Reputation

"It takes decades to build up a reputation, but it only takes an instant to destroy it."


What's the trending topic in Singapore? We all know it. The breakdown of the MRT transport. It all started on last Thursday. It was at the rush hour in the evening, when the people who are working at the Central Business District, take their usual transport home. There it happened. The MRT train suddenly broke down. The train stopped moving, the lights were dimmed, the built-in air-conditioner stopped working. Basically, the entire train went out of power. And the people who were rushing home were trapped in the train.


It was reported that the air ventilation was really bad that one person almost fainted, then a on-board passenger had no choice but to break the windows to allow air in. For about one hour or so, the commuters were left stranded in the train. Eventually they were gotten out of the train, led out of the underground tunnel to the nearest station. However, the train disruption caused a big part of the North-South line to be sealed. South-bound trains resumed at 9pm while north-bound trains resumed operations at 11:40pm. 


For more than 4 hours, the train services stopped. People had to turn to bus bridging services to get to their destinations. If this isn't bad enough, how about a second breakdown? Or even a third time? And subsequent train delays? The SMRT company even pushed back the train services to start at 11am, instead of the usual 5am+. I think there's no need for me to describe how this will affect the working population of Singapore. Indeed, it is a serious problem.


This problem has plagued us for 5 days already. There are heated debates online, most are angry that this actually happened, while there're others who still kept their cool and continue their support for the SMRT. The SMRT has already apologised to the public for this terrible string of incidents. But really, is an apology enough? Yes, the company may be doing their best to solve the problem and prevent similar cases from happening in the future. They also followed the procedures appropriately, getting bus-bridging services, and doing a thorough check and maintainence. But people out there are still angry and disappointed at what happened. I can't blame them though. 


For 24 years, the MRT trains has served us without fail. But just this once, the situation is so bad, then almost everybody started cursing the company. We were unhappy that the MRT cabins are always so filled up, and people have to squeeze, especially during the rush hours in the morning and the evening. We were unhappy that we have to wait for the second train, the third or even the fourth before we can finally squeeze into the cabin. Every year, they say they will improve, they will get more trains, decrease the train intervals, so as to accommodate the huge numbers of commuters. But still, the situation didn't really change much. 


Perhaps we shouldn't take things for granted, however, are those people really trying their best to improve the train service? Or do they just care about earning money? Well, it's up for debate. I think it's rather amusing, how a reputation just crumbles because of one incident, especially in such a developed country like Singapore.