I was saddened to read your letter

I WAS saddened to read the report, “Stop hogging that priority seat!” (my paper, June 1).

The seat hoggers are young, are likely to be well-educated and seem to lead a comfortable lifestyle, judging from their clothes and laptops.

The examples shown in the report say a lot about Singapore’s education system, social norms, its people’s values and the failure of families in bringing up their kids well.

If this behaviour goes on, the authorities might well have to resort to enacting laws to punish priority-seat hoggers. This is the last thing we want to see happening in Singapore. We have been there, from littering fines to a chewing-gum ban. These laws have cemented Singapore’s unique place in the world and have made us an international laughing stock.

Such rules are unnecessary in a gracious society.

Before drastic measures are needed, I have a few suggestions on how to alleviate the situation:

1.Play announcements
Install buttons in train carriages which passengers can use. A press of the button would trigger an announcement over the PA system, telling riders to give up priority seats to those in need. It would be even better if speakers for such announcements could be fixed just above priority seats, but that might not be cost-effective.

2. Have alert-song download
Train operators could start a paid download service. Commuters can access this service to
download a song on their mobile phones, which they can play to alert others to the fact that
someone needs a priority seat. Telephone numbers for the service could be put up in trains. The pressure of a few commuters playing the song loudly would send a strong message to priority-seat hoggers. Train operators could also gain some revenue from charging for downloads of the song.

3. Up number of priority seats
Increase the number of priority seats to three or four in each row of seats. The seats should also
be brightly coloured.

Mr David Lim Phai Ik

Taken from mypaper, 3rd June 2009. I shall now provide a disclaimer, in that I am slamming this simply because I think it is absolute crap, which I shall justify later in my arguments. I am not slamming it because I have elitist attitudes, or whatever. And now, I shall proceed to slam it.

1. A triple-fallacy argument
P1: All seat hoggers are young.
P2: All seat hoggers are well-educated.
C: OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM SUCKS!!!!!!!!!111

Like, whooo it's so edgy being anti-government. Not all seat hoggers are teenagers. Just because the three measly photos caught in the actual report happen to be of young people, you can't conclude that based on three measly photos, all seat hoggers are young. DING DING DING DING DING HASTY GENERALISATION.

And can you really blame just about everyone for the kid not turning out, as you say so poshly, "well-educated"? Isn't that so very convinient? If you turn out to be a bad egg simply because you didn't listen to CME lessons or your parents or social norms, would it not be easier to just admit that it's your own fault?

2. We have to enact laws?
No. We don't.

3. You're the laughingstock.
Sure, because every other city around the world doesn't have littering laws as well. That's why their sidewalks are always so clean, and pristine, and OH DAMN WHAT SUSPICIOUS LITTERED OBJECT IS THAT ON MY SHOE?

And you CAN eat chewing gum in Singapore. The ban's only a technical one. When was the last time you saw someone getting prosecuted for chewing gum?

4. Your First Suggestion.
Please, sir, do take the train. They actually make announcements telling people nicely to get off their asses and give up the priority seat. And besides, since you have such a low opinion of Singaporeans' social responsibility, what makes you so damn sure that you won't get some itchyfingers kid pressing that button about a million times? "Please give up your seats please give up your seats please give up your seats please give up your seats" gets kind of annoying after the first billion times.

And yes, it's good that you know that installing dedicated speakers to blast annoying announcements into people's ears is not particularly cost-effective. It's heartening to see some display of thinking skills. But since you already know, then why put it in?

5. Your Second Suggestion.
See point 4., part about annoying after the first billion times.

Also, you might have noted, on your biannual train trips, that some people sleep on the train. Some people are really tired to the extent that they really cannot help but catch a few minutes of well-deserved sleep on the train. Would it justify waking all of them up every few stops just to ensure that someone gives up his seat?

Not all commuters enjoy your taste in music. If you want to blast music, buy yourself a train and not do it on a public train. It gets irritating and disturbs other commuters as well.

And I have a suggestion for you too. I know a cheaper and more direct way to go about doing this. If it irks you so very much, go up to whoever you perceive is "seat-hogging" and tell them to stop it. If you have a fear of confrontation, then live with it. Don't hide behind a wall of anonymity and feel secure. If you really believe in it, then you ought to stand up for it.

6. Your Third Suggestion
Like I mentioned earlier, you might want to actually consider taking the train. Maybe then you might notice that there already ARE four priority seats per row, and they are fairly brightly coloured already.

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In any case, I'm really annoyed with all these people who get so holier-than-thou over priority seats. The way I see it, priority seats are a luxury, and not a right.

And besides, I wish people would stop looking at a young person sitting in a priority seat, and an old person standing up, and jumping to conclusions. I have, on occassion, offered my seat to an old person, only to have them 1. stare at me indignantly and go, "no need! I can stand!" or 2. "nevermind, you sit la. I'm getting off at the next stop."

Perhaps then, I ought to stand up and bodyslam them down into the priority seat?

And I hate it when there's a notion that if you are young and you sit on the priority seat, you don't deserve it and you most certainly do not have any extenuating circumstances, like a sprained ankle or a killer stomachache.

Or then, maybe, before sitting on a priority seat, should we announce loudly to the entire cabin: "DEAR EVERYONE. I HAVE A SPRAINED ANKLE, AND THEREFORE I SHALL SIT ON THIS PRIORITY SEAT NOW. HERE IS MY DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME TO ME TO CHECK IT IF NECCESSARY."

Ah well. These people who constantly write in to the forums really annoy me. They fancy themselves frightfully opiniated and agents of change, but in reality they're just whiny losers with too much time to spare.