Do you feel pressured to act a certain way in public e.g in trains/ public transport:
A: don’t drink in public transport because of the laws esp in trains. she only drank once before.
E: yes she feels judged. she still drinks plain water, people told her she can’t but sometimes she really needs to. it’s stupid if she needs to tap out just to drink water then go back in.
B: YES, he does. he tends to talk softly, not as loud and sit and stand normally. and feels pressured to give up his seats to the elderly. he was sitting on the reserved seat this morning and he didn’t notice there was an old lady standing beside him, he didn’t realise people were staring at him
J: in a way yes, if he’s by himself in a crowded train he’ll watch how he behaves himself. he feels people will notice you are for how you are/ what you are doing. e.g if he goes in the train and doesn’t put down your bag because it’s crowded they’ll pass judgement. he doesn’t want to show that bad image to people. e.g drinking on the train he doesn’t want to be portrayed in a negative light. he feels that is likely to happen if he doesn’t watch his behaviour
If let’s say there’s only 1 free seat in-between 2 e.g foreign workers, would you sit on the seat?
A: she would stand at a corner but if she really needs to sit she’ll just sit down anyway
E depends, (sceptical) if smelly then she’ll go but usually she’ll sit
B: The only people he won’t sit beside are fat people because after a new minutes of sitting very close to them the part of his body that is touching the “fat” stranger will be moist and uncomfortable. for foreign workers it would be okay
J: it depends on the situation. not based on them but him. if he’s carrying heavy things/ if he’s very tired. he wouldn’t care about them generally. unless they peed or shit/ hygiene reasons. e.g never bathe. doesn’t matter if they are fat thin ugly. he wouldn’t sit if its a crying baby.
Are you afraid of sitting on the reserved seat?
A: a little bit, sometimes, only in the morning when there are no pregnant or people, she’ll feel comfortable sitting on it.
E: yes she is, but is there’s really no other seat around then she’ll sit but generally yes
B: yes, he is. [you said you sat on the seat today] he thought the train would be too crowded and that means he wouldn’t be obliged to give it up. because it’s too crowded. depends on situation, like if it’s the last stop then he’ll sit. so if he doesn’t feel the need to give it up he will sit on it
J: not really, though it says reserved he feels it’s still a regular sit. its your duty to give it up only if you see someone in need. you can sit but only when you see someone in need then you should give it up. but he does feel a bit of stress/ wrong when you sit on it. he won’t sit if its the peak period for elder people
If you see someone doing something out of the ordinary, would you judge the person? would you take a picture?
A: yes she would. but not take a picture
E: no pictures, judge for awhile she probably won’t remember
B: yes, duh. depends, on how embarrassing it is. e.g singing then he’ll just laugh and observe or text someone about it “omg there’s someone weird singing” but if it’s fighting or shouting. unless it’s just intense then he’ll just run
J: depends on who/ what age group. if he’s a youngster, he wouldn’t care because it’s a phase. if it’s an elder or an adult then he’ll judge them definitely, as it’s human nature. but he wouldn’t take pictures. it’s rude to take photos without your consent. if you are attracting unwanted attention then it’s bad, maybe they are doing the actions and can’t help it. [mentally unstable/ disabilities]
Do you think there’s a pressure on our society to behave a certain way in public?
A: yes there’s a pressure. however, she supports the idea of people behaving a certain way in public. they shouldn’t do those negative behaviour
E: can’t be helped, its just like that. but she tries not to judge because in her religion it’s not good to assume about strangers. so she tries her best not to judge.
B: yes, everyone has an expectation to behave well in public. it’s normal, people don’t want to make a fool out of themselves in public but when you’re with friends it’s alright, because your friends won’t judge you unlike the public. they know how you are like. but sometimes there is that one friend that will be like “guys we are in public”
J: it does, everyone has that nagging feeling at the back. “should i be doing this?” “if i do this will people react in a way i don’t want them to?” it feels bait restricted. makes people generalised. we are all made to think a certain way e.g i shouldn’t do this because i will get judged. everyone is being similar “e.g robots” what if some people want to sing to themselves but are scared of being judged then everyone will be just using their phones on the trains and be boring and dull, robotic.
Do you think it’s right for people to stomp NS men for sitting on seats (non-reserved)?
A: it’s wrong if they don’t give up to people in need. if there are a lot of seats then it should be fine.
E: it’s okay, selfish. they are not outsiders they are Singaporeans. lately they’ve been thinking that they can’t sit at all and it’s sad because NS Men are too cautious about what people think of them sitting on the seats. they’ll know when or not to sit and it’s sad that they won’t even sit in an empty train.
B: there’s no point to stomp them. people are just being whiny. especially when they post on stomp. there’s no reason for you to complain about such stuff because it doesn’t affect them
J: definitely not right. even if its a reserved seat. they are still people, fellow Singaporeans. it’s sad for NS Men to be stomped by your own fellow citizen that they are protecting/ serving for. everyone knows how tiring it is in the training they go through and just because of that fear of getting stomped they won’t even sit in a empty seat because of the pressure of not portraying the right behaviour an NS men should portray. eventually they are also a human, a Singaporean. they will get charged if they get caught on stomp, and it’s unfair. they are humans.
Do you find it reasonable for Singaporeans to expect Army personnel/ foreign workers not to take up seats in public?
E: they are not, they are serving unwillingly. they didn’t sign up for NS they are forced. they shouldn’t be expected to do it. should just take it as they are a normal singaporean in uniform.
B: no it’s not reasonable, they should deb able to sit wherever they want. unless it’s a reserved seat then they should. i am tired, they are tired, we are all tired. they [NS MEN] deserve a seat as much as I do
J: its not. who are you to judge/ say all this. you have no achieve such great things to make such rules that everyone to follow. but you are also taking up the seat so it’s ironic you’re telling people not to sit but you yourself will sit. it’s not fair to expect forgeiners to give up their seats and when you know that they are doing hard labour- same for NS men- but you won’t give up their seat for them instead just because they are NS men/ foreign worker and everyone else expects them to not sit.
