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Part-timers, mostly students, help guide commuters during full MRT station closures

SINGAPORE – The neon-green vests of the part-time crowd marshals were hard to miss, as they fielded a litany of questions from commuters - including irate ones - at MRT stations affected by the first of two full Sunday closure.

Part-time crowd marshals were among more than 400 people, including employees from SMRT, who have been roped in on Sunday (Dec 10) to guide commuters at MRT stations affected by the closure. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Part-time crowd marshals were among more than 400 people, including employees from SMRT, who have been roped in on Sunday (Dec 10) to guide commuters at MRT stations affected by the closure. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — The neon-green vests of the part-time crowd marshals were hard to miss, as they fielded a litany of questions from commuters —  including irate ones —  at MRT stations affected by the first of two full Sunday closures.

Paid S$10 an hour, these crowd marshals — many of them students — were among more than 400 people, including employees from rail operator SMRT, roped in on Sunday (Dec 10) to guide commuters by pointing them to alternative transport. 

A total of 17 MRT stops on the East-West Line from Tiong Bahru to Tuas Link, as well as Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak on the North-South Line will close completely this and next Sunday, to allow engineers more time for maintenance and renewal work.

Working 10-hour shifts, with a 45-minute meal break, marshals on the morning run, for instance, work from 5.30am to 3.30pm. 

At the Jurong East MRT Station, Lim Ming Xiang, 16, who is waiting for his O-Level results, stumbled on the gig earlier this week, after applying for another position at the recruitment agency People Advantage.

Echoing the views of other marshals who spoke to TODAY, Ming Xiang said the job was “tiring” because commuters would vie for his attention at the same time, firing off questions in various languages. 

Fielding questions from tourists and foreign workers called for more detailed explanations of the routes taken by the shuttle buses ferrying commuters between stations, he said, adding that he resorted to hand gestures at times.

“There’ll be a non-stop wave of people. You’ll be speaking non-stop for 15 minutes at a time,” he said. He had “lost count” of the number of commuters he helped when TODAY spoke to him on Sunday afternoon.

This reporter’s 10-minute interview with Ming Xiang was interrupted by at least five commuters asking a range of questions, such as why the station was closed and how to get to their destinations, such as the Lucky Plaza mall on Orchard Road.

At the affected MRT stations, some marshals appeared stumped by queries seeking directions, and had to consult other marshals who were more familiar with the shuttle bus routes.

Queries on how to get to destinations which were too specific, such as Bukit Batok Street 51 and the Science Centre, floored fellow marshal Aranas Shawn Valen Dizon, 17.

While happy to help commuters get on their way, Shawn, a first-year mechanical-technology student at ITE College West, was disheartened by some irate riders, one of whom called him “useless” when he failed to provide directions to a specific location.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, but got scolded,” he said. Noting the relentless stream of queries, he said it was difficult to snatch even a short break for a drink of water.

Many commuters were caught off-guard by the station closures, which were announced last month in the aftermath of two trains colliding at Joo Koon MRT Station.

The marshals interviewed told TODAY they were not given formal training, but went through a short briefing by SMRT before their shifts began.

The briefing touched on things such as the frequency of buses and being mindful of their image. They also received a document via their mobile phones beforehand on the dos and don’ts, such as to approach more senior staff members at SMRT if they encounter difficult commuters.

When approached by TODAY, the recruitment agency People Advantage declined comment. 

The downtime along the affected stations will help speed up work to get a new signalling system going on the East-West Line by June, instead of the end of next year, as previously planned.

Until the end of this month, the affected stops will also close earlier at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, instead of the usual 12.30am. They will open later on Saturdays and Sundays, at 8am. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOUISA TANG

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