HO Ching Explains Why More People Can be in Trains But Not in Restaurants

As Singaporeans jostle for space during the peak hour in the crowded MRT carriages, some of them must have wondered: why are so many of us allowed in this tiny carriage, but not at a coffee shop table?

As you’d have been able to tell by all the uncles who have returned to the coffee shops to drink beer at 10:00am, dining in is now allowed at coffee shops and hawker centres for all residents, but diners are restricted to groups of two.

Meanwhile, vaccinated people have been living it up in atas restaurants and gorging on gourmet food while snapping one too many photos for Instagram.

So, why are so many people allowed in trains but not in restaurants?

Well, there’s actually a simple explanation for this.

HO Ching Explains Why More People Can be in Trains But Not in Restaurants

Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching took to Facebook yesterday (10 Aug) to address some complaints in light of the new dining in measures.

She acknowledged that the question of why a large number of people is allowed in trains but not restaurants was a valid one, but that it had a simple answer.

According to Ho, our trains have high-performance “air cleaning systems”.

“The air in train cabins are changed at the equivalent to 10-14 times an hour. This is like having a whole train of clean air every 5-6 minutes,” she wrote.

For comparison sake, Ho provided the example of an infectious disease ward, where the air is replaced around every five minutes.

On the other hand, many restaurants have split unit air-conditioners.

“These split unit aircons simply recirculates the air, and this allows aerosol particles to accumulate, including aerosol particles carrying infectious virus,” she wrote.

She noted that while some bigger restaurants do have central air-conditioning, they only have the “air change equivalent at best of 4-6 times an hour, or between 10-15 minutes.”

What’s more, many businesses tend to close vents to cut costs, she said.

No Need to Grumble About New Measures

Ho also questioned why some residents are grumbling about the new dining-in measures, as families who want to eat together can still do so at home.

“Cannot even stomach a small inconvenience for the sake of the larger good for only a few more months?” she wrote.

She added that parents who want to eat out with their children and their grandparents can just split up into two separate tables when dining out, with one parent at each table.

She acknowledged that everyone’s getting tired of coronavirus restrictions, but that frontline workers have been enduring “tougher conditions” for months and months.

“They can’t throw in their towels, and yelp why not, why not, why not let us go back to normal, care free life?” Ho wrote.

“Surely, the rest of us away from the frontlines, can and should find ways to do keep within the latest rules, already relaxed from before, and still minimise the risks of a big outbreak, until more of us are vaccinated and better protected, ok?” she said.

She urged residents to be “creative” and have fun with our family and friends, which can surely be done without dining out in large groups.

With residents in other countries restricted to their own homes, we should be thankful that we can dine out at all, let alone in a group of up to five if we’re vaccinated.

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Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com & Facebook (HO Ching)