[redbean]

Lui Tuck Yew, SMRT, hold your horses
SMRT announced that it is going to spend another $90m or more on a new signaling system so that trains can arrive 20 sec or 30 sec earlier. Before even questioning whether this is money well spent, let me just recount my experience with the train services these few weeks after the resignation of the CEO.
I used to take the early trains and my timing has not changed. The strange thing that is happening now is that the interval of trains arriving in the early hours on the East West and North South lines has improved. But this is not all. The trains are less crowded than before and there is ample breathing space between the commuters. No longer would the commuters be forced to breath in the BOs and stench of unwashed commuters beside them.
This is a great improvement and no need to waste millions on another signaling system if it can be achieved at all hours. Funny how things could improve so drastically within a few weeks of the CEO’s departure.
The after office hour rush and jam have also improved dramatically. But this stretch is still not tolerable as the trains are still quite packed. A little more tweaking with a couple more trains could do the trick. I think it is all about more thorough management or a different management philosophy from one that is profit priority to one that is commuter centric.
I would suggest the SMRT keeps monitoring and review the train flow and tweak wherever necessary to improve the service and hold back on the huge expenditure that may not be necessary. And that expenditure need not be passed down to the commuters with higher fares again.
I hope SMRT, LTA and Lui Tuck Yew are listening.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Govt funding of public transport
550 buses plus operating costs and salaries of bus drivers for 10 years will be provided by the govt amounting to $1.1b. It is a significant sum to a public listed company, though originally a govt owned business started with tax payer’s money. It was also reported that nearly $70b have so far been doled out to the train operators in infrastructure cost and rolling stocks as well.
And the operators cried shareholder’s interest to see good profits. No doubt the majority shareholder is the govt or govt linked companies, many of the other shareholders are also feeding on the gravy train built with taxpayer’s money and demanding more and more profits.
It can’t be helped for the commuters to be pissed off when the bulk of the capital was taxpayer’s or their money in the first place, and now they have to keep feeding the organizations to feed the shareholders and big bonuses for the top management.
It is high time the govt reclaims the public transport companies and run them as they should be, state owned companies, for the country, people and supporting the rest of the economy. Price it as low as possible, (please assholes, I am not saying that it must be run at a loss) a national service to the people and country. The whole economy also needs an efficient and lowly priced transport system. High transportation cost will spiral into other operating costs and salaries of workers. It will affect the social activities and life of the people as well.
The mission of public transportation has to be relooked at and reformulated to serve the people and country, not just the shareholders.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

High COE for cars
The prices of COEs are going through the roof again. Some car owners or potential car owners are starting to feel the pain. Some openly questioned whether the govt is going to force people not to buy cars. The answer is obvious. If you can’t afford it, take public transport.
And the situation is only to get worst with COEs going higher and higher. Many will just have to take the govt’s advice to take trains or buses. And one thing for sure, the quality of their life will never be affected. This is how the middle class of a first world city will have to get use to, living in mickey mouse flats that cost a million or more, and taking public transport to work. With the millions of new citizens coming in to boost our population and economy, the outlook is quite predictable.
What is going to kill, or who are going to be hit hard, will be those who really need a car to get around. There will be parents who have a few children to send to school, or old folks/medically handicapped that cannot conveniently hop onto a train or bus. Then again, what to do? Life goes on. Just be thankful that you got a first world city to live in and a great govt to manage it for the good of the people.
Many people are waiting at the door for a chance to come into this paradise. Be grateful and count your blessing.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Pearl Harbour and MRT clips
The clips are falling off one by one. It barely happened for the last 30 years. The first major problem appeared in the North South Line when a series of the clips were found displaced and causing major disruption to the train service. Ah, the reason, train too heavy and affecting the shock absorbing floating cushion on the tracks.
Obviously the weight of the trains is a critical component in ensuring that the train runs smoothly on the track. In the movie Pearl Harbour, the Americans were desperately trying to fly their bombers off the aircraft carrier and still had enough fuel to hit Japan and onwards to land in China. Every gram of weight on the aircraft contributed to the drag and its performance. Many weapons and items were removed from the aircraft to keep it light, to be able take off in the short runway on the aircraft carrier. The aircraft weight was critical if it were to lift off from the carriers.
Our trains seem to be facing the same weight problem. The weight could be the menacing factor that is causing the clips to fall off recently. The solution may be to make the trains lighter by removing unnecessary gadgets or even lower the passenger load to lighten them a bit. And if reducing the weight is not a solution, it looks like the heavier trains would have to be removed from operation before they do more damage to the tracks.
A lesson from Pearl Harbour. The fat lady cannot fly.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Lui Tuck Yew – Agent of change
I can’t remember praising any minister in the past, or at least not the new ministers. The pioneers were different as they were the pathfinders, the people who set the stage for the play today, selflessly. It is hard to praise the ministers now as they have held themselves up as supermen and superwomen and thus are expected to do super works. Mediocrity is not acceptable from super beans. And with the super pay they are claiming for themselves, anyone talking about sacrifices need to be stuffed with shit in their mouths.
The expectation is superlative. But when mediocrity is the order of the day, anything better is betterer and deserves some encouragement. I was watching in Parliament last night on telly and two ministers stood out for mentioning. Lui Tuck Yew is one of them. He came across as someone with a mission to do a big repair job. And he is earnest and tuned up for it.
The transportation mess that he inherited would have to be dealt with in a different light. The causes, the past assumptions, must be thrown into the dustbin and a new set of assumptions need to be put right. Wrong assumptions would lead to wrong results though perfectly logically and defendable. When 1 is 3 and 2 is 4, 1 + 2 = 7. Logic. No one can argue against such thinking.
The angst against public transportation was likely to be the result of a different set of perverse assumptions, eg, maximization of profits and with the Tokyo train as the role model to surpass. The comfort and graciousness of the people were not factors for consideration. Maximising profit would mean longer waiting time and jam packed trains to benefit the shareholders and big bonuses for the top management. Scintillating profit numbers are so good to look at. Then there is the added Tokyo standard to surpass. Jam packed train will only be at best as good as Tokyo’s. To surpass that, the trains must be bulging at the sides. Only then can it claim to be better than Tokyo’s.
What Tuck Yew has done is to dismantle such beliefs. Commuter comfort, efficiency and graciousness are equally important, or more important. More trains and buses will be added to reduce waiting time. The desired 95% load will be cut to 85% to provide more comfort and breathing space for the commuters. There will be overall increases in the number of trips run by trains and buses.
The new assumptions and standards would definitely make public transportation much better and tolerable than the standards of the past. There will be big costs involved but temporarily this will be delayed till a later date.
The changes are major especially in the mindset. Maximising profit has taken a rubbing for the moment to give way to commuter’s interests. Just hope the fare hike will not be too prohibitive and the Govt will give a helping hand. Public transportation is not simply a service and to be run primarily for profits alone. Public transportation affects our way of life, the way businesses are done, business costs, people’s costs social and economic costs. Bringing public transportation cost down will benefit everyone and everything, including business and the govt. It is a big change for the better.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Hilarious taxi woes of a third world country

We are first world, run by the best super talents money can buy. Don’t ever associate this top notch country with the third world. With all the restructuring of taxi fares, controls and regulations, and use of GPS and satellites, our taxi woes must be a thing of the past. What I read in the ST on Saturday morning was quite an eye opener.

Here is a short summary of the points raised and the four causes of taxi woes in our first world country. Plenty of taxis but under utilised because some work on one shift with one operator per taxi. Some earn enough would call it a day. Not all 27,000 taxis will be on the road all the time. So, you know the problems right, what are you going to do about it? Why pay millions to people who tell you the problem and that is the end of the story? What we need is solution.

Unfortunately the solution is the problem itself. Pay higher for bookings. This was a brilliant solution. Now all the enterprising taxi drivers would want to wait for call bookings rather than pick up passengers. And plenty of brilliant suggestions to make this solution turned problem a solution again. Increase the charge for call bookings. I have a betterer idea which I will volunteer later.

A narrow window for shift change over because all the drivers want to participate in driving at peak hours. So the peak hour solution also becomes a problem in its own right. Drivers play hide and seek at non peak hours and not picking passengers just before peak hours come into play.

Call bookings got through but no cabs around. This is expected in such a big city like Singapore where one can drive a sports car into the sea within 10 mins of non stop acceleration. With GPS and satellites and modern communication, cannot find a cab near the caller? How far can a cab be from a caller in this 700 sq km piece of rock? Anyway it is a genuine problem and no one has a solution for it. It is just like that lah, what to do?

There is no solution but problems. Everyone can tell you the problems but not the solutions. The best they could do was to throw in solutions to become problems tomorrow. That I also know. I can offer this kind of solutions for free. But solutions there are plenty from the public. Make calls more expensive. Make flag down charge more expensive. Some even suggested that the caller makes a higher offer if he needs a cab urgently and sure, all the cab drivers will be rushing to his doorstep.

Taxis cost much because the passengers are paying for convenience. Now getting a taxi, paying more, is causing more trouble to the passengers. Waiting for 30 minutes is a norm. Now I must praise Lui Tuck Yew for 3 minutes wait for trains even at peak hours. Why so silly, pay $20 to $50 and wait like crazy on the road side for a taxi that takes 30 minutes to arrive? Taking a train one will be at the destination long before that.

Now my unbeatable solution formulated from all the above suggestions. In the first place people don’t mind paying more for convenience. What is the most efficient system then? Outcry, like in the old stock market. Just shout out the fare, $100 to the airport. The passenger just make a call offering how much he wants to pay for his trip and where he is. That is all he needs to do and let the taxi operators broadcast to the drivers. Not only the taxis will rush to him super fast, there will be more than 10 taxis coming to serve him depending on how high is his offer. Now who can beat this superb solution?

Pay for service and the service will go to the highest bidder. Now a warning, the roads will be turned into a F1 racing track and taxis will be zooming all over the island to make their catch. No more long waiting time. : ) As for the losers who cannot afford to raise the bid, continue queuing at the taxi stands and hope a taxi will turn up. You need to pay for good service!

PS. I think the more meritocratic cab users are already putting this into practice by calling the operator and offering to pay another $50 above the meter fare. Sure he will get his cab ahead of everyone else. Could this be another cause to the problem of difficulties in getting a cab even on call bookings?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Good strategic thinking
The decision to spend $1.1b to buy more buses is turning out to be a wise one. It is strategic and good foresight to be able to think one step ahead of problems. The regularity of train breakdowns is no longer a serious matter but a matter of inconvenience to live with. And the additional trains will come in real handy when breakdowns happened. Yesterday was a case in point and disrupted passengers were quite pleased.
Now there will be more buses and drivers to step in to transfer passengers quickly from MRT stations to their next destinations. Displaced passengers can count themselves lucky to have more buses to minimize the disruption and go on as normal. And the transfer from trains to buses is also free which will make the little inconvenience that much bearable.
Good decision. Good foresight and hindsight. Anticipating problems and preparing ahead for the fallouts.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Lady got hit – acid in MRT train
According to media reports, the woman boarded a SMRT train at Raffles Place on her way home and sat on an empty seat which appeared to be wet.

Thinking that the transparent fluid is water, the woman sat on it only to discover a stinging sensation to her buttocks. The pain got worse and worse and she eventually alighted at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station to check...

To her shock, she discovered her buttocks was ‘burnt’. On admission to the hospital, she was told she required skin grafting due to the extensive damage. The transparent fluid is likely to be highly concentrated sulfuric acid.

http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/20...skin-grafting/
Is the above just an accident or something more ominous? The authority needs to get to the bottom of this. Someone must have seen who left the acid on the train seat. Pray that it was just a minor accident. If not, things could get nasty.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

What the train is saying?
‘Stop, stop, help, help, I can’t go on anymore.’ No you can, our population is only 5m, and we will have a few more millions coming in.
‘No, no, really, can’t take anymore. I am not designed to take so many commuters.’ No you can. The trains in Tokyo can, so why can’t you? You are only half filled, running on half capacity.
‘Stop it, I say. All my parts are starting to fall off, can’t you see? I will run to a halt if you don’t stop adding more commuters to my load.’ Don’t worry lah, a few more wouldn’t kill you lah. Those car owners who have to give up their cars will come on board soon when they cannot afford the new COEs. Take a deep breath and carry on.
“Aaaaahhhhh…….’
‘Your attention please, this train will be delayed due to a mechanical fault. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’
‘Your attention please, this train will be delayed due to a mechanical fault. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’
‘Your attention please, this train will be delayed due to a mechanical fault. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’
……..
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Clockwork Singapore
Singapore used to be a clockwork country. Push a button, press a switch, turn on the tap, everything works. Singapore used to pride itself as a first world country, an oasis in the third world. It differentiated itself with world class quality and services, reliability and efficiency.
In just a few months, the public train system is breaking apart. How so? This kind of thing does not breakdown overnight. It takes a long gestation period to build up a series of lapses for such a thing to happen. An entire system functioning smoothly over 40 years does not go down like a string of dominoes. That is exactly what is happening to the train system.
Having breakdowns, stoppages and delays are daily business. And the frequency is no longer funny. The standby support system is activated and is working like a substitute to the main system. Excuse for coming late to work chits are printed so that workers can bring it back to office as proof of being late, like getting an MC. Soon organizations will have to check with public transport operators on the validity of such chits and breakdowns. And there will be permanent signs outside every station just to report on delays and breakdowns. It could even have a dedicated radio channel or mobile phone apps to inform commuters to take alternative transport.
It was only yesterday that workers were encouraged to sell their private cars to take public transport, as cheaper, faster and more convenient. Those who opted for the change are finding it a daily hustle to get from point to point. What is going on man?
And with COEs hitting $100k, what is the alternative for those who cannot afford cars now? What is happening to this first world oasis? It is like the light is being switched off, the end is near, age is catching up. The mandate of heaven has been withdrawn and nothing is going to work like clockwork anymore.
And it is happening despite the super talents being in charge and being paid super talented salaries. It is time the people vote like Citigroup against the huge pay packages when the management cannot deliver.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Clockwork Singapore tick, tick, tickles
The once reliable public transport system is turning into a nightmare to many Sinkies, particular the university students marching to their examination halls. The fear is to be caught in a MRT train breakdown and be late for the examination. The universities are also scratching their heads as to how to deal with such a scenario. Should they bar the students from their examinations or make concessions, or alternate provisions to retake the examination? It is not the fault of the students.
Sinkies going for an appointment, job interviews, meetings with clients, attending a court order or police order, dates, submissions of tenders etc etc and are delayed, who is to be blamed? To be late is already a big headache and can cause one to lose a contract, a job, or a boy/girl friend. Now every Sinkie would have to make additional plans when going for an appointment. How much more time to provide for just in case? The need to make such contingency plans because of an unreliable public transport system is going to make life that much more unpleasant and unpredictable and costly. The uncertainty is stressful for sure.
What’s next on the card? More tickles?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Clever ideas for COEs
The frustration faced by car owners and potential car owners is raising temperature by the look of the numerous appeals to the authority to revise the system. Many see the systems as totally flawed and have offered many clever ideas to make it more reasonable.
These well intended proposals by the public are nothing new, nothing difficult to figure out and nothing extraordinary. The super talents would have even much better ideas to improve the system. They are not duds. They know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing and why they refused to see from the perspective of the frustrated car owners. Do not underestimate their talents.
What the public failed to see is that the COE is the biggest cash cow to the govt next to the CPF and HDB. And it is even more efficient as a source of revenue with practically zero cost and zero effort. Printing a piece of paper is all it takes to collect a $100k. Why should the govt want to change this ATM and cut its revenue? And with the foreign talents with bigger pockets coming ashore, it is even better to make sure that the COE goes even higher. And for those who are earning tens of thousands a month, the convenience of a car and lesser cars on the road are things that they would not mind paying for. They only need to make sure their income and salary increases are ahead of the COE prices.
The unhappy public need not waste their time and talent with their clever suggestions. The deaf frogs would not listen as they know very well how flawed this system is to the car owners who cannot afford to pay higher COEs. It is a biased system in favour of the rich and you know who.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Our roads are dangerous for cyclists
Are our roads dangerous? Shanmugam said, and I quote from the Today paper, ‘I have been noticing that there is increased amount of unsafe driving on our roads…I wonder if it is the case that we are simply noticing this more, or if indeed our driving habits have become worse. And Today had a table showing that the number of cyclists and pillion riders who died or were injured in accidents were 589 for 2009, 573 for 2010 and 500 for 2011. The number for Jan-Jun 2012 is 190 and simple projection will see this number to be about 190 plus or minus a bit in the next 6 months, or about 380 to 400 for the year. Ahem, I must say that based on these numbers, the number of incidents is getting lesser, not increased.
Nonetheless, the number of death is still too high for a casual recreational activity with one or two death daily. It is the most dangerous sports in terms of number of casualties. It should be discouraged or even banned. The number of death is unnecessary and not worth the risk.
Many cyclists refuse to admit this fact that our roads are just too dangerous for cyclists. They are not only narrow, other than the highways, the drivers, the big buses and lorries, are often driven by speed demons. Many of these heavy vehicles are driven by the lowly educated, the foreigners with their third world mentality and habits, and pose just too high a risk for our cyclists.
To add to the problem, some cyclists think that drivers are as well mannered and safety conscious as them, and would drive with care. To further add to the deadly delusion, some of the cyclists thought number is safety and would cycle abreast in twos and threes or more when in a big group, ignoring the right of motorists. They are simply inviting for trouble. A little mistake by the drivers, intentional, accidental or trying to frighten the cyclists to cycle single file would send them flying to heaven.
At this point in time, our road infrastructure is just not suitable for cyclists, not even single file. Best to just keep to the parks, connectors and housing estates. Venture to the main roads at your own risk. The hobby or sports, the attractive sports attire and gadgets to don on, are not worth the risk of losing arms and legs and lives. Don’t be silly and don’t be stubborn. Our roads are not meant for cycling.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

SMRT making the right move
SMRT has made the right move in appointing Stephen Forshaw, an Australian PR, as its spokesman. As a little rojak country that is still struggling to find its identity and to break free from it colonial heritage, the island finds it very comfortable to have a face that looks like its past colonial master for a sense of security. And the people love it. What ever comes from the west has always been seen as good and of great value. God came from the west as well. Western media is held in high regards for objectivity and unbiased reporting, and of great intelligence.
The recent bad publicity following a series of mishaps by the SMRT makes it a must, a necessity to have a spokesman that can speak with some authority over the natives. Stephen Forshaw is the ideal candidate for such a job. He is good looking, like a movie star, has a natural command of the language that the natives understand. He should be able to talk his way out to restore the blemished image of the SMRT in quick time. When he speaks, the native will listen better than any other locals. He is worth every cent paid to him. The job is cut out for him.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

SMRT driver bashing – The other untold story

Untold may not be the right word as the story was told many times over several months, but no one wants to hear them. This untold and embarrassing story is starting to reappear to shed light on the plight of the SMRT drivers. One was jailed, 29 repatriated and 5 charged in court. The story in the media so far was all about the trouble makers, the SMRT drivers. And they were duly punished with many Sinkies throwing more vitriol at them.

Desmond Kuek has conducted an internal investigation on how the strike came about and commented that it could be avoided if the management was more “sensitive, attentive and responsive” to the problems the workers had brought up. Disciplinary action would be taken against those who allowed the drivers’ grievance to escalate to become a work stoppage. The drivers would not have been charged, jailed, repatriated and lost their jobs. The strike would not have occurred to embarrass the govt and the trade union. Relations with the Chinese Govt would not have been affected.

Since his last comment that there were many problems in the organisation, a witch hunt could be next and many skeletons are likely to be dragged out of the cupboard. But most important of all, the truth shall prevail and the drivers would be seen in a different light, that they could be victims of mismanagement and neglect.

Shine the light and brighten up the dark patches and return justice to those that had been wronged. SMRT would no longer need to say we are sorry, it should not have happen, we will make sure it will not happen again. ‘We are sorry for the inconvenience caused’.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.