More than just a bus stop

Manisha Gangahar

For 70-year-old Halimah Wok, the day begins and ends at Bus Stop 50191, Bef Balestier Plaza, Singapore. On all six days, Sunday being the rest day, he takes a different bus, a different route, but with no agenda. “Bus routes are narratives of a kind, they make an interesting read,” he candidly shares with an onboard tourist. He has heard stories of migration from his parents and now makes a living telling stories to children and he picks them all from the bus rides. 

Well, bus service of Singapore is something one would certainly like to bring back home. Convenient, comfortable, frequent and affordable, public buses of this country reach the remotest, the busiest and even the nearest destinations. But as one stops for a hop, what is missed is the bus stop — they are peculiar, hold a story and they have numbers too! Ask around if this is so and an equally peculiar expression comes as a reply. People just don’t stop long enough at the stop to notice, perhaps. 

Aft Craig Rd Bus Stop, number 05421, has a high nostalgic value. The only one of its kind, shaped like a small hut, it tells the story of the bygone years of 1960s — when sarong kebayas, satay sellers and Magnolia soft drink bottles were commonly seen in Singapore. Though the graffiti on the bus stop wall is gone, informs Jun Kai, who has been using this stop since his childhood, the shops along the Tanjong Pagar road are still conserved in their old charm. The area is also known for some great food and beverages outlets.

A more recent history draws the attention to Bus Stop number 05059 — Hong Lim Park. Perhaps, it is only incidental that design of the bus shelter is suggestive of Pink Dot, an LGBT movement, which has been holding events in the area for the past many years. The Hong Lim Park is the only place in Singapore where public rallies and demonstrations are officially permitted.

Yet another bus stop that could bring back not-so-nice memories for some and cherished bonds for others is the number 77171— Opp Pasir Ris Town Pk. This is the drop off point for many a Singaporean boy, as they take on their journey towards becoming National Servicemen, undertaking the compulsory Basic Military Training for two years, explains Xin Yi, who is quite familiar to the bus stop. Today, after 33 years of his first ride at Pasir Ris, he gives a goodbye hug to his son, reminiscing the days of getting on the 3-tonner Bedford truck, now replaced by more comfortable bus ride.

For tourists and shopping buffs, IKEA is a marked destination on the city map. So, a bus ride to the far east of Singapore is not a big thing. This area is called Tampines—SAFRA Tampines/75059 Bus Stop— that goes back to the Franklin and Jackson map of 1828. Once upon a time, tampinis tress grew here in abundance and the oldest street dates back to the time when carts treaded the tract. The stark and bare structure of Tampines bus stop is a little quirky in its design though the bright colours —orange and red — brightens up the wait. 

Another weird bus shelter is Valley Pt Condo / 13059. One could simply miss the bus while trying to make sense of the design, if at all it has been designed — a fork-shaped structure, aggressive, trying to keep the roof down.

Equally bizzare bus shelter is the Synergy / 28041. Resembling a bird, no a UFO more precisely or instead a spaceship, why would a bus stop be so designed? A mistake, a misfit, one believes, unless one walks a little ahead to find its muse — the Synergy Business Park Building. To compliment the concrete think-tank, set up for R&D and undertake backroom operations, stands this futuristic bus stop.  

These are not just shelters for commuters, as Virginia Woolf writes in Jacob’s Room, “It’s not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and kill us; it’s the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of omnibuses”. The unique bus stops add character to the landscape, each has a story to tell, a past to keep alive, a linkage to nurture. If only one could stop and take note of the bus stop!