The trouble is...

I took a feedback form from the train station this morning. I browsed through the categories - politeness, helpfulness, product knowledge, appearance, friendliness, speed, cleanliness, facilities, announcement, punctuality, comfort, fare, etc... Most of those I would tick the boxes of Good and Satisfactory, truthfully. My frustration isn't with the KTM service provider, I realised. Sure they could do a lot better. But it could be a lot worse. I think the problem lies elsewhere.

 

Yesterday I had an appointment and I was already running late. The train that came had long coaches and only 1 small entrance at both ends. Now the design of this train is really stupid in my opinion. But nonetheless, it's a quality train - Well maintained, cheap, air conditioned. What's sickening is the attitude of the people inside the train. There's so much space in the middle of the coach, but no one is filling it. Instead, the entrances are cramped and crowded. Almost 50 % couldn't make it into the train. The other half did, but would suffer discomfort all the way back home.

 

Now I tried to direct traffic from the outside of the train, but the people on the inside ignored me. I almost wanted to bang on the window and yell at them, but nowadays there are too many people with camera phones. In the end, I had to wait for the next train.

 

I have a few suggestions for such trains to counter this problem and to make Malaysia all the more better place to live in.

 

1. Put a CCTV in the middle of each coach. Then for those inconsiderate people, use the speaker to direct them. If they ignore kind instructions, shout at each one individually by pointing out their race, colour of their clothes, what phone model they use...

 

2. Put a Metrobus conductor inside each coach. They are the best in this area. Even when the bus isn't full, they would make people cramp into the back of the bus. I'm sure they'll do a good job.

 

3. Give an officer a loud speaker and a riffle. Problem solved.

 

The thing is... this problem can be solved if people learn to be sensible to the needs of others around them. Why do we have to go through so much trouble and spend so much money to avoid the root cause - PEOPLE?? CCTV is expensive and hard to maintain, and hyper active teenagers will vandalize it. Placing an extra person in a crowded train just for the sake of traffic control is creating unnecessary positions and wasting money. A guy with a loud voice and firepower would be easily offended, and we don't need all that.

 

The problem is painful, the solution is simple - MOVE IN!!