Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The sounds of progress are one BIG turnoff

These days, you cannot be left with a moment of silence, it seems.


Take a public bus, and you have TVMobile blaring at you, whether you want to watch the programme or not. I don't care which plain Jane is being transformed on Diva on a Dime or what fantastic designs The Designer Guys come up with. Commuting with a decent amount of peace should be an option, right?

Hmm, why not take the train? Ok, take the train, and you have at least one announcement every 20 seconds (check it out if you don't believe me) to report suspicious baggages, to get your $1 refund, a friendly reminder not to eat or drink, and of course, the station names. And if things are not bad enough, one morning, to my horror, I heard 2 impossible sounds on the train. Impossible, because you will never hear such sounds in the air-conditioned cabin of the train.

Sound number one: a ring tone of the Stadium Roar. It roared a few times, perhaps at the deliberate discretion of the proud owner, so as to get everyone curious first, and then irritated. Why would anyone want to assault the ears of fellow commuters with a loud and irritating sound as the stadium roar? Beats any rationalization.

Sound number two: a horrendous belching, vomitting and wind-breaking sound. What on earth was that??!!

Singaporeans can be weird (& fun, if you like). Their tastes border on the extremes. One moment you ban chewing gums, next moment you welcome pink dollars, bar-top dancing and Crazy Horse. Who, except Singapore, would host a Family Fest and Sexpo (the inaugural Sex exhibition) at the same venue, side by side? No wonder her citizens are behaving so weirdly. Instead of having The Sound of Music or other pleasant melodies as ring-tones, our sophisticated evolved apes chose sounds of the highest repulsive order. Maybe someone already has 4-letter words or some vulgarities as ring tones. Or why not, just for fun, have the sound of a bomb blast as your ring-tone, and launch a live terrorism drill on the train?

That's why sometimes I choose to take the cab, drive, or just take long walks, in the name of preserving sanity. It's crazy how things have turned out, but then again, it's nothing new. Progress is regressive. Some things have to give.

You will need God to live sanely, not just saintly, in this crazy world.

Thomas



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