Every day, all around the world, pedestrians look out for the green man – the ubiquitous icon atop traffic poles that lets us know it is safe to cross the road.In Singapore, the figure's appearance is sometimes accompanied by loud, rapid beeps emanating from the traffic pole, followed by a pulsing tone. Less obvious are the soft, staggered beeps that go off even when the man is red. My ears have subconsciously picked up these audio cues for decades. My mind, however, had never given them much thought.Earlier this week, I found myself standing at a crossing by Redhill MRT station listening to these beeps – attentively this time – as Mr Chong Kwek Bin explained that the softer beeps are a "locating signal".
"Without it, totally blind people will not know where the traffic pole (is)."Mr Chong is visually impaired. Three days a week, the 44-year-old uses this very pedestrian crossing to get to his office at the Enabling Village along Lengkok Bahru in Redhill. He is a manager at the accessibility and assistive technology team at the innovation division of SG Enable, the national agency that seeks to help people with disabilities to live and work in an inclusive society.On Tuesday (Apr 14), we were making our way along a sheltered walkway close to his workplace when several people breezed past with their eyes glued to their mobile phones."Sometimes, there's a bit of irony," he said in a deadpan manner while manoeuvring his cane. "As visually impaired persons, we are the ones who must watch out for passers-by. "Many people who can see don't look at where they're going."
