Kiran Jonnalagadda ([info]jace) wrote,
@ 2006-06-02 08:54:00
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Privacy on Singapore MRT
Popagandhi and Iza are in town for the last leg of their 45-day India backpacking tour. In random conversation last night, Iza described a particular line on the Singapore MRT where the elevated train passes close to a residential building. In order to protect the privacy of residents, the train is built such that its windows fog out as they approach the building and clear up once past. If you're sitting in the train, you see a bank of fogged windows move from head to tail.

Neat!

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[info]sidcarter
2006-06-02 04:11 am UTC (link)
Which stop is this ?

That apart - did you know that the two major broadband providers in Singapore ( I suppose the other providers too ) have transparent proxies which capture all the residential traffic. That residential traffic out of Singapore is throttled ? That pr0n in blocked. Even the 256kbps connection that I had in India was faster than the 10 Mbps connection I have now.

This place is backward, dude and slowly emulating the US of A. Or is it the other way round ?

- Marvin

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[info]arucard2
2006-06-02 04:34 am UTC (link)
It is the Bukit Panjang LRT system.

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 05:15 am UTC (link)
Even the 256kbps connection that I had in India was faster than the 10 Mbps connection I have now.

*snicker*

Sorry, best I can do under the circumstances.

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[info]sidcarter
2006-06-02 05:17 am UTC (link)
Not helping much, are we ?

And didn't you go to ..where you were supposed to...today ? *Ahem*

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 05:57 am UTC (link)
Where would that be, brother?

Oh, at one point in their trip, they kept running into roadsigns in remote areas saying things like "Bro is watching over you." Eventually they learnt "Bro" is "Border Roads Organisation".

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[info]sidcarter
2006-06-02 05:58 am UTC (link)
The bastion of the communists for over 20+ years now ? :D

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[info]jace
2006-06-03 02:08 pm UTC (link)
I'm attending the upcoming Bangalore edition.

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[info]manubhardwaj
2006-06-02 08:45 am UTC (link)


The answer, by the way, is BRO as well! Their constant signboards always had me falling over laughing!

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[info]udhay
2006-06-02 06:22 am UTC (link)
Out of curiosity: how is throughput while tunnelling?

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[info]sidcarter
2006-06-02 07:30 am UTC (link)
Haven't tried that completely. Intend to do that tonite. Though, with whatever little I have tried, the throughput was less.

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[info]sidcarter
2006-06-03 01:01 am UTC (link)
Tried. No better. Much much worse through tunnelling.

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No it's not about privacy
[info]mahesh_tee
2006-06-02 04:24 am UTC (link)
Kiran,I must say that privacy story has more to do with the "awe" factor....I am sure they must have noticed this when the MRT's were coming out of the tunnel......now because these trains are all air conditioned(they somehow feel having temperatures of Antartica on the Equator is cool)when they come out of the tunnel there is a sudden change in temp. which causes the fog....or I have missed out something big time....:P

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Re: No it's not about privacy
[info]jace
2006-06-02 05:11 am UTC (link)
Mahesh, they're both native Singaporeans, so I assume they know the difference between air conditioning fog vs privacy fog. She did mention that happens only when passing by that particular building.

And yeah, they ranted about the sudden changes in temperatures when moving in and out of public transport, and how it affects their choice of clothing (light clothes: freeze when you step in; heavy clothes: sweat when out).

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Re: No it's not about privacy
[info]mahesh_tee
2006-06-03 11:30 am UTC (link)
Thanks dude for that....whoever said "ignorance is bliss" did not have me in mind....I will check it out sometime.....sounds fun.....

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[info]lawgon
2006-06-02 05:48 am UTC (link)
"If you're sitting in the train" - you mean standing outside the train

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 05:54 am UTC (link)
Outside, the windows stay put, the train moves. Inside, the train stays put, the windows move.

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[info]lawgon
2006-06-02 05:58 am UTC (link)
dont understand, if you are inside the train, how can you see all the train windows - at most you'll see one or two

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 06:06 am UTC (link)
These trains are designed to appear like a single compartment end to end, with seats under the windows facing the insides of the train (and not the front) and the rest standing space. Therefore you get a good view of the entire train.

The Delhi Metro is similar.

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[info]lawgon
2006-06-02 07:17 am UTC (link)
what? delhi metro doesnt have first class, vendors compartments, ladies only - no one told me delhi has joined the first world - sheesh

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 07:20 am UTC (link)
Oh, they have ladies-only seats all right, but otherwise it's very nice. Quite unlike the railway systems elsewhere in the country.

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[info]arucard2
2006-06-02 06:11 am UTC (link)
actually it doesn't work that way...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_CX-100_Cars

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 06:17 am UTC (link)
So it is the whole train at once.

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[info]arucard2
2006-06-02 06:24 am UTC (link)
The whole train is just two cars, with special coated windows. I think the way it works is, based on the timing it moves through the residential area, an electrostatic field is setup outside the windows (on either side of the car) fogging it up.

From the House of Commons (Britain Parliament) Transport industry Singapore=visit report:
"Where the line passes close to residential developments, special 'misting windows', using liquid crystal films, have been installed in the vehicles to protect the privacy of residents."

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[info]jace
2006-06-02 06:31 am UTC (link)
The LRT is a "lite" version of the MRT, right? I remember the MRT trains were rather long.

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[info]themadman
2006-06-02 12:55 pm UTC (link)
It's a "feeder" system for the MRT that goes through the residential areas. But it's been losing money.

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[info]ashwinne
2006-06-02 08:07 am UTC (link)
I haven't been on the LRT. From the wiki page, it seems like this might be a kind of polaroid coated window. The polaroid effect could be triggered by a light electric charge which is timed to go on/off based on the route.

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[info]zeeshanmn
2006-06-02 06:27 am UTC (link)
Talking about privacy, it reminds me of the Byculla flyover in Bombay. I wonder what happens to the privacy of the residents who almost share their windows with the railing of the flyover with thousands of passers-by gawking in.

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I have thoroughly enjoyed this post
[info]deponti
2006-06-03 02:03 pm UTC (link)
...the post, the learned discussions, the side-jests....I wondered how, was told how; I thought of a few funny remarks and lo! there they already were...

I live near a flyover-that-is-about-to-be-completed for the past 3 years and friends have kindly suggested that I open a food-to-go stall as the motorists come off the flyover (probably phoning ahead for the orders which I can extend on hooks like the train mailbags of yore) , thus turning lack of privacy into earning potential. Perhaps Shiok would be interested in a fast-food branch in South Bangalore? The name could be speeded up, too, to Sk...

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