Everyone needs a seat

Every day when I travel to and from work via the local public transport, I notice how crowded it really gets. It gets real awkward each time the door of the MRT train opens, as floods of people squeeze to get in and despite the public address announcement to let alighting passengers alight first, there will always be people rushing against the alighting tide.

A similar scene usually happens on buses as well. When the bus doors hiss open, and there's already a crowd in the bus, the next sound you will hear is the bus captain's shouting, "Please move to the rear!" There will be some shuffling of feet and strange stares but the law of conservation eventually prevails as there can only be that much space on the bus.

Amongst the crowds there will definitely be elderly folks and pregnant women, and the public service messages on both the buses and trains encourages passengers to give up the seats to them. However most times when the doors open, equal opportunity takes precedence and passengers rush for the limited seats like a game of musical chairs. And who can blame the everyday people who paid just as much for the ride (if not more), are already tired with work and life, and probably equally deserving of the seat.

There will definitely be those on long journeys and in my travels, it is actually not uncommon to see people travelling from the east part of the island to the west and vice versa. These people are already fatigued from the demands of work and the typical journey time of 1 to 2 hours without getting a seat will sap off whatever remaining life in them, especially on a daily basis.

Then there are those who are injured and not feeling well. Perhaps they got themselves into some minor accident, a slip on the stairs that sprained the ankle or God knows what happened. Maybe too much strain working on the computer caused a migraine. Singapore is not short of workaholics who probably won't want to take medical leave for minor "complications" and struggle back to work so as to meet the neverending deadlines. They too need a seat.

Then there are those who are simply tired. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week probably isn't enough time for the modern day people as they maximise every ounce of time. Always on the move and always needing to be some place will just make one tired. A seat would mean they could catch up on some sleep.

Eventually, everyone needs a seat.

With seats on the public transport being a "rare and precious" commodity, it is no wonder that every time the doors open, it is a mad rush for the seats and sometimes even a place to stand.