Visitors from North China often remark that the people of Shanghai demonstrate a higher degree of civility in their daily life than do inhabitants of other regions. The Shanghainese, these visitors say, may resort to extended argumentation in settling a dispute, but their disputes rarely turn violent.

This observation, ostensibly meant as praise, sometimes serves as a tongue-in-cheek debunking of Shanghai people's alleged cowardliness.

After residing in the city for over three years, I have to say that this observation is largely accurate.

I had often witnessed vehement exchanges of oral abuse, but had never seen actual Shanghainese fighting - until this Saturday.

No sooner had I stepped onto the No 01 bus on Huashan Road that afternoon than I began to regret it, for the floor near the back door had been newly declared a war zone whereon two middle-aged men were engaged in a fierce fight. I was exposed to the frontline unprepared.

Just as I was entering by the back door, some female passengers travelling with their children were fleeing the bus via the front door.

The fighting and the bus started almost simultaneously. After a few bouts, the pale-faced younger of the contestants gained the upper hand by planting one of his hands firmly in the hair of his rival.

I had no idea what they were fighting about, but when several women passengers managed to disengage the pair, they tried to play down the matter by saying something like: "In a crowded bus, bumping can't be avoided."

At the next stop, the champion was persuaded to disembark. His opponent made a frantic attempt to follow, but was prevented from doing so because he was in the grip of an elderly woman.

Even in this stark show of muscle, I observed something peculiar.

In a scene like this, blustering out of threats is common, but they never resorted to foul language. I am not sure if Shanghai dialect is particularly deficient in such resources.

Second, the ending of the fighting by hair-grabbing seemed an anticlimax.

Shanghai is widely recognized, with good reason, as a metropolis with good social order. But I am sad to say that this order prevails only when there is no conflict of interest.

Wherever there is some advantage to be gained, be it ever so trivial, quarrels are the order of the day. (Just that Saturday morning, also on the No 01 bus, I was witness to a quarrel between two women over a seat.)

And as a metro commuter, I sometimes feel ashamed and intimidated by the crowds at stops who forget all proper etiquette and decorum whenever there is a seat to fight for.

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