CROSSWALKS
23 May 2021 | One of the things we learned very quickly upon moving to Singapore is that there is a very ‘Singaporean way’ of managing crosswalks.
First of all, it’s important to note a few things about crosswalks.
Every major street crossing has a crosswalk button which you need to press in order to activate the little green person which allows you to walk. Forget to press it and you’ll need to wait a whole cycle of street lights (upwards of 2-3 minutes in some cases) before you can cross the street.
Street lights are long here. At a four-way crossing, it is not uncommon for each lane of traffic to have up to a minute or so of crossing/turning before another lane gets access.
Why am I telling you this and what does this all mean? Because it’s so sunny, hot and humid here year-round, and because lights are so long, no one likes to stand in the sun for several minutes waiting for the light turn. So, what all Singaporeans and long-time residents do is push the crosswalk and then seek shade anywhere they can within 5-10 meters of crosswalk.
Method two… some Singaporeans walk around with umbrellas to produce portable shade because there isn’t always adequate shade or enough of it near the crosswalk. And guess what, those people are also prepared for the torrential downpours which randomly take place three or four times a week.
At the end of the day, you can pretty much always tell a tourist or some other outsider by the way he or she stands boiling in the sun while the Singaporeans are all huddled in the shade.