Most commuters still wearing masks on public transport on first day of rules being eased
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SINGAPORE – On Monday, the first day that commuters were not required to wear masks on public transport, many people still opted to keep their masks on.
During the morning rush hour at Jurong East, Toa Payoh and Bishan MRT stations, and Bangkit LRT station in Bukit Panjang, more than two-thirds of the commuters, including schoolchildren and the elderly, had face masks on. Almost all the station staff were wearing masks and gloves.
The lifting of the mask rule on public transport
This came amid Singapore’s moves to live with Covid-19 as an endemic disease, including lowering the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition level from yellow to green.
The task force said the move was in response to the global and local pandemic situation being stable and the disease being mild, especially among vaccinated individuals.
Visitors, staff and patients in healthcare and residential care settings – where there is interaction with patients – are still required to wear masks. These places include hospital wards, clinics and nursing homes.
Madam Sun Ah Moy, 75, who was hospitalised for 10 days after contracting Covid-19 in 2021, said on Monday that she opted to wear a mask so that she can avoid a repeat of the painful experience.
“Public transport is so crowded. I want to protect myself. I’ll also wear it to the markets in the morning even when it’s not required,” said the retiree, who was at Bangkit LRT station.
She added that she also advised her grandchildren to keep their masks on in school.
Mr Loganathan Hemanth Chander, 20, an intern at an audit firm who was taking the train from Lakeside MRT station to Raffles Place, said he will continue to wear a mask despite the lifting of the rule. “Anything can happen, and I just want to be protected and safe. Even in the office, I remove my mask only when I’m eating, or sometimes when the mask is uncomfortable, but most times I have it on,” he said.
For others, mask wearing has become a habit that is hard to break.
Ms Tee Liwei, 35, an administrative assistant at a tyre company who was at Jurong East MRT station, said she had forgotten that people were allowed to use public transport without a mask, but added that she would still keep hers on as it has become a habit. She said she would consider taking her mask off only if it gets stuffy.
A 30-year-old researcher who wanted to be known only as Gerald E. was not wearing a mask on a train on the East-West Line because he had dropped his mask along the way, he said.
“I would prefer to have one on if I can,” he said, adding that he was not particularly worried about going without one because he had recently got his second Covid-19 booster jab.
However, a handful of commuters embraced the freedom of being mask-free.
Ms Anne Lee, who is in her mid-40s and works in an accounting firm, did not have a mask on at Jurong East MRT station. “I just cannot breathe when I’m wearing a mask. I also get skin problems,” she said, adding that she had been waiting for this mask-free day for a long time.
Some commuters travelling without masks on the MRT train from Punggol station towards Harbourfront on Monday.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Another commuter at the same station, who wanted to be known as Bel K., said she did not think that masks are necessary on public transport any more, given that they are not required at indoor venues like shopping centres.
“Covid-19 is not a very big concern for me right now,” said the 32-year-old, who works in the fintech industry.
At Toa Payoh MRT station, florist Janice Teo, 61, said she was not wearing a mask because she was vaccinated and was not afraid of getting Covid-19.
She still keeps her masks handy, though. “My only concern is that some of the elderly commuters do not understand that if they’re coughing, they have to wear a mask. I’ll wear my mask if I hear someone coughing,” she said.
Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases specialist from Rophi Clinic at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said vaccination is still the main line of defence against Covid-19 since mask-wearing is becoming moot. “With more people not wearing masks, your protection is limited. When both parties wear a mask, the protection is synergistic. Now that many people are not, you have lost more than half the benefit,” he said.
He recommends wearing a mask if one cannot afford to fall sick in the coming days, or has family members who are at risk of getting severe Covid-19.
“To each his own, do not shame or slander anyone wearing a mask. They have their own reasons, and we give them their personal space literally and figuratively,” he said.
