For many of us in Singapore, these past two weeks saw us spending time with our friends and family during the festive period.
While some of us chose to count down to Christmas and the New Year from the comfort of our homes, many others preferred to spend the night out and about at the various parties and gatherings in Singapore.
And, once the night’s festivities came to an end, many of those who were outside trudged towards the train or bus stations for transport home.
After all, several train and bus services were extended by a few hours during the festive period, so that party-goers would be able to get home safely and efficiently.
In a heartfelt Reddit thread, Singapore netizens expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the people who worked through the festive period, so that the country’s public transport system could continue to run smoothly.
“Let’s take a moment to appreciate the staff at SMRT who are working late tonight to ensure that we get home safely,” Redditor penguioni wrote. “Happy new year all!”
Another Redditor, fatgreycat, wrote: “Thank you to the SMRT staff who worked over the [holidays]. They weren’t with their families that night, so they could ensure the rest of us could get home safely to ours. Kudos!”
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Agreeing with the two Redditors, user BenchpressBob, replied: “Absolutely spot on. Thank you to those working essential services so that our country can still run while the festivities happen!”
Foreigners spending the festive period in Singapore also made it a point to compliment the public transport services. One American Redditor, Master-Commander93, commented: “[Your] public transportation is amazing. I love taking the MRT!”
Several Redditors also made it a point to thank the staff from the various other sectors who had to work during the festive period as well.
One user, Tropicalhairymonster, wrote: “Not just [the SMRT staff], but also the bus captains that are working night shift tonight, the police officers ensuring everything’s alright in Marina Bay tonight, the full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) on duty tonight as well. Everyone working tonight plays a little part in ensuring that revellers can celebrate in peace tonight.”
Redditor jhmelvin agreed, commenting: “Thank you to all who are still working to keep the services going – MRT staff, bus captains, taxi, car, delivery drivers, security, cleaning, call centre staff, food-related, petrol station, supermarket, hospital workers, police, soldiers, firemen, New Year celebration organisers and more!”
One user, noirque also reminded netizens to thank first responders who were on duty during the festivities. Another Reddit user, supergodzilla3Dland, chimed in: “Don’t forget drivers! My Grab driver was able to take me to my grandparents eight minutes before midnight. He was going to pick up his mother afterwards.”
The original poster of the Reddit thread, penguioni, summed it up best as he wrote: “Bless our community of people working together to make this all happen.”
After all, these were the various sectors and staff who had to work over the public holidays, just so that the rest of us could get to celebrate the festive season in peace.
So, let’s all extend our appreciation and thanks to these everyday heroes who help to keep Singapore running smoothly, because that’s the least they deserve.