LEFT DANGLING: Even if you're tall enough to sit comfortably on the bum rest, you have to dig your heel in to prevent yourself from sliding off. If you're shorter, well, you can jump on and swing your legs as these models demonstrate at Dhoby Ghaut station. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
SMRT has lowered the bum rests at some stations, but most commuters still keep sliding off them By Adeline Chia
IT'S a slippery business. When new bum rests were installed in seven high-traffic MRT stations in March to provide more respite for footsore commuters, many did not find themselves resting comfortably.
For a start, most were unable to reach the 70.5cm-tall rests without going on tiptoe.
And even when they made it up, they found themselves sliding off the sloped, stainless-steel seats.
Blog entries by distressed commuters appeared, and an article in The New Paper in April reported complaints that the rests were too high and too slippery.
Transport operator SMRT, which runs the North-South and East-West lines, also received about 90 calls and e-mail messages on the matter.
In May and June, it decided to remove the 150 bum rests from the seven stations - City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut, Lavender, Orchard, Raffles Place, Somerset and Tanjong Pagar.
These were taken to a contractor's factory to be shortened to 62.5cm - a supposedly more manageable height for commuters to plant their bottoms - and then re-installed.
But the bad news: Version 2.0 of the seats, which are now of bar stool-height, continues to leave some people high and dry.
Thirteen of the 15 commuters LifeStyle approached at lunchtime at Dhoby Ghaut station last Tuesday said the seats were still ergonomically unsatisfactory.
Accountant Yeo Boon Chye, 47, who is about 1.76m tall, said: 'This is a safety hazard. I keep slipping off, it's not fit for sitting.'
Mr Jeremy Lee, 29, a database administrator on holiday from New Zealand, who is about 1.7m tall, said: 'The seats are biased towards tall people.'
He had to dig his feet into the ground to prevent himself from sliding off. He quipped: 'But I think I will get calf muscles sitting on it. It's a good workout.'
Even taller commuters were having a hard time. Said Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Sean Tan, 20, who is 1.92m tall: 'It really depends on what kind of pants I'm wearing and the material. It's not so bad if it's denim, but for board shorts, I'm still sliding forward. You definitely can't sleep on these things.'
Ms Rizalinah Rosli, 29, an auxiliary policewoman, has found an alternative use for the seat. 'I use it to place my bag since I cannot sit on it without falling off.'
Only two of the 15 approved of the upgraded bum rests.
Events organiser Marc How, 31, said: 'I'm not complaining because it is at least some kind of support. Singaporeans are just never happy.'
A retiree, 66, who wanted to be known only as Mr Eng, also looked on the bright side and noted that the bum rests were 'better than nothing'.
'I'm old. I can't stand for too long. As long as it can take my body weight, it's okay.'
An SMRT spokesman said the structures are intended to be bum rests and not seats.
The slim structures, installed close to the wall, maximise seating capacity in crowded stations because more benches or seats would cause a human traffic jam.
He said: 'Unlike seats, bum rests are meant to be leaned on and designed to support the contours of a leaning body comfortably.'
The rests were designed 'internally in consultation with an external designer'.
He declined to give the name of the designer and the cost.
He added that SMRT has also received feedback about the slippery surface and is considering moves like adding an anti-slip surface.
As for changing the height of the bum rests, the spokesman said: 'We have not received adverse feedback on the height of the bum rests since it was reduced. We will monitor passengers' feedback closely.'
Designers tell LifeStyle that the bum rests can be improved.
Mr Marcus Chiang, 28, founder of home decor store Designed In Singapore, suggested that SMRT make the sloping seats curve up slightly at the end to prevent people from slipping off them.
Mr Nathan Yong, 36, design director of local furniture design store Air Division, said the bum rests should be lowered to about 43cm to 45cm, the height of a regular chair.
'At 60cm, it's the height of a bar stool. But bar stools have footrests for support. Right now, commuters half-stand, half-lean on the bum rests. You need to be a gymnast to sit on it.'
He added: 'If that's the case, then they might as well do away with the bum rests and let people lean against the wall.'
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