Poems Displayed In MRT Cabins Captivate Netizen Who “Always Thought SG Lacked Promotion For Literary Arts”

The next time you find yourself bored during your daily commute, keep an eye out for poems displayed in MRT cabins. 

Excerpts from more than 100 poems in English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil have been displayed on the above-head panels of trains running along the East-West, North-South, and Circle lines since November 1 last year.

This is part of Poems on the MRT, an initiative which aims to promote Singapore Literature.

A collaboration between the National Arts Council (NAC), SMRT, advertising agency Stellar Ace, and produced by non-profit organisation Sing Lit Station, the initiative will run till October 30.

For many, the addition of poetry to trains has been a delightful surprise.

One Xiaohongshu user who recently noticed the poems during a Circle Line ride described them as “quite romantic.”

She shared: “I always thought of Singapore as a place that lacked [promotion for] poetry and literary arts...  [Most of us] have to commute on the train everyday and rather than staring at our phones, we can look up and appreciate these poems. It even inspired me to submit my own work."  

Another user praised the initiative, imagining how "beautiful" it would be to read poetry during night rides.

A third noted that commuters now have something thought-provoking to engage with during otherwise mundane trips to work or school.

BRB, hopping on the MRT to catch a glimpse ourselves.