Doors

I take the train everyday. During peak hours, there is a mad rush on the platform. Kia-su passengers try to force their way in, even as alighting passengers rush to get out.

At the above-ground stations, passengers step across the yellow lines and muscle their way as close to the edge of the platform as possible, as soon as they sight the arriving train. This becomes particularly dangerous for passengers at the head of the boarding queue - who might not be as afraid of losing, as of losing their lives under the wheels of the train - when they get pushed forward to the edge. A handful of passengers have regrettably lost their lives this way.

The powers-that-be quickly decided that it was time to recruit some hapless old screaming uncles who would yell at every passenger who ever dared step across the yellow line, while lining up their own frail uniformed bodies between the mass of afraid-to-lose passengers and the greedy open abyss behind. This morning, I even saw one of those uniformed uncles (who once complimented me on my Bose QC3 while we both waited for the train) preside over and brief a bevy of yellers-to-be, now smartly bedecked in fluorescent jackets.

I've always wondered (on those long train rides, assuming I get INTO the train and not UNDER) when the powers-that-be would take the natural next step...

Not to worry. Coming soon to an above-ground station near you... Platform screen doors.

From today's TODAY:

"The Land Transport Authority has plans to install platform screen doors at all 36 above-ground stations by 2012. Work to install the 1.5m-tall doors at Pasir Ris, Jurong East and Yishun stations will be completed by this year."

By then, the recession might be long gone, and the yelling uncle, who'll surely lose his job, will just become a statistic on the economy's way back up.

Meanwhile, stay safe and thank uncle.