You may not have the habit of watching Taiwanese current affairs programmes regularly, but catch one or two shows and you will definitely recognise them for their entertaining and passionate delivery of news.

This time though, we've gotten Taiwan's attention due to our recent MRT incidents.

That's right, our MRT troubles have them talking about us.

This following video is from current affairs programme Crucial Moments (关键时刻). Hosted on the Eastern Broadcasting Corporation news channel (東森新聞), what seems to be a recording of an undated program was uploaded by a Facebook netizen Derrick Charters on Nov. 21.

The 6 minute plus video has since gone viral online. For those who are watching it on data or are short of time, here's a quick breakdown (no pun intended)  on what was said:

1. Our MRT is cursed (01:39)

Other than the flood, and the collision that happened between two trains in Joo Koon,  they also mentioned the tragic fatal accident last year in March, where 2 SMRT staff were killed on track.

"Singapore’s MRT is strange - it’s been 30 years, but from 2015 onwards, until today, over a period of 2 years, it’s like it’s cursed. Why? It shouldn’t have flooded, but it flooded. The water extraction system couldn’t even start up. And this should not have occured - an fatal accident happened - fatalities happened. The maintenance crew was there, but [they] ran over them. There should have been no way two stationary trains suddenly moved and collided with each other. Incidents happen one after another - in fact,  virtually every one to two weeks, one incident occurs.  We can only say Singapore’s MRT system is akin to being cursed. But their airport is managed well, their roads are managed well, they can even get F1 races on their common roads, but they have no idea what to do with their MRT."

2. Our MRT has to learn from Taipei Metro (02:54)

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Nov. 7 that Singapore transport operator SMRT will invite a team of experts from Taipei Metro to conduct a review of its own operations.

This was not mentioned in the programme but the commentators did mention that we are seeking help from Taiwan.

They also quoted figures, comparing train distance travelled before delays happened.

"Left without much choice, Singapore thus came to Taipei, to seek the expertise of Taipei Metro. Singapore’s MRT system has 30 years of history. It’s so weird, such an advanced facility and an advanced country, [delays] every 160,000 km (though The Straits Times said it was 130,000km between delays), it’s weird, because of incidents,  they’d have to delay travel time by 5 minutes. Now, why do we have to specially mention this, about coming to Taipei to seek [our] expertise...

In Hong Kong, trains travel 530,000 km before an incident occurs, and our Taipei metro trains travel 800,000 km before something happens. So now Singapore has set a benchmark, a goal that in 2020, they would like to reach Taipei metro’s 2015 goal of travelling 800,000 km before a 5-minute delay happens."

3. Bishan's (rumoured) spooky happenings

We really didn't see this coming - it is unclear if this is a pure digression, or they were implying that our system was cursed impacted by supernatural forces.

For a current affairs programme though, it was quite loose on facts, and we have no idea where they got this information from - though they did add a disclaimer on the side that these supernatural stories are more likely than not an urban legend, much like the usual fodder for horror stories regarding trains:

"We just mentioned this year’s flooding in Bishan. Bishan is the MRT station with the most paranormal activity reported. Why do we say that? Because once there [was a story that went around] were 15 people at night who were taking the MRT and planning to get off at Bishan station. Everyone was getting ready for the next stop at Bishan. Once they were at the station and saw the platform, the train continued moving forward. Why did the train not stop?

The 15 people got off at the next stop, angrily demanding an explanation. The staff/driver explained that it’s not because we didn’t want stop, we didn’t dare to stop at the platform, which had over 50 people without faces.

Some female passengers also complained of feeling someone touching their faces and body as they approached the station. When they turned around, shocked, they realised that no one was beside them, and they were sure it wasn’t wind. Paranormal stories such as these are numerous. Then why Bishan only? That’s because in 1870, is where Guangdong immigrants are buried after they die. It’s a public grave.

They had to dig up and exhume their remains to build the Bishan station. Is it real? The company has said that they indeed did use part of the cemetery. Details are vague on where on the cemetery the station was exactly built on."

 

Other Taiwanese media mentions

While this particular clip went viral on FB, it's not the only Taiwanese media talking about our MRT either.

From TVBS, CTI to Apple Daily, the flooding incident and Singapore's use of Taiwanese expertise has piqued enough interest for Taiwanese media to cover the story. It's quite a change of tack for them as they have been used to taking the Singapore example to berate their own government for incompetence.

You can see some of their videos below:

Top image via screengrab from EBC News' Crucial Moments programme, via Derrick Charter's FB page

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