SINGAPORE: For transit enthusiast Vareck Ng, navigating Singapore means watching the ground as much as the signboards.
Where others see worn patches of grass cutting across a field, the 23-year-old sees “desire paths” – byways people have carved on their own where official routes are not the most convenient or intuitive.
“It is one of the most obvious signs that the community is responding to something that is built for them,” the Tampines resident told The Straits Times in January.
When he travels on public transport, Ng, a musician, keeps his headphones off to help fellow passengers who are unsure which service to take or which exit to use.
He sees these moments of hesitation and uncertainty as signs of gaps in the system, and feels compelled to fix them.
“If I am at a bus stop, and I hear (the same question) multiple times; that is a sign that something can be done,” he said.
Since 2020, Ng has been filling some of those gaps himself, putting up about 100 unofficial wayfinding signs across the island.
His first was a simple A4 sheet of paper taped to a post along the park connector near Lorong Halus Red Bridge, pointing cyclists towards Pasir Ris, Punggol and Sengkang at a T-junction that had no directions.
The 3km-long Lorong Halus Park Connector links Pasir Ris and Punggol, and runs through the Pasir Ris Farmway.
If no one removes a sign and people find it useful, Ng upgrades it – from plain paper to laminated sheets, and eventually to more durable plastic.
Unofficial wayfinding signs put up by Vareck Ng along the Tampines Park Connector near the bridge linking Tampines to Pasir Ris on Feb 16.
His interest in wayfinding signs started the same year, in 2020, when Stage 1 of the Thomson-East Coast Line opened between Woodlands North and Woodlands South.
The new yellow exit signs, which focused on numbers over text, left him disoriented.
On older lines, he could choose an exit from the platform itself. But on the new system, he sometimes had to go up to the concourse to find out where each exit led.
“That is the thing that got me thinking about wayfinding. I am a transit fan, and if I can get lost in all these places, then what about someone who is not that into transit?” he recalled thinking.
Such minimalist design should not come at the expense of clarity, Ng said, giving the example of an expressway sign.
“If you are driving along the expressway and you have an exit sign that just says ‘Exit 9’, that will be so confusing for drivers. Yet it is done for public transport.”
MRT signs, he argued, should similarly prioritise information in a clear hierarchy – first, transfers to other lines, then exits, and finally, facilities such as toilets.
He cycles regularly and uses those journeys as fieldwork. Cycling allows him to notice infrastructure or wayfinding issues that may not show up clearly on maps, he said.
Ng put up many of his early signs in the west when he was studying at Nanyang Technological University, where some campus shuttle bus stops were little more than shelters without clear route information.
Self-taught in Photoshop, he likens good design to a chair – something you use instinctively, without having to think, adding that transit should be just as intuitive.
Ng said he draws inspiration from cities such as Tokyo, where distinct platform melodies on the metro help passengers recognise where they are, and from grassroots activists in Jakarta who were eventually invited to help design their city’s wayfinding system.
His guiding principle is whether the sign benefits the community. “I always ask myself: Is it going to benefit people?” he said.
He is a member of the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Friends of Land Transport, a group of transport enthusiasts who provide regular feedback to the authority.
LTA officers have informally acknowledged his signs and expressed their appreciation, said Ng.
He also said he is glad LTA is improving wayfinding.
At Serangoon MRT station, new digital displays are being trialled by LTA and the rail operators to help commuters navigate disruptions, with features such as the status of MRT lines and real-time directions.
“It is a win for the city,” Ng added.
Beyond wayfinding signs, he is advocating broader changes.
Ng called for standardised, islandwide design guidelines for cycling paths, and better integration of cycling into contingency plans during MRT disruptions.
“What if cycling (could) bring people to less congested lines?” he said, noting that taking the park connector might sometimes be faster than shuttle buses that are activated during an MRT disruption.
Ng also wants more accessible public transport data, including live train timings, and hopes a larger wayfinding community will emerge.
“It cannot just be me in the long run,” he said.
“We all play a part in our neighbourhood.” - The Straits Times/ANN
