You Sweet Thing

Signage on Singapore public transport and in public places is nothing new. This is a country where rules count and long may it remain so.

It is my observation that some of these laws are more relaxed than they once used to be. Littering is one such example. When I first visited Singapore in the early '80's the thoughtless discarding of a chocolate wrapper or cigarette butt on the pavement brought a swift response, usually in the shape of an instant fine.

As I walk to and from my bus stop each morning, near one of the city's MRT stations, it is not uncommon to step through or around discarded rubbish and old newspaper on the loose. This is a great shame and I hope the authorities will crack down on littering as they once did. I suspect that the culprits are either new immigrants or a younger generation brought up with different standards in such matters.

There was some new signage on my bus this morning. Along side the usual pictograms which spell out "No Smoking", "No Eating" and "No Durians" (which by the way I believe to be grammatically incorrect - the plural of 'durian' is 'durian') there was another that said quite emphatically "No Sugar".

No Sugar?!

What do they think we are going to do on the bus - set up a coffee outlet?

I can only surmise that there has been a recent spate of burst sugar packets carried on board the bus, by Aunties pushing their wire frame shopping trolleys.

Or maybe we are sweet enough the way we are.