One of the first Singaporean experiences was boarding an MRT. I had been warned that there was a no food-no drinks policy on Singapore's public transport. Not even a sip of water is allowed - kids and babies included. The rule is valid on platforms too. Simply stated, once you have crossed the turnstiles, you can't eat or drink.
I wonder what my bro would do on MRT. You can't separate him from his bottle. He is perpetually thirsty. Er, don't get me wrong - it's not the same thirst as Captain Haddock's. Far from it. He doesn't touch a drop of alcohol. He is a health freak and takes the rule of 8 glasses of water a day to his heart. If you haven't seen him sipping water every 30 minutes, then surely every 31st! What would a guy like him do? Though Singapore is a small place, it is big enough to have long commutes. We have spent many an hour on the MRT. So if the like of him has to undertake an hour long commute, he will have to get down the train, get out of the platform, take a fill of water, get in again and catch the next train. It would be time-consuming and I guess a tad expensive too because he will have to swipe out his card and swipe it in again.
I discussed this policy with my friends in Singapore and they were quite in favour of it. No eating/ drinking = no litter = no dustbins = no cleaning up of dustbins and no smells. It's definitely a clean place. It's a hot country but the MRT is air conditioned and temperatures inside are cool so you aren't sweating. In fact, most of the times, I was more comfortable wearing a jacket. Though we never faced any major inconvenience due to this rule, I felt that freedom of choice should be good, especially with a toddler in tow. I do appreciate the cleanliness part but wonder if long-term health benefits might outweigh the cleanliness aspect.
I have been on metros in London and Stockholm. They had no restrictions on consuming food on board. I don't remember about them being particularly unclean. But then, I have not used the tube avidly. In Stockholm, reams of Metro newspaper (it's a free paper and is kept at the entrance of all major stops) would be found on seats and this did make trains a little untidy but again, it's better that people read something than banning paper on metro.
I also tried to find the policy of other Asian countries on this issue. Hong Kong has the same rule. A friend told me that in Japan, there is no such policy but the trains are anyway too crowded to eat. Watching this video, it felt that if all your body parts are inside the train, within your reach and not entangled, you could count yourself lucky!
The Singapore experience reinforced the belief that human race can adjust to everything. Habits can be developed and one learns to drink or eat before boarding the MRT. This disciplined nation has sure learnt to survive without snacking in the MRT and if they are happy with this, we the tourists can definitely take it in our stride.
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