escalating matter

I'm not sure if you agree with me that the primary function of an escalator is to transport people from one floor to another floor. To fulfil this role, the escalator just has to, well, ferry the people. But is it intended to let people walk on it like a flight of stairs while it is in operation? With some basic appreciation of physics and engineering, it is not difficult to realize that walking on an operating escalator will put extra load on the machine and, naturally, increase the likelihood of it malfunctioning. So blame who when you find the escalators at the MRT station out of service.

Having said that, there are times when I choose to take the fast lane and walk up/down the escalator, while other times I would just stand on the left, looking at silly people running after a runaway train. Whichever side we choose to take (and having said the malfunctioning crap), I still think that people shouldn't block up the right side. Not everyone feels comfortable "scuse-ing" others, and it's like running on the right lane at 40km/h. I've even seen smartarse from smart school (starts with R) blocking up the way.

We need to slap some fine.