By Yeo Sam Jo

THE latest crackdown on commuters who eat and drink on trains has dished up some food for thought.

We have always been aware that eating and drinking are train taboos, but when the law comes a-knocking, what does it really mean to us? Are we ready to pay for our mistakes?

For some netizens of online forums, it was about time the detractors were taught a lesson. After all, the ubiquitous warning signs and train announcements meant that ignorance was no excuse - these were blatant offenders who knowingly flouted the regulations.

Others, meanwhile, were shocked that action was actually taken against what seemed like the smallest of offences - behold, the eating of sweets and peanuts.

While I seldom favour such acts of defiance, I have to agree that the punishing of Sweet Lady and Peanut Girl was a tad harsh.

After all, I too have relished my Mentos on a train before, and the thought of getting fined for something as harmless as that, despite all the signs and reminders, is still quite unthinkable.

I mean, hands up if you have never taken a sip of water or eaten candy on a train before. Hands up again if you actually felt guilty doing it. Anybody?

On a recent visit to London, I became acquainted with the Underground tube and its resident rodents.

While waiting for a train, I would often spot one scamper across the tracks for that forsaken scrap of Krispy Kreme. But instead of reeling back in disgust, I found myself wondering why anyone would leave his Krispy Kreme for the rats.

All around me people were chomping, munching and slurping. Not only was eating not frowned upon, the trains were, surprisingly, not dirty either.

I am thankful that we don't breed rats under our trains, and to say that Singapore's trains are clean is an understatement.

But I wonder if we might be taking things a little too seriously. The thing is, if the whole point is to keep our trains clean, does a sweet in the mouth really affect that?

So while SMRT's crusade of dispatching 500 enforcement officers to clamp down on offenders was justified, it also came across as sudden to say the least, and not entirely understandable in its one-size-fits-all approach.

The fines may deter others, but have they really made our trains cleaner? We seem to be finding fault with the act of eating or drinking when the real problem is people littering or dirtying the trains.

Shouldn't we be imposing fines on people for the latter rather than the former? And if officers are going to be patrolling the trains, it shouldn't be hard to distinguish between those who nibble and those who spill.

It does seem sad that we need to be put under watch, but we have the hundreds of black sheep each year to thank for this - the Hansel and Gretel who sprinkle their crumbs and leave behind their apple cores. But certainly the rest of us "innocent" ones deserve some amnesty.

So make the litterbugs pay, I say, but make peanuts and sweets okay.

styouth@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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