Ugly Singaporeans

Couple of weeks back, I happen to be an unfortunate witness (as well as participant) in what I would consider a typical event which exemplifies Singaporeans' high "civic and moral values" on the MRT on my way to work. It's also a good example of how some pple uses the ass to think instead of the brain.

The scene was early morning 6plus, in a crowded MRT cabin, I was dozing happily on the 2nd seat to the last, the last being the one where there r labels indicating "Pls give way to the elderly or the disabled" pasted above it. All the seats r taken, n at the next stop, in walks who else but a pregnant lady.

I do a quick scan of the surrounding; no seats available; no one looks as though they r willing to give up their seats anytime soon; the pregnant lady is gradually positioning herself near me. Finally, she stopped and stood in front of the guy sitting beside me (The 3rd seat to the last). Still no one made a move. I quickly shut the thin slit that my eyes r looking out from and go back to sleep. (Yes, I'm an ugly Singaporean)

After 1 stop, I opened up a thin slit of my eyes to survey the surrounding. The pregnant lady is still standing at where she was. No one made a move yet. A quick peek to the left and right reveals that both guys were sleeping. The guy on the last seat had his head leaning against the glass panel somemore. Just when I closed my eyes again, I heard a guy clearing his throat loudly. It was this uncle who's standing in front of the guy in the last seat. Obviously he was trying to display his civic-minded-ness.

After a series of "ahem", I must assumed that still no one moved. Because what came next was this: Uncle decided to blast his radio at full blast. An orbit chinese song (not exactly sure who's the singer, but sounds like someone who's past his prime and went into retirement, only to realise he had run out of money, n so is trying a comeback) blared out from a mini radio that he is carrying at full volume.

Now this irritated me. So Uncle has decided that he must play hero and shame those who refuse to give up their seat for the pregnant lady. I took another quick peek to my sides. The guy with his head on the glass din even flinch. So now all the 'sleeping' passengers would attempt to be even more convincing that they r truly asleep. So if Uncle Heroic was looking for effect, he had just lost it completely. Which 'sleeping' guy would at this moment stand up and offer the lady her seat with the whole train's eyes on them?

Well, I dunno, maybe cos I'm a result-oriented person, that's y I felt this way; that Uncle Heroic just destroyed what he hopes to achieve thru a rather dumb plan. Should he really feel so strongly abt this, shdn't he just tap on the shoulder of a 'sleeping' guy and ask him to offer his seat to the pregnant lady? More often than not, the guy would likely give up his seat, albeit not necessarily willingly. So seeing that his 'ingenius' plan din even cause a stir, Uncle Heroic has no choice but to tone down the volume of his radio to a lower but still highly irritable level.

Moral of the story: Some pple dun use brain. Most Singaporeans are not ugly (This is actually the first time that I witness no one giving up their place to a pregnant or elderly person) I could probably give 101 reasons to explain y I did not offer my seat, but then again... let's just say that I'm an ugly Singaporean n get it over n done with. =P