SINGAPORE: When a local Reddit user posted photos of the MRT that were taken 30 years apart, many people reacted, pointing out the differences between 1992 and the present. The post also sparked a wave of nostalgia.
One wrote in a comment section that he chanced upon the 1992 photo on Flickr, which had been uploaded by a woman named Sarah. She captioned it, “1992 Singapore Metro 2. Scanned slides from 1992 trip to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan) and Singapore.”
The post author then recreated it “to the present day.” This took him some time, he explained, “because this era of trains is very hard to come by now.”
He pointed out the MRT map at the top left corner of both photos “to see just how much our MRT system has changed in 3 decades!” He also explained that the photo had been taken of the North-South Line (NSL), which was the first MRT line in the city-state.
The NSL started operating on Nov 7, 1987, 36 years ago.
Others commended him on getting a photo of the train, which is a Siemens C651 model, as it is likely to be decommissioned soon.
Some Reddit users waxed nostalgic, with one surmising that even though the 1992 picture could have been taken during the train’s busy hour, it was not full at all.
“Back then, in 1992, peak hour looked like this: no overcrowding and because many staff were driving as well. Companies used to provide cars for employees, SG was very comfortable,” they wrote.
“1992 compared to 2002 is already quite a big difference in the crowd. I remember Raffles place MRT wasn’t crowded at 6 pm, many workers were also at Jurong than bank/office work might attribute to that,” another answered.
One called the time when the first photo was taken “the glory days of the MRT” as there was neither overcrowding nor breakdowns. Another observed that there was little need for priority seats back then because everyone could have a seat even during peak hours.
One commenter, however, took the time to list other “stark” differences after 30 years, including fashions, which they pointed out have gotten a lot more casual. They also said that today’s MRT map has many more lines.
The Reddit user added, “People were still glued to other things then, sure it wasn’t a phone but a book, or a newspaper. A greater emphasis (is now placed) on being considerate through the show you care seat signs.” /TISG
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