Cool On The Exterior, Warm Within
The New Urban Legend
Friday, October 20, 2006 @ 12:27 AM
In recent years, vengeful spirits have been prowling in new territories. They no longer reside in banana trees and gather on HDB rooftops. Modern spirits prefer the fast life and they like it quick, clean and easy.
My tuition kid asked me a question a few years ago.
'Do you know why people keep dying on MRT tracks?'
Why, I asked.
'Because the people who jumped down onto the tracks become gu hun ye gui (stray spirits). They lead a cursed existence as they died an unnatural death and they will never reincarnate. So, to move on to the next world, they need to seek a replacement. That is why they keep pulling people down onto the tracks.' He explained earnestly, looking wide-eyed. After which, to my amusement, he got spooked himself.
A middle-aged man was killed by an oncoming train at Chinese Garden MRT station yesterday night. I shivered, at the reality of having such an accident happen at a station I pass by every single day. Come to think of it, such train suicide incidents have been alarmingly common these years. Not all were of depressed folks seeking a quick way out though. Some fell off the platform (something I can't quite envision) and the most ridiculous one was the story I read in the papers a few weeks ago. After a heated argument, this bf shoved his gf down onto the MRT tracks, just as the train rumbled into the station. WTH?!
Looks like the installation of metal discs on the platform floor to increase friction and having patrolling officers were insufficient to deter the determined.
I can't imagine how badly a body will be maimed by an oncoming train. My colleague showed me an extremely gross email the other day, of this girl who had committed suicide in Sun Plaza. From the impact of the fall, her head had been ripped apart, gaping open between the eyes. It was a horrendous sight and made me marvel at the fragility of the human head. As I was telling bj, it reminded me of a smashed watermelon. Now, what happens when a train rams into you at high speed and with tremendous force?
Surely, there's a better way to depart the world with dignity intact?
Surely, these incidents can't really be the work of ... vengeful spirits?
