Oh, The Straits Times and your forum letters. First the ‘slut-shaming endorsement’, and now this genius idea of installing metal detector gates at MRT stations. The writer calls for Singapore to take action against terrorist hits and potential casualties, and to ‘provide a bulwark for one of our softest targets — our MRT trains and crowded stations.’ Apparently, bag-check counters at the stations are ineffective due to the ad hoc nature of the random searches, and armed guard patrols ‘can handle altercations in open spaces, but their effectiveness is doubtful when the threat is in a packed train.’

So the next best thing to do is, of course, construct metal detector gates — one before each fare gate to ensure maximum safety (and minimum efficiency) in one of Singapore’s most popular means of transport that ferries millions of people every single day. Guess we’ll just have to be resigned to a daily dose of inconvenience.

Oh, and then the writer ends off saying, ‘A side benefit of such a scheme could be a change in travel patterns, so people will travel during the less-crowded hours.’ Because, you know, we all totally have the freedom to choose what time we’d like to step into the office and we’ve been dashing out of bed to catch trains at rush hour just for the heck of it.

Behold, netizens’ responses to the letter, ranging from disbelief to logical arguments.

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