An emoji speaks a thousand words

Congestion in the train (aka subway, metro) during the morning rush hours is a real problem in any big city in the world. Singapore is no different.

To help commuters in a hurry know how long they will have to wait to board the train or if there are any breakdowns on any of the lines, SMRT put up signs in every station to show this (pictured on the left).

The first signs had words only. Beside the name of each line (e.g. Circle Line), the word "normal" would show that the train service was running on normal schedule. However, some commuters cannot read English. To make the signs quickly recognisable, in came "emoji". Beside the word "normal" is a smiley face. Anyone in a hurry will catch this picture more quickly than words can.

If I can board the train quickly, I would be smiling too!

Emoji will be around for awhile yet.

:)