This "Stand On The Left" rule is another case where the minority
have their way over the majority. This is largely due to our
newspapers. They were selective.
When the rule was first "debated" over the newspaper forum, most
of the letters printed were for the motion. The "For" letters
outnumbered the "Against" letter. My letter was not published.
I wrote against the idea, citing our climate, the length of our
escalators, the diverse range of passengers, i.e young students,
families, elderly, courting couples, etc., who uses our
MRT system. Furthermore, I also stated that the escalators
move more people faster without the rule.
The For lobbists gave only two reasons, being late for
an appointment, and its being done in "other" countries. Yet their
letters were published ad nausem.
This led the SMRT to implement the "Stand On The Left" rule for
their escalators on a "trial" basis. Then the people forgets.
Now the majority, stand aside for the few tardy people who are
late.
The escalators in the MRTs tend to be faster than normal mall
escalators anyway.
How much time do you actually save from one end of the escalator
to the other end if you walk up on the right?
5 seconds?
You are right when you say this thing was implemented because
"some other country was also doing it" 