Singaporean questions the function of “weird looking lamps” at MRT station, says “Do these do anything other than lighting?

SINGAPORE — After an online user questioned the function of the “weird looking lamps” in Singapore’s MRT stations, other Singaporeans shared their two cents on the matter.

A netizen shared a photo of an MRT station on Wednesday (Dec 28) with an online news forum. “Do these weird-looking lamps do anything other than lighting? Saw these at MRT station…felt it looked weird and slightly out of place,” the caption read.

Some Singaporeans responded to the post with jokes and sarcasm, with one saying, “It’s to teleport children if they are misbehaving in the stations. Parents, use this on your children.”

Others took the opportunity to express how they think some MRT stations in the country look outdated. “The station looks like (it’s) from some third-world country,” said one, while another pointed out, “Wow the ceiling looks rather old. Never really looked too closely at it before.”

However, according to one netizen, the lamps actually help with ventilation. “These lights actually have internal ventilation that helps regulate the airflow through the circular vents around the lamp,” the person wrote. “The metal disk helps to cool the air reducing the energy cost of air conditioning. The lights are also blue which further cools the air molecules. Individually, they don’t make a big difference to the air in the environment, but with several lamps, it can help reduce the temperature by one or two degrees.”