TikTok on ‘forever empty reserved MRT seat’ stirs up a lot of feelings among Singaporeans

SINGAPORE: When a local TikTok user posted a video showing a seat on the MRT, with the words “one people, one nation, forever an empty reserved seat,” as the national anthem was playing in the background, they may not have expected it to blow up the way it did.

“May the MRT reserve seat be empty forevermore,” was the tongue-in-cheek caption to the video from kai 鈴木海 (@kaxsuzxxx34) on National Day (Aug 9).

The nine-second clip simply showed a pair of red reserved seats on opposite sides of a train cabin. And while the cabin itself looked relatively full, with many people standing around, the commuters were too polite or compliant to take the seats.

These “priority” seats are intended for passengers who need them the most, such as the elderly, disabled, pregnant women, or those who have babies in tow. Technically, people can occupy them, but should give them up when a priority passenger boards the train.

Based on the comments on the video, it seems that everyone and their sibling had an experience with reserved seats.

“One time I was exhausted, and on the brink of breaking down, so when an auntie rudely exclaimed about me sitting in the reserved seat, I panicked and said I was pregnant,” a TikTok user shared. 

“Once a lady told me off for sitting there when I had a broken ankle,” wrote another.

“I feel guilty sitting on the MRT in my school uniform and sometimes pretty clothes,” a commenter confessed.

“I was asleep in the train once after a long and tiring day at work and wasn’t even sitting at a reserved seat, but this auntie walked in and tapped my foot with her cane, gesturing to me to give up my seat,” another chimed in.

“This usually only happens whenever an elderly person was offered the seat, but he/she rejected it and continued standing nearby… so everyone else in the cabin too awkward to use that seat lol,” a commenter opined.

The most popular comment, however, came from a TikTok user who admitted they were a “chronic reserved seat taker unfortunately.” 

A few commenters with train experience elsewhere weighed in as well.

“A handful of New Yorkers would bring this system to its knees,” one wrote, while another added, “In Chicago, they’ll lie across 4 seats and then spill their beer in the row on the other side.” /TISG

Read also: Commuter asks, ‘What do Singaporeans think about sitting on MRT reserved seats when empty?’