For all the disgruntled people wishing death and destruction upon SMRT, read this first

Take a breather, count to ten.

Jonathan Lim| July 08, 11:05 AM

SMRT experienced probably its worst-ever breakdown last night when the North-South and East-West Line went down for close to three-and-half hours.

Passengers were inconvenienced, and there were claims of $100+ Uber rides and even a photograph circulating online claiming that someone had no choice but to take a dump on the train.

Most Singaporeans' social media feeds were probably filled with angst in the last 16 hours. Many posts are probably calling for some form of reckoning for SMRT and their staff.

While all this happened, the rank and file staff of SMRT - the bus drivers, station staff, technicians and mechanics - were probably dragged away from their families and rest time to ensure that the disruption did not get any worse.

They too do not wish for such a thing to happen and were on the ground trying to fix things. Unfortunately, they bore the brunt of commuter Singaporeans' collective frustration.

Perhaps Iris Lee, daughter of one SMRT staff, puts it best in a Facebook post last night:

"We were having family dinner when my dad received notification that he is activated. Without further ado, he put down his dinner and report within 30 minutes to the assigned station. He did not grumble about how he had to work again. The previous time when he was activated, he came back to us and shared with us how he could understand the feelings of the passengers who were shouting and pushing him and his coworkers. He stood and said sorry at least 100 times to everyone who was trapped. He is just a maintenance guy in SMRT.

But, there was no negativity in him despite being shouted at, at the efficiency of the company, at the long standing hours or at anything. He came back to announce that he was glad that it's settled.

So, before we throw our frustrations and ill mannerism to any of the ground staff, please remember that they are just doing their best to get lives moving. They apologized on behalf of SMRT, not themselves. And most importantly, they have families waiting for them back home, or the unfinished dinner to eat too. A little empathy goes a long way to consider the various stakeholders invoked in this whole process. And I am sure we can do this!

And for now, my family and I are waiting for my dad to come home safely."

 

Her Facebook post is here:

We'>
were having family dinner when my dad received notification that he is activated. Without further ado, he put down...

Posted by Iris Lee on Tuesday, 7 July 2015

 

Everyone just wants to get home safely, the SMRT staff included.

Related article:

How the worst train breakdown in S’pore’s history turned into something magical

The worst MRT breakdown in S’pore’s history occurred on SMRT’s 16th Annual General Meeting on 7/7/15

 

Top image is a screen shot from Night Owl Cinematics.

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