SINGAPORE - It was a well-thought out and well-executed plan to get the 3,000-strong student and staff body to come together as one school to support its rugby team.
After all, this is the first inter-school rugby finals being held at the new National Stadium and the team from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) was up against defending champions St Andrew's Secondary.
What better way for the whole school to arrive in one spirit?
Principal Winston Hodge was, after all, thinking out of the box.
Chartering five MRT trains to take the school from One North station directly to the Sports Hub also freed the roads of having to accommodate 85 buses, if they had decided to take the latter route.
It was a great idea because it cuts down the school's carbon footprint - or so I thought.
Yet, ACS (I) was bashed online for their move.
They were called snobs, show-offs for "travelling to the game in style".
I would not call getting cramped in a car, with many students standing and equally as many sitting on the floor, travelling in style.
Photographs in the media showed how packed the trains were.
'COST EFFICIENT'
Was this, then, a waste of resources?
Mr Hodge had said that, after considering "competitive pricing, convenience and safety", going to the game by train stood out in terms of cost efficiency.
If the school had chosen to go by the conventional way, they would have needed at least 80 buses.
Over 80 buses picking up the students, travelling in a convoy to the Sports Hub and alighting all 3,000 people would have meant a lot more resources and traffic disruption.
Do the maths.
In the past, SMRT worked with schools to charter trains and transport students for large-scale events such as National Day Parade rehearsals, with the most recent on July 12. This was also reported in the media.
So how different was that from the ACExpresS?
When the then-Raffles Junior College was moving to its new premises in 2004, it, too, had chartered SMRT trains to ferry the students to Bishan, its current home.
I am sure about 850 old boys and girls, who were then first-year RJC students, would remember fondly the ride on the non-stop "Mass Rafflesian Transit" train from Buona Vista to Bishan station.
That was celebrated. Then, too, it made the news.
Was there a backlash?
No.
Did SMRT get rapped on the fingers then?
No.
Then why is the train operator being threatened with punishment this time round?
SMRT said passengers were assured that train intervals were maintained at normal service levels at all times.
There were no reports of disruptions during the time when ACS(I) students were boarding the specially chartered carriages.
It was most unfortunate that when pictures of the trip were posted on social media, some netizens slammed and continue to slam the decision to allow public transport to be used for private purposes.
Now, would there have been no public backlash if this had been any school other than ACS (I)?
Singaporeans, especially the young, are often encouraged to think out of the box.
Looking at the backlash over a school that decided to approach a transportation challenge differently, if would be sad if it signals that Singaporeans would rather retreat into the box, once again fearing change.
This article was first published on August 28, 2014.
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