As seen in Sunday Times today.
Mob mentality gets a flash of inspiration
By Helmi Yusof
It was just an ordinary set of escalators outside Popular bookstore in Orchard MRT station.
The waving and yelling lasted only a few minutes. -- BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
But yesterday, at 2.10pm, 12 Singaporeans rode up and down them three times, waving and yelling.
The group of 20- and 30-somethings comprised lawyers, teachers, journalists, advertising executives and others who did not know one another.
But together, they formed a flash mob - a group of people who have been alerted via e-mail to gather at a particular place to do something silly, and then quickly disappear.
The phenomenon, which apparently began in New York in June, has since spread to nearly every major city in the world.
In one incident, hundreds of New Yorkers perched on a stone ledge in Central Park making bird noises.
In London, 60 people gathered to simultaneously peel bananas.
In Cape Town, 150 converged to quack like ducks.
In Singapore, 50 gathered at the open space above Raffles Place MRT station on July 17, and set their mobile phones ringing non-stop for what they called The Spontaneous Orchestra.
Most of these activities lasted for no more than a few minutes, so that they would not disrupt the normal flow of activity at the venues.
Like organisers elsewhere, those here indulging in such past-times prefer to remain anonymous. Media coverage worries them.
'We don't want the authorities to panic for no reason and choke the whole thing off,' said one.
'We're just trying to have some harmless, spontaneous fun.'
Yesterday, people using the Orchard underpass stopped and stared at the whooping group.
Older folk passed loud disapproving remarks; tourists sniggered and took snapshots, and two teenagers argued with each other over whether they should join in.
But even as they decided, it was all over.
The so-called flash mob had melted back into the crowd as quickly as it had formed.
Mob mentality gets a flash of inspiration
By Helmi Yusof
It was just an ordinary set of escalators outside Popular bookstore in Orchard MRT station.
The waving and yelling lasted only a few minutes. -- BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
But yesterday, at 2.10pm, 12 Singaporeans rode up and down them three times, waving and yelling.
The group of 20- and 30-somethings comprised lawyers, teachers, journalists, advertising executives and others who did not know one another.
But together, they formed a flash mob - a group of people who have been alerted via e-mail to gather at a particular place to do something silly, and then quickly disappear.
The phenomenon, which apparently began in New York in June, has since spread to nearly every major city in the world.
In one incident, hundreds of New Yorkers perched on a stone ledge in Central Park making bird noises.
In London, 60 people gathered to simultaneously peel bananas.
In Cape Town, 150 converged to quack like ducks.
In Singapore, 50 gathered at the open space above Raffles Place MRT station on July 17, and set their mobile phones ringing non-stop for what they called The Spontaneous Orchestra.
Most of these activities lasted for no more than a few minutes, so that they would not disrupt the normal flow of activity at the venues.
Like organisers elsewhere, those here indulging in such past-times prefer to remain anonymous. Media coverage worries them.
'We don't want the authorities to panic for no reason and choke the whole thing off,' said one.
'We're just trying to have some harmless, spontaneous fun.'
Yesterday, people using the Orchard underpass stopped and stared at the whooping group.
Older folk passed loud disapproving remarks; tourists sniggered and took snapshots, and two teenagers argued with each other over whether they should join in.
But even as they decided, it was all over.
The so-called flash mob had melted back into the crowd as quickly as it had formed.