Reservations about some issues

If only Taiwan politics is part of my research. I just realize that I have been too optimistic about the KMT chances of winning the impending presidential election. The ratio of seats won by the KMT with respect to the DPP may seem impressive, but in effect it is translated to a tight 60% is to 40% of the total vote count, and the actual turnout at the polls was a mere 58% of the whole electorate. What this means is that there is always a chance for the DPP to revive itself and perhaps win the next election, as there are still many staunch "green" voters around to act as its ballast. Moreover, as high as 40% of the population have yet to decide on whom to support. A close fight between Ma Ying-Jeou and Frank Hsieh is expected, and I obviously support the former candidate.

To bring today's post to something relevant to home, I realize that Singapore has become increasingly crowded with each passing year. Overpopulated so to speak. This was not so just a few years ago. The streets of Singapore, be them within town or outside, were usually devoid of people, who were either at work or at least indoors at home. This has ceased to be the case. The most obvious example would be the packed trains that we experience all day round. Whether it is in a lazy afternoon or the peak hours at dawn and at dusk, we see streams of commuters flooding the MRT stations from all directions, led by the busy escalators that transport them. All of us instantly become packed sardines who have to bear with slamming our faces in the windows and jostling with the unduly crowd just to make an exit or entrance. Chaos is an apt word to describe these scenes.

I wonder if I can attribute the train phenomena to the cab fare hikes, which may have forced many people to opt for the MRT instead of the taxi. Or maybe we have been overwhelmed by the huge influx of foreigners that our small nation cannot accommodate, and that our infrastructure and transport system have failed to serve adequately. If I'm not gravely mistaken, Singapore's population has doubled in the past 2 decades, not taking into account the substantial number of foreigners who study and work here on long-term tenures. I'm not saying that we should be xenophobic, but we have to improve various aspects of our current structure before accepting the many many talents from all over the world.

For one, it is a disgrace to see zig-zag lines formed by our commuters at the escalators. I have been a frequent traveler to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and be it the MTR or the Taipei Subway, I can always see a distinct "keep left" attitude in the commuters who allow those in a rush to move up faster at the right. Here in Singapore, there is NEVER a left line of people, even when the overhead panel indicates "1 min" to the next arriving train. Then the poor folks who read the notice and yet miss the train due to the inconsideration of others will have to lament on their bad luck, looking at the screen that runs the same capitalist commercials over and over again. Movie thrillers, recurring songs......

Sometimes all it takes is a little empathy from all of us to make life work better for others. It is never too late to take a small step forward towards building a gracious society.