TV Where We Don't Need It

Let me get this point straight: I DON'T hate TV. As a matter of fact, like any normal people, I enjoy spending some time at the tube (not all day long, of course) and my favorite channels is Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, just to name a few. On some Sundays, I would even wake up early just to catch 'Japan Hour' on Singapore's Channel NewsAsia. All these said, I really appreciate having TVs around.

.....only not when I don't need it..... at all. Thus is my problem with the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) Transit and their fleet of buses. As if it's not troublesome enough to cope with rising fare prices, overcrowded transports and long waiting time, SBS decided to pop in another annoyance: the installation of televisions (or 'TV Mobile' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVMobile) as it's known) in the confines of almost every air-conditioned buses.

It probably seem like a brilliant idea to the people behind it, a way perhaps to solve the issue of boredom on longer bus trips.

It's not.

It quickly becomes mere irritation for many passengers, not surprising that SBS don't provide remote controls to shut the TVs. So on and on it goes, and good luck if one bus trip for you could mean an hour. The audio torture could have break anybody down with the telecast of some of the most afflicting commercials and local programmes ever made.

There's those Mediacorp (a Singapore TV station) shows like:

*Heartlanders http://5.mediacorptv.sg/shows/drama/view/968/1/.html... *Maggie And Me http://5.mediacorptv.sg/shows/sitcom/view/1255/1/.html and... *Lifeline http://5.mediacorptv.sg/shows/drama/view/1059/1/.html .

Lousy stories, lousy plots, lousy acting and lousy scripts. Not to mention the horrifying sound effects of the random yelling and screaming. And then there's this FedEx China advertisement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-HruY2S5A4) in which the closing exchange between the boss and employee characters make you wish that they should just shut up. Finally, there's me, the angry passenger who's about to land a fist through the screen, never mind if it's some BRAVIA or Samsung product.

There's reasons for my complaint and I'm not alone in this.
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Story/STIStory_221631.html

Imagine having to endure through the above mentioned with the TV volume, most of the time, maxed up and no other methods of dealing with it. Then add in external factors like rowdy passengers who talked as if it'd been their last and those kiddos who love to blast their music with their cell phone's loudspeaker device. What you get is probably the some of the worst case of noise pollution in Singapore these recent years.

Is there any good reason for TV Mobile to be in the buses at all? Maybe a few but meanwhile, due to accumulated stress, 'Good riddance' will be my response. In the race to become the most hi-tech and wired-up country in the region, we may have overshoot the mark. See how it goes in the next several years and you might notice increasing cases of noise induced mental disorder and hearing impairment.

Interesting point to note that even the local McDonald outlets are following the trend. With equally distressing results.

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.....anything but entertainment.

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