*apologies for missing out some bits, things are getting lost in translation.
I had the most interesting experience on Sunday night.
I had the most interesting experience on Sunday night.
Usually when we board the bus at the stop before Bugis Junction, the bus is sparse, dotted mostly with Singaporeans (Chinese mainly) and a few foreign workers (Bangladeshi & mainland Chinese). The locals usually enjoy being the majority.
However, Sunday night was a peculiar experience. When we boarded, we noticed something different about the mix. There was 60% mainlanders, 30% Bangladeshis (I assume they are Bangladeshis, they could be from Delhi, Bangalore, Kerala or Serangoon, I have no idea) and 10% Singaporeans. We were the minority.
Then the bus hit the Fu Lu Shou Complex bus stop and the 30% Bangladeshis ballooned to 60% and mainlanders 40% (but they sounded like 110% because they were speaking SO LOUD) and us locals became a negligible statistic. I started to grow scared.
The bus approached the bus stop opposite Tekka Market. It was a Sunday night at 10pm. Stores were closing, workers had to return to their worksite dorms. Imagine with me.
The bus crawled in to the traffic light (with trepidation and fear I am quite sure, or perhaps it was just me) just 10m before the bus stop. We could see foreign workers (ALL Bangladeshis) causing a heavy water balloon swell at the bus stop. Some of them tried to run to the bus waiting at the traffic light to get a headstart but to no avail. They were jostling and nudging each other like at the start of a very important race.
As the lights turned green, I was quite sure this happened in slow motion. The bus approaching the stop … the workers nudging and pushing, saliva flying… arms flailing … bags wobbling … and you could see that gleam and drive in their eye … ‘I must… I willlll… get onn that … bussss!’
When the bus hit the stop and opened its doors, I swear that was a dead pause in my head and what happened after that was something I had never seen before. Everything just came rushing like a tidal wave!
I’m not sure if there were a hundred of them but I’m quite sure it was close! They pushed… not just PUSHED but PUSSSSHED their way up the bus and moved very quickly to the rear so everyone can get up (one virtue we should learn from them). Very quickly, the bus was filled and they were still pushing their way in. Like pack, pack pack! If there were handle bars on the side of the bus, I was quite sure they will happily hitch a ride on the outside.
I have seen and been on packed buses, but none as packed at this. It was a omg-what-is-going-on-help-help-help kind of packed! In the open handicap area where it usually stands about 8-10 people, now stood about 30 and the crowd was at least 4 people thick. They were back-to-back, front-to-front, back to front, side by side. Every possible inch was used. It was the kind of packed that forced you to strategize on your exit.
But a wonderful thing about having these friends on board is that because the bus is so packed, it cannot stop anymore and so it cut down our travelling time by half! Hurrah!
As we sat tightly packed like rice in the bus, taking in the fragrance of Tekka Market, we began to look around & observe and started to wonder about them. What were their lives like? What journey had they taken? Howdo they feel being so far away and fending for themselves... A lot of them looked young and I am sure they are – those that had found work must be lucky to be able to earn their keep and send money back. And maybe all that pushing and shoving was for good reason - to get back and keeping going at the mill.
Life must not be easy.
Well, the 'packedness' of the bus did not ease at our stop so we had to wiggle our way out and when we eventually fell out into the empty bus stop, we looked back and waved, quietly wishing them all the best. May their lives prosper and continue to improve here after.
Shalom! What an experience!
As the lights turned green, I was quite sure this happened in slow motion. The bus approaching the stop … the workers nudging and pushing, saliva flying… arms flailing … bags wobbling … and you could see that gleam and drive in their eye … ‘I must… I willlll… get onn that … bussss!’
When the bus hit the stop and opened its doors, I swear that was a dead pause in my head and what happened after that was something I had never seen before. Everything just came rushing like a tidal wave!
I’m not sure if there were a hundred of them but I’m quite sure it was close! They pushed… not just PUSHED but PUSSSSHED their way up the bus and moved very quickly to the rear so everyone can get up (one virtue we should learn from them). Very quickly, the bus was filled and they were still pushing their way in. Like pack, pack pack! If there were handle bars on the side of the bus, I was quite sure they will happily hitch a ride on the outside.
I have seen and been on packed buses, but none as packed at this. It was a omg-what-is-going-on-help-help-help kind of packed! In the open handicap area where it usually stands about 8-10 people, now stood about 30 and the crowd was at least 4 people thick. They were back-to-back, front-to-front, back to front, side by side. Every possible inch was used. It was the kind of packed that forced you to strategize on your exit.
But a wonderful thing about having these friends on board is that because the bus is so packed, it cannot stop anymore and so it cut down our travelling time by half! Hurrah!
As we sat tightly packed like rice in the bus, taking in the fragrance of Tekka Market, we began to look around & observe and started to wonder about them. What were their lives like? What journey had they taken? Howdo they feel being so far away and fending for themselves... A lot of them looked young and I am sure they are – those that had found work must be lucky to be able to earn their keep and send money back. And maybe all that pushing and shoving was for good reason - to get back and keeping going at the mill.
Life must not be easy.
Well, the 'packedness' of the bus did not ease at our stop so we had to wiggle our way out and when we eventually fell out into the empty bus stop, we looked back and waved, quietly wishing them all the best. May their lives prosper and continue to improve here after.
Shalom! What an experience!
Imagine this turned inside out and
you can kinda imagine what our experience was like.
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