Reserved seat -- for whom? : an exploratory study of state’s discourse, reserved seats and the youth commuters.

• Main Author: Lio, Natalie Jia Qi.
• Other Authors: Caroline Pluss
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51609
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Taking the public train is an everyday routine for most Singaporeans. Signage like “Reserved Seating” is placed above certain seats which are meant for needy commuters. By constructing the dichotomous categories of ‘needy’ and ‘non-needy’ people, citizens are under the control of PAP by constituting as object of analysis. In internalizing the categories, citizens become self-governing subjects who regulate their own conduct. Knowledge taught by social institutions embedded in society such as family and education leads to naturalization of the division. The categories are taken as commonsensical and thus unchallenged. This leads to the misrecognition of power of the PAP in which citizens do not realize that they are being controlled by the government. Through analyzing and studying youth commuters’ experience on MRTs, this paper aims to address how the state’s discourse is generated and diffused into the natural reality of everyday lives through various conduits such as education, socialization and ethical dispositions.