I was "booked" today for "not using the traffic crossing"
by a traffic cops on a small road where there is no car in
sight!
Firstly, the "offense" occured at the "Woodlands Square" road, if
you are familiar with the place, you would know that it is
just a small circular non-main road next to the Woodlands MRT,
where the traffic is little especially at the time of the
"offense".
When i crossed the road, there wasn't any car in sight at all. It
is quite ridiculous for one to not cross the road when it is
clearly safe to do so and insist on using the traffic crossing on a
small road like this.
Furthermore, there ISN'T any "No Crossing" sign
(see picture below for example of what the sign should look like)
that indicated that one need to use the traffic crossing at all
times, this reminds me of what we know as the No U-Turn
Syndrome (NUTS)
(This is am example of no crossing sign)
I Quote from Sim Wong Hoo's book i extracted from one web site for
your knowledge in case you never heard of it :
No U-Turn Syndrome (NUTS)
"In the US, when there is no sign on the road, it means that you
can make a U-turn. When the Authority don't want people to
make U-turns, they will put up signs to tell you not to make
U-turns.
In Singapore, it's the reverse. When there is no sign on the road,
you are not allowed to make U-Turns, then they will put up
signs to give you that right.
The two different systems serve the same purpose - to better manage
the traffic. They may look quite similar, just coming from
different direction, but the social repercussions is
significant.
In Singapore, the no U-turn without sign culture permeated every
level of our thinking and every segment of our life. This no
U-turn culture has created a way of life that is based on rules.
When there is a U-turn sign or when there is a rule, we can
U-turn. When there's no sign, we cannot U-turn. Where is no rule,
we canot do anything. We become paralyzed
I call this "no-rule=no-do" phenomenon - the "No U-Turn Syndrome"
or NUT
End of Quote.
If that is not clear enough, i refer you to the following web url
:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_U-Turn_Syndrome
I quote :
"Following that, this analogy is used
to explain the red tape he has encountered with hard-nosed
bureaucrats, which in turn stifles the very creativity that
the Singaporean government has been trying to promote in the
recent years.
NUTS is also considered as one of the major criticisms of the rigid
Singapore education system, where students are taught from a
young age to obey instructions in an unquestioning manner, in a
society where grades and paper certification are emphasised
at the expense of some life skills."
End of quote.
BTW, there were 3 officers waiting near the area just to pounce on
any unluckly "offender".
I am wondering if the resources could be more wisely used for other
major offences like speeding, drink driving, smoking in
public places where it is forbidden, alleviate the worsening
traffic jams etc
Isn't it a waste of tax payers' money to even plan to carry out
this "operation" for insignificant "offenses" ?
Or is it that government is desparate for $$ now that it has lost
quite a sum in investment ?