Rules of Engagement

After living in a foreign city for a couple of months, differences in daily living seem to augment. At first certain things may not seem too different; after all, one usually focuses on the familiar when confronted with new living circumstances. But slowly these subtleties become annoyances that are difficult to understand, adjust to, and overcome. For me, this challenge has been the daily commute.

Now to a novice visiting Singapore, this may seem a petty complaint. How can I gripe about a city with premier and reliable public transportation? Well, it isn’t the actual trains and buses that cause the issue; it’s the “getting to” the trains and buses that proves a constant challenge. I’m sure most have experienced the following awkward situation:
You are walking swiftly along when you get close to someone approaching from the opposite direction. You go right to avoid them and they mirror you, you go left and they mirror you again. Soon you are doing a face-to-face dance with a stranger as you both try to pass. It usually ends with a laugh and a smile and you go along your merry way.

In Singapore, this happens to me about 3 times a day and I haven’t quite figured out why. Perhaps there is confusion about which way to flank. Singaporeans drive on the left side of the road, so logic would have it that everyone should guide left. Not so. In fact, I find guiding right to be more frequent. It couldn’t be the large expat influx either since most come from England and Australia, both left-driving countries.

Perhaps the sheer concentration of people renders any rules of engagement null and void. After all, there are 5 million people living and commuting in the 2nd most densely populated country in the world. Or perhaps there are rules based on environmental factors that still evade my perception. Regardless of the reason, the “dance” is a daily occurrence for me.

If I actually reach the MRT station without having to perform the “dance,” another challenge is posed…the escalators. Now logic would have it that whether you are going up or down, the escalator on your left would be the one you want. Not so. There are as many escalators flanking right as left, and their up–down directions change all the time! Once safely on the escalator, there also doesn’t seem to be a rule for walk-side vs. stand-side. I’m often get caught in a “pushing” situation trying to pass others and catch my train. I have also missed trains on numerous occasions simply because the walk-side stand-side rules do not seem to exist.

Though a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, it seems odd the lack of engagement rules for the daily commute. After all, Singapore doesn’t have the reputation for being unruly.