The Commuter's Soundtrack

The jarring "jajajaja" of a jackhammer against concrete in a building that is being built breaks up the start of the morning heat. At the condominiums next door, the mosquito fogging machine revs up sending up both a billowing cloud of white smoke and the intermittent "mmm, mmm" sound. In the adjacent field, the "woot-wooooh, woot-wooooh" of a local bird is drowned out by the "zrrr, jzrrr, zrrrrrrr" of a weed whacker and the shout of a laborer in Tamil.

"Kshoo" a truck exhales as it comes to a stop by the curb. The "ding" of a bicycle's warning sound mingles with the dry rustling of the auntie-at-the-front-of-the-pack's shuffling footsteps. The "clack-clack" of high-heeled ladies dressed in pencil skirts resounds on the pavement as they bustle past the bus stop. "Swoosh . . . swoosh . . . swish" go the newsprint pages of the waiting businessmen.

Halfway up the train station steps, a uniformed child begs her "helper," "Please, please?" Her little brother, safe in the nanny's arms and competing for her attention, emits a high pitched "wahahhh." There's a "beep" followed by the rub and clunk of the MRT station gates as they slide open. This is displaced by the repetitive "kerchunk" of the escalator steps unfolding. An announcer's voice blares, "Please do not leave your belongings unattended."

On the platform, the sound a of visually evident breeze has been silenced by the crowds queuing up. They speak in a murmur of languages, which swirl around and get tamped down into a non-descript hum. There's the gradual slowing "cla-clack, cla-clack . . . cla-clack, cla-clack." The platform doors slide open with a forced "whoosh  . . . dunk." Reluctant feet scrape across the floor. And then, comes the announcement, "Doors are closing." The world is muted for a moment with the papery sound of earbuds being inserted. All at once, the haunting melody of Adele's "Hello" blocks everything else out. This is the soundtrack of Singapore's commuters.