SINGAPORE: One Singaporean commuter recently asked on social media why “nobody ever takes photos and give credits to SMRT and their staff” whenever the trains are working properly.
Posting on the r/askSingapore subreddit, the commuter said that he understood why people feel frustrated and vent on social media whenever there are glitches. Citing a recent example, he mentioned that when there were train disruptions in the past week, people were quick to complain about SMRT and post photos of the situation on social media.
Yet, the moment things went back to normal, no one acknowledged the effort of the people working behind the scenes. “Are we always so fast to point out mistakes but slow to give credit when things go well?” he asked.
He went on to say, “Why can’t we be more kind and make our society a better place to be in? How can we, as Singaporeans, be more polite and caring towards the feelings of others? Can we have more praises instead of complains please?”
“Does your boss praise you every day for coming into work on time?”
In the comments section, several people expressed their disagreement with the commuter’s perspective. They argued that ensuring the trains run smoothly is simply part of SMRT staff’s job, and since they are paid to do it, there is no need for public appreciation or gratitude.
One commenter said, “Praise MRT for doing what it’s been paid to do? Does your boss praise you every day for coming into work on time?”
Another elaborated, “This isn’t just a Singaporean thing. We don’t praise services like the MRT because we expect them to work smoothly – We’re paying for them to take us from point A to point B within an expected timeframe. When there are breakdowns or delays, they directly affect us, especially in the morning when it causes people to be late for work or school.
There’s also the issue of frequency. If we were to praise SMRT every time the trains run well (I would say 99%++ of the time), what would be the benchmark for praise? Should we also praise the building maintenance team every time the elevator works?
Besides, when the train breaks down, no one is blaming the ground staff but the overall management of SMRT itself.”
A third acknowledged that people do appreciate SMRT workers, but only when they go above and beyond their usual duties.
He said, “False equivalence – when things are at status quo (working the way its supposed to) nobody will complain nor praise SMRT. But people do post their heartwarming encounters when a staff goes out of their way to help them, or exceptional service.”
Recent train breakdowns
The discussion came amid ongoing frustrations over recent train breakdowns. On Tuesday morning (Feb 11), a signalling fault between Paya Lebar and Marymount MRT stations on the Circle Line caused delays across eight stations.
This incident left many commuters frustrated, particularly because updates from SMRT were slow to come.
Netizens flooded social media with photos of overcrowded train stations. One local Reddit user, who was at Serangoon station, described the scene as a “human jam.”
Another netizen said, “I could’ve easily taken the bus from my house to work but now I’m stuck crowding the circle line with everyone else. No announcement means people can’t plan alternatives.”
Read more: Commuters upset SMRT took so long to update Circle Line disruption notice
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)