapore. Why? Because of a lack of feedback from the people? Because of a general lack of interest in the topic? And his conclusion is that Singaporeans get bad buildings because we don't Complain.

Ahhh the magic C word.

Last friday, the Straits Times ran an article, "Make not owning a car the smart choice". The article started off with an introduction to the transport system in Singapore starting from the 1970s all the way to the present. He then went through all the acronyms from LTA to COE and ERP eventually arriving at "The Solution". However, I was surprised that the Singapore Dream and the 5 Cs were not once addressed in the article. Isn't one of the reasons for owning a car in Singapore that of it being a status symbol. And what better way of flauting a status symbol than to drive it around. Especially since this status symbol happens to be extremely mobile with 4 wheels and all. The article does suggest that a lifestyle change is in order, but I think it goes deeper than that. I think a psyche change is in order. True, the car sharing system in Switzerland seems to work very well for the Swiss and could possibly work well here on one condition. That the cars being shared are all Mercedes. Besides, the Swiss have other status symbols to boast of such as owning a ski chalet at St Moritz and proper cheese fondue. At the end of the day, unless we are able to remove the social premium that comes with owning a car (preferably a Mercedes), the problem of high car usage will always remain. How do we go about doing that? Well ensuring that the public transport system is relatively complain free is a good start. Better still why not remove Car from the the 5 Cs and replace it with Complain instead.