The reactions to this was largely in the same vein - why bother standing at a MRT station, what good does it do; or why not go to Jurong East station where it is infamous for being packed during peak hour?

We attempt to imagine some plausible reasons for the Transport Minister's mysterious appearances on various modes of public transportation:

1. An ex-Navy man performing a Stand By MRT Station

You can take a ex-Chief of Navy out of the military but maybe the military is still in him.

Or maybe his boss, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (an ex-Brigadier General), wanted to tekan him after the massive break down and asked him to do a Stand By MRT Station to answer everything is spick and span.

Except Lui took the Stand By MRT Station very literally and stood by the MRT station on two occasions spawning the hashtag #eyepower.

2. He knows the crowd at JE is a foregone conclusion

The crush as the Jurong East MRT Station is well-known. Unless trains magically double in size or the population in the area suddenly decides to stop going to work, the crowd at Jurong East will always be there.

It doesn't take a scholar to realise that nothing can be done at that station.

3. He wanted to see how people at Clementi struggle to board trains coming from JE

I mean he could be assessing whether the increased frequency of trains is the cause of the break down.

So he had to see how many trains commuters at Clementi had to skip before getting on to decide whether cutting down the frequency is the answer.

Probably not.

4. Why Ang Mo Kio station then Clementi? Is the cause of the break down from these two stations?

Here's one for the conspiracy theorists. When Minister Lui first appeared at Ang Mo Kio station a day after the massive break down, many netizens asked why he did not go to Jurong East station instead.

Today, he appeared at Clementi station, this time painfully close to Jurong East station (just one stop).

Is there something the average Singaporean is missing? Does the cause of the break down have something to do with Ang Mo Kio and Clementi?

Perhaps Lui was at Ang Mo Kio station because the station has three tracks and is near to the Bishan depot.

5. He just wants to be close to the ground

Or maybe Minister Lui is just secretly a man of action who believes in being in the thick of the action.

Wouldn't you prefer for National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan to visit those botched DBSS projects? Or Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean to be spear-heading efforts on the ground when the Little India riot occurred?

We sure hope Health Minister Gan Kim Yong stations himself at a hospital when MERS comes to Singapore - PM Lee did say it is just a matter of time before a MERS case emerges here in Singapore.

6. Best anti-train-break-down good-luck charm

He stood at two MRT stations and even got photographed taking a bus a few years back. And none of those things broke down that day.

That's some good voodoo there.

Please continue standing at the train stations Minister Lui, or even better, board the trains and ride them 24/7.

You may also want to read:

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

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

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