Give up your seat to those who need it more...

Today I got on the MRT at Raffles Place to head home. As usual, the office crowd was all heading home and the train was pretty packed. At City Hall, which was just a stop away, more people crowded into the train. And in walks a pregnant lady. She must be at least 6-7 months pregnant, and to me is definitely classified as one who needs a seat on the train. So she squeezes her way towards the center of the train... close to the seats, hoping that someone would give up their seat for her.

Unfortunately for her, nobody budged. As I looked to those people sitting in front of her, I wondered. Maybe they thought that they deserved the seat more than she. Admittedly, the people seated were not youngsters. Yet they were not that old either.

Sitting right in front of the pregnant lady was a man who must be in his mid-forties, chatting away on his phone with a big backpack. Maybe he thought he was carrying a backpack, so needed the seat? After he put down his handphone, he turned away to look out the train window and chose to ignore the pregnant lady standing in front of him. How rude!

Then next to him was a working class man, possibly also in his forties. He was probably tired from working all day and thought, "I deserved to relax on my way home, so I won't get up. Someone else will probably give up their seat for her anyway." How inconsiderate!!

Then further down next to the working class man, who started to close his eyes and try to sleep, was another lady in her forties, with her eyes closed and sleeping (or at least pretending to). Ya right...

No one batted an eye. Only the ones who were standing around the pregnant lady were concerned for her... waiting for someone to do the right thing. But no one did.

A lot of people complain that it's the youngsters who neglect courtesy and do not give up their seat when the occasion calls for it. But I'd like to prove them wrong. More often than not, I see teenagers and young working adults who are the courteous ones, who willingly get up to let an elderly or pregnant lady have their seat. Is it because we're supposed to be young and strong enough to be able to withstand the MRT journey on our feet more than our relatively older counterparts? Are those in their 40's considered 'old enough' to be considered one of those who "need it more"?

The poor pregnant lady had to stand for 10 stops before the 'sleeping lady' got off the train at Ang Mo Kio. Sigh...