Ballot and Bid or Both in the Crappy COE System

This Today letter offers a slightly clever compromise. Messy but at least a compromise, a way out of this COE policy if the minister 100% must stick to this vote-losing cash cow. He is from the military before so I bet is he square, stiff and stickler for the COE policy. Why change something that is there and risk it all when he can blame someone else who started the COE.

In this novel twist of the COE scam, those who cannot afford pay tens of thousands for it, can ballot to try their luck for God to drop a COE on their lap if they can wait. Those who can afford, and don't want to wait, can bid for it.

More. Car buyers bid for the COE themselves as car dealers are the ones who bid up COE to get the overpriced paper (the COE is the environmental cost price of a tree maybe in dollar terms) for their customers. If customers want cars, they surely bid lower as it is human nature to get a good deal. Car dealers bid on the other hand bid higher as it is in their interest to get a COE so that they can sell the car to their waiting customer. The COE is not the car dealer pay one what!

Hmmmm Wait tweak a teensy bit more. This idea has been going on for some time. When car buyers bid it themselves, it is not the 100th lowest bid that becomes the COE price, but it is pay-as-you bid for COE etc. So if there are 500 COE for that 2-weeks after some COE is up for ballot and the remaining 500 is up for bidding, the top 500 pay-as-you-bid COE gets the chance to drive a car out of the Leng Kee showroom. 501th bid didn't get it? Boo hoo hoo suck it up and take the free SMRT ride at offpeak hours.

I know this is a superb idea, an election winner. Transport minister, you got the balls or brains, or OMG both, to radically change the COE? Got? Got?



BTW how come WP so quiet on COE?

Towards fairer car ownership with COE balloting
From Hui Chi Shing
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I agree with the writer, in “Balloting and bidding in one COE system” (July 2), that a “composite” Certificate of Entitlement system would give all households here a fair chance of car ownership.

The current bidding system has made car ownership unattainable for most Singaporeans, except for the well-off. It is frustrating to see that money has become the sole factor in determining who is entitled to own a car in Singapore.

The Land Transport Authority could consider allocating, for instance, half of the COE quota to a balloting system at a discounted price, such as 50 per cent off, and the rest to the bidding system.

The rich could opt for the latter if they want to get a car immediately. The general public with lower spending power could wait for their turn through the ballot.

To curb any potential abuse of the balloting system, these buyers must top up the difference between their COE ballot price and the COE bid price if they sell their cars within, say, two years.

The top-up could apply on a tiered percentage basis for the third year onwards and up to the fifth year, or even longer, until there is no incentive to make a quick profit from the system. This could help to ensure that only genuine buyers would submit a ballot entry.

Also, car dealers cannot enter the ballot, while other restrictions could be introduced to enhance the fairness of the system. These could include allowing only one ballot entry per household, which must be submitted by a holder of a valid Singapore driving licence.

May Day! May Day! Gilbert Shouts

Why do loser parents ask their kids to hold placards? For sympathy? Act cute? Tsk tsk human shield?

Who the fuck is this guy Gilbert Goh? From Australia, unemployed, not liked even by some activists, party hopper from Reform Party then to National Solidarity Party, and from the patronage he got from SDP, he might join SDP soon. Or maybe not. Vincent from SDP pulled out from the May Day event - is it because he suddenly realised that Gilbert Goh is a political lead weight around his neck that would pull his SDP down? The smart guy who have noticed that all this while, WP have distanced themselves from Gilbert. WP knows its shit.

Another guy who backed out was Nizam Ismail. I never heard of him before and must have been the token Malay to speak at the event. He pulled out from the May Day event and left poor Gilbert swinging.  WTF, that's what politics is, grow up and grow some balls. First say want to whack the government, and then after a while backed down? Hey, did that apply to Vincent too?

The only good outcome of the event was that Speakers Corner can be a lively place and peaceful protests is not an oxymoron. Never mind that many there were many motley groups of disgruntled people e.g. people in their 40s who claimed foreigners took their jobs and never understood that people in 40s lose their jobs every time as they are more expensive and less productive, not because foreigners stole their jobs. 

In fact, more peaceful protests at Speakers Corner please! Don't let Pink Dot dominate or let Speakers Corner be wasted by Mad Ravi booking a Saturday and then end up hugging and molesting a Hong Lim Park tree. I'm happily looking for more protests by Gilbert - it is like an entertaining retard circus of whining Singaporeans who only complain and don't realise that foreigners are needed in Singapore and all that matters for us to welcome them into our arms, besides the Vietnam and Tiong XMM at health centres, is better infrastructure to manage the numbers.

Update

This retard is back with the same sign! He is persistent!

Free SMRT Rides? Good Heart, Shitty Idea

Is the government populist or what in trying to solve people's problems! Mixed reactions to the free SMRT ride at super early morning hours, pre-peak it is called. Free ride people complain. Not free ride, people also complain. Don't want to go to get up early to get free ride also complain.

Anyway, so taxpayers are paying for freeloaders (which include taxpayers)! Making SMRT and its shareholders smile again! Lui is doing all he can, if you think that subsidising public transport is all he can and should do for public transport. Even Singapore Mind thinks Lui's idea is kinda good. Bah. As long as SMRT and SBS are the big players and they know taxpayers will always pick up the bill coz of Lui's subsidise our public transport thinking, SBS and SMRT won't give a shit about actually carrying commuters safely, quickly, regularly, everywhere. Don't need more trains or buses they think as the government would give cash incentives to regulate commuter traffic. WTF.

The government should free up public transport. Trains infrequent and crowded? Have new bus companies to compete with it, not complement it like SBS. Give new opportunities for SMEs to enter the private bus market assuming they can find drivers as foreigner crunch now.

LTA addresses free travel concerns
From
Helen Lim Director, Media Relations and Public Education, Land Transport Authority


We refer to Ms Linda Foo’s letter, “Free travel scheme may not benefit all” (April 18).

The free pre-peak travel trial aims to ease crowding during the morning peak hour along the city-bound stretches of the MRT network, which are typically the most crowded stretches.

This trial complements our efforts to improve rail capacity aggressively through additional trains, higher train frequencies and new rail lines in the longer term.

We hope this encourages commuters who are able and willing to change their travel schedule to enter the city area before the morning peak hour.

If we can achieve a shift of 10 to 20 per cent, commuters who travel during the peak period would also benefit from a less crowded ride.

Today, there is significant spare train capacity just before the peak hour. About 18,000 commuters exit at the 16 stations in the city area in the half hour before 7.45am, compared to 29,500 in the half hour after 7.45am, and 59,000 between 8.30am and 9am.

To cater to the expected ridership shift, additional trains will be injected at targeted stretches with higher loading during pre-peak period. This will help reduce the intervals between trains, which are currently about three to four minutes in the pre-peak period.

We are grateful for the interest and suggestions from the public on the trial. We assure everyone that we will monitor the results closely and make rapid adjustments when needed.

Free Bus Rides OK, Monthly Travel Pass OK! More Operators How?

About time. Well, free bus rides is a great idea but you know it means public transport operators would pass the cost, and increase the fares for peak hours to compensate for the free rides in non-peak hours. That is interesting but as public transport companies are private companies based on profit, that idea would not sit well with shareholders. Monthly travel passes are finally here again so that is good. Why not weekly as well - as commuters want choices.

Nothing was said about old folks, those aunties and uncles who helped build our Singapore from dirt up to this modern international city. What should have been said is free rides for these oldies, or if not free rides in the government's co-pay mentality to beat back abuse, heavily subsidised fares then for the oldies. Ahem. I don't care about the poly kids whining about their lack of concessions compared to JC kids. Poly is tertiary education, so that means they can keep long hair, wear jeans to school and can smoke outside the school gates besides getting higher pay compared to JC kids when they enter the workforce with their diploma. So don't whine about JC kids getting concessions. It's apples and oranges.

The talking centres around fares and discounts rather than about true competition in public transport. Like more bus operators to compete with SMRT and SBS. If true competition is allowed, not this geographical divide and profit plot between SMRT and SBS, then fares would really drop. Minibuses running up and down Eastern, Northern and Western Singapore into CBD during peak hours would really bring ooomph into the public transport system. Who needs overpriced depreciating value cars when one has the Tiong minibus driver downstairs doing a non-stop from Simei or Clementi or Yishun to town? Lui is a retard as transport minister still.

Monthly adult travel pass being considered
By Jermyn Chow

THE high-level committee that is reviewing public transport fares is considering introducing a monthly adult travel pass.

Such a pass will help to cap monthly public transport expenses for average-income individuals or households, said Mr Richard Magnus, chairman of the Fare Review Mechanism Committee.

In a blog post yesterday, he also said that something ought to be done for children not yet in primary school who are taller than 0.9m - the limit currently set for free bus and train travel.

Polytechnic students and the disabled are also being considered for improved concessions, as are low-income earners.

  

MP proposes free travel on public transport before peak hours
By Saifulbahri Ismail | Posted: 05 March 2013 2001 hrs

SINGAPORE: Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Janil Puthucheary has raised the idea of free travel on public transport before peak hours to change their travel patterns.

Speaking during the Budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Dr Puthucheary urged public transport operators to consider providing commuters free travel within a certain time period outside rush hour. This could reduce the crush during peak hour travel.

Dr Puthucheary noted that currently train operators give discounts to encourage commuters to travel early.

He said: "If we can afford it, have all travel on public transport until the start of peak hour, free? If that's too great a leap, then maybe for example, every weekday morning for 30 minutes or an hour, ending at 7.45am, commuters can travel for free.

"Will this distort behaviour? Yes, that's the whole point. This will attract more people to change their travel patterns, compared to any discount."

White Paper and the Idiotic Public and PAP

And just as it quickly began, shallow White Paper dropped in front of our faces, the debate is over in parliament. OK feedback was sought last year but only 2,500 was collected.  As the PAP did not lift its party whip, the results were more or less expected. The PAP leering at one end, the WP and NMPs huddled back to back at the other. One lone NMP abstained, the coolest one as he signaled that the White Paper has both its merits and shits and would not commit. Or the dumbest as he with one cast of no-vote, he won enemies on both sides. The lesson from that, get WP in with at least a third of the seats and then we can see bills being negotiated before they can be passed in parliament. Not like now lock stock and barrel White Paper passed as policy.

There are lots of dumb fucks shouting Nay to population growth to 6.9 million by 2030. Like Gilbert Goh NSP member who whined about no jobs for locals as foreigners stole the jobs. He is going to hold some Speakers' Corner xenophobe bash soon. Great no maids, foreign wives and cleaners for you. Was he ever a businessmen to understand how the businesses feel? Anyway, WTF, unemployment is about 2% since 2010, and higher at 3% during that short 2009 recession. Despite all the hordes of Tiongs, Banglas, Ah Neh, Pinoy coming in, unemployment is still low and stable, not at 10%!. Facepalm.

Another sadly who lost the plot, is former MP Chiam See Tong. Listen me out. He said he was appalled that population would increase to that 6.9 figure as it would strain Singapore's living space and condition. The fucking problem is not the number of people, but the number of housing, the capacity of transport, social services and overall living space and thus quality of life.  Not the number of people in a city. Look at Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo. Modern international cities with high population density but with infrastructure that can cope. 

WP is right all along and actually struggle to maintain the balance between the dumb fuck PAP blind to public concerns and the dumb fuck masses, blind to the fucking need of businesses and the economy, not seeing beyond their noses that businesses, the economy and human capital is what keeping Singapore afloat. Human resources, human capital, skills and sweat, that is needed. Bringing in foreigners is fine - but slowly slowly slowly. WP got it right, listen to them you brainless shitheads.

Parliament endorses Population White Paper
Posted: 08 February 2013 1849 hrs

SINGAPORE: After five days of intense debate, Parliament on Friday passed the amended motion to endorse the White Paper on Population with 77 ayes and 13 nays.

Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Eugene Tan abstained from the vote.

Workers' Party MP Low Thia Khiang called for division on the amended motion to endorse the White Paper. In a division, the vote of each Member is collected and tabulated through an electronic voting system.

Other than opposition MPs, who all voted against the motion, NMPs Faizah Jamal, Janice Koh and Laurence Lian also voted 'no'.

The amendment, proposed by MP Liang Eng Hwa and passed by MPs, among other things, explicitly states that the White Paper "supports maintaining a strong Singaporean core by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children, supplemented by a calibrated pace of immigration to prevent the citizen population from shrinking".

"Although the Amended Motion captures some of the Workers' Party concerns about the White Paper, fundamentally the White Paper still forms the basis of the roadmap forward to 2030, which the House was asked to endorse," said WP chairman Sylvia Lim in a statement.

Explaining the party's reason for voting against the amended motion, she said the party "believes that the path proposed by the White Paper will further dilute the Singaporean core and weaken our national identity" and lead the Republic to "require unsustainable population injections in the future".

Ms Lim added that the party believes that the greater well-being of Singaporeans "lies in sustainable economic growth driven by increases in our productivity and in our resident workforce, rather than further increases in our dependency on imported foreign labour". Demographic challenges must be "addressed fundamentally and urgently" but focusing on increasing the total fertility rate and growing the resident labour force participation rate, she said.

Earlier, both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean addressed the House.

Concerns over the impact on the Singaporean core and caps on the foreign workforce were among the issues debated over the last five days.

Speaking on a range of topics, Mr Lee pledged that Singaporeans would not be "overwhelmed" by a flood of foreigners and sought to assure Singaporeans that their interests are at the centre of all the government's plans, and economic growth and population policies are just a means to improving citizens' well-being.

Over the next few years, the conversation on population will continue, said Mr Lee. He listed three areas for discussion: marriage & parenthood, the economy and the Singapore identity.

Public Transport Fare Increasing!

The MIA transport minister and former navy general has reported for duty finally. After taking cover for so long since the strike started and ended, he has come out to say that next year, bus and shhhhh...train fares would go up to pay for drivers' increased wages.   Sure, this policy to increase bus fares would be super popular and a sure vote-winner for the next election. Outstanding!

All this while, the former SAF army generals have taken the heat. Tan Chuan Jin from manpower for backing Desmond from SMRT. Desmond was also MIA on holiday when the crisis started as he was also trained enough to avoid the shelling, and would stick his head out only when safer. At least Tan stood up from the foxhole first with SAR 21 firing from both hands. Desmond and Tan wanted to turf out the troublesome Tiongs and send a fuck-you hardline message that the Tiongs must not get the impression that they can screw us more than we can screw them. We the boss! If the Tiongs don't get that message to play ball and not play punk, they would be climbing over heads of their bosses and even onto top of construction cranes to "sabotage" worksites!

However, this Lui is sending a contrary and not subtle signal that the strike by the SMRT service leaders', a damn stupid term and worse than "bus captains", was successful and salary changes would be made as a result of it. Army-Navy boxing! Fight fight fight!

BTW, SMRT chief Desmond also said they would be bringing in more SAF personnel into SMRT to do HR and other command-control tasks. That really inspires confidence in SMRT, at least the former butch SMRT CEO was a great retailer and made SMRT profitable from its retail rather than buses and trains.

SAF has a stellar background in HR policy and management. Sure, right. What they going to do, make the SMRT bus drivers do area cleaning and stand-by bunk to wake up the idea of the Tiong drivers? Make them do sentry duties so there would be no vandal intrusion into SMRT interchanges? Make drivers sign extra do weekend duty driving? Facepalm.

Public transport fare adjustments to take into account bus drivers' wage increase
By Dylan Loh | Posted: 06 December 2012 1626 hrs
Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said on Thursday public transport fare adjustments, due next year, will take into account the need to raise bus drivers' wages.

Mr Lui was speaking for the first time in the aftermath of the illegal strike by bus drivers from China last week, and said public transport cost increases over the years have outpaced fare adjustments.

He was trying out the route of a new service on Thursday under the government's billion-dollar Bus Service Enhancement Programme.

Mr Lui said the 34 Chinese bus drivers out of work from SMRT due to the strike make up only about 0.5 per cent of the total pool of 8,000-odd drivers.

Therefore, the impact on bus enhancements should be minimal.

What's of concern, however, is the lingering effect of the strike on recruitment and retention of bus drivers, and Mr Lui said the government is watching this carefully.

Looking at public transport fare adjustments of past years, Mr Lui said while fares have increased by 0.3 per cent, costs in fuel and wages for instance have gone up by 30 per cent.

He said the fare review committee recognises this "significant mismatch".

Mr Lui said: "Any fare adjustment will allow the two operators to have more resources, in time to come, to make further salary adjustments to their drivers. We recognise that the drivers need to be paid more. (The) question is, where is that money coming from?

"So we need to see the relationship between any fare adjustment, wage increase, and any other forms of government support that we might be required to give to the operators."

Mr Lui said it is difficult to wean dependence off foreign bus drivers as Singaporeans may not want to take up the job.

So salary adjustments, at least, will make the occupation more attractive to locals.

He said previous salary adjustments have helped to increase the recruitment of drivers, both local and foreign.

When asked whether SMRT should face any penalty as a result of the strike, Mr Lui said the operator will be evaluated according to quality of service standards.

Impact on bus services as a result of the two-day strike will be taken into account.

Mr Lui said he also spoke to SMRT's Chief Executive Desmond Kuek on the strike, and said the organisation needs to improve in many areas.

He said Mr Kuek needs to be given time to turn things around.

From December 16, two new SBS Transit bus services will start plying under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme.

Service 50, which will start service on December 16, will cover Ang Mo Kio, Yio Chu Kang, Sengkang and Punggol.

Express Service 513 will start on December 17, connecting residents of Tampines to the Central Business District. This service only runs during the morning and evening peak period on weekdays.

In addition, four new bus services will be added to the bus network in the first quarter of 2013.

Three of them come under the government's enhancement programme, while the other is a trunk service by SBS Transit at its own cost

Strike, and You're Out!

I want Tiongs, Banglas, Letticias. We need them in our economy. Construction, drivers, sales staff, nurses, cleaners, KTV girls, and other jobs that locals are not desperate enough to do. Despite what small-minded Singaporeans think that we should kick them all out. BTW I have even seen Pinoys cook and serve Chinese-style mee pok in food courts! They put so much vinegar into the mee pok, as if like their Pinoy dishes! WTF

Recently, SMRT bus drivers went on strike, more than 100 some more. They think it is some Foxconn strike! In a strike, there are always 2 sides to the story and given SMRT's pathetic track record on maintenance, I tend to give the bus drivers some leeway about their sad sob story (dirty dorms, not enough sleep, low pay - fucking pussies, it sounds like my BMT). However, people were inconvenienced and public transport, like public utilities and services should never be held hostage by strikers, especially if they are foreigners. Giordano or McDonalds workers strike I don't care. But SMRT staff?

It is only good news that 5 strike ring-leaders were charged and 29 others, probably those who instigated to a lesser degree, would be deported ASAP. The strikers are not the victims once they broke the law and ignorance is never an excuse. Bye-bye! Those who support the strikers unconditionally, shut the fuck up, you want the strike to spread and continue?

It would have been better if more of the 100 plus strikers were deported to show a strong disapproval and a zero tolerance on workers crippling public services. But the main reason more were not kicked out probably with SMRT negotiation is because too many bus drivers would have been taken off the roads as a result. It would self-pwn sabotage of SMRT bus services and cause more inconvenience to SMRT bus passengers.

SMRT bus strike: 5th driver to be charged, 29 to be repatriated
By Royston Sim & Maria Almenoar

The police has "substantially completed" its investigations into the illegal strike earlier this week and will be charging a fifth SMRT bus driver from China for instigating the work stoppage.

It has also issued stern warnings to 29 other drivers, who have since had their work permits revoked, and will be repatriated by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) soon.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Manpower Ministry, providing an update on the incident, said in a joint press statement on Saturday that "barring any new developments, we do not expect further arrests or repatriations related to this illegal strike".

"The police will be issuing warnings to the others who were involved, but no further action will be taken against them and they will be allowed to remain and work in Singapore, so long as they continue to abide by our laws," added the ministries.

SMRT vs Legless Thai Girl

Poor Nitcharee Peneakchanasak lost her legs after she fell into the tracks at Ang Mo Kio station last year and an oncoming train rolled over her. Fucking sad, also fucking mad if she managed to win that $3.4 million law suit against SMRT and even LTA for her accident in April 2011. Poor girl as she not only lost her legs, she will lose her law suit also soon.

I don't remember of any local who accidentally fell onto an MRT track. Not one. Jumped onto an incoming train to splat himself and have his messy inconsiderate suicide inconvenience thousands of commuters in peak traffic, yes and lots of them until SMRT had to build that stupid glass barrier that made platforms stuffy on hot days. However, I never remembered any horrible accident of  someone who slipped onto the tracks. WTF.

Most likely she was some clueless Thai girl who stood too near the yellow line. Any streetwise urban person would know to back off from that line until the train has stopped. MRT commuters should always be prepared that their stalker Ex, former recruit they tekan during BMT, employee they sacked and replaced with a cheaper foreigner, neighbour who hated their curry cooking or mahjong or marble dropping on the floor etc, is waiting for the chance for revenge and push them onto the tracks.

The Thai girl even said she was pushed although CCTV footage supposedly showed that the platform was not crowded. Huh? Like that also can ah? To win $3.4 million in a law suit, must try harder rather than that lame story right?

It looked that the poor Thai girl and her family decided to scam some money and take advantage of the situation. Maybe SMRT did not give her enough compensation in the first place and she pissed and wanted payback, literally. Anyway, WTF it was clearly damn sad she fell onto the tracks and for better or for worse, she only lost her legs. However, how was SMRT liable I don't know as I'm not some crafty glib-tongue lawyer. Is her lawyer going to say that former butch SMRT CEO spent more money on SMRT retail rather than on SMRT rails at the platform and it was SMRT gross negligence that led to the poor accident? Wow.

ERP Up! LTA MoFos

From 1st November, LTA is going to screw morning drivers. Some ERP rates jumped 400% and others jumped 500%! OK lor since ERP gantries are up already might as well charge charge charge. What is different this time is that usually they increase some gantries, decrease some gantries so that there is some sense of trade-off for drivers. This time, it is increase all the way! Mofo. Next time, they would increase the tolls on the other ERPs too! Greedy mofo.

Morning peak hour ERP rates to be increased at 6 gantries

SINGAPORE - The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates for six gantries leading to the CTE and ECP will be revised from Nov 5.

Four of the affected gantries are located on the southbound CTE after Braddell Road. From 7.30am to 8.00am, the ERP charge will go up by S$1 to S$4.

Two other affected gantries are located at Fort Road leading to the ECP and the KPE slip road onto the ECP. From 8.30am to 9am, the ERP charge will go up by S$1 to S$5.

The rates for the other gantries remain unchanged.

The Land Transport Authority announced the rate revision after completing its quarterly review of traffic conditions on ERP-priced roads and expressways.

Walloping Traffic Wardens

WTF, if illegal park, must look out in case CISCO traffic warden come lah! Then quickly must rush out jump into the car and drive off! If too slow, and get summoned, appeal. Why must wallop the wardens? They doing their job and as illegal parkers, all drivers know it is the cat and mouse game. The worse idiots are those who actually cheer and clap when wardens get physically abused! BTW These are some retards on Facebook who actually said they would be happy if they see traffic wardens get walloped by angry illegal parkers. Losers. Frus with the summons from the traffic wardens does not mean you can whack them lah.

Those who punch others are wrong lah and yet want to cheer them? WTF

Traffic wardens become punching bags as abuse on the rise
Published on Sep 23, 2012
By Bryna Sim

Mr Pannirselvam Muthusamy has had hot noodles thrown in his face and he has been punched in the ribs. He gets sworn at almost every day. This is the life of the enforcement officer for parking and traffic offences, because his job is to issue summonses to motorists who flout parking and other traffic rules.

Though only six months in the job, Mr Pannirselvam is already involved in three ongoing police cases of abuse by motorists. His plight is shared by many others doing the same job.

Certis Cisco, Mr Pannirselvam's employer, told The Sunday Times that the number of cases where members of the public have abused traffic wardens physically or verbally has been creeping up. This is aside from almost routine encounters, when motorists get angry when issued a summons.

Traffic wardens said that some drivers would crush the summons, or turn on their vehicles' windscreen wipers to get rid of it, or hurl it back at the officers.

Hurrah for the $3.1 million Wheelchair Cab Grant, More or Less

This is one of the feel good news, mostly. SMRT won a $3.1 million MCYS grant to have 30 cabs that can ferry those modern motorised wheelchairs.

BTW cabbing around in wheelchairs is not cheap. NTUC Comfort's Maxicab is a flat $45 fee while SMRT's Starex has booking fees of $8 (now) and $16 (advance) on top of the meter fares. These special cabs only take the traditional wheelchairs, and the motorised wheelchair users can call Wheelchair Mini-Buses which is the cheapest in town with a $20 flat fee. OK now comes the criticism.

Nonetheless as a helping hand for the underdogs, would have been better if Wheelchair Mini-buses operated by the Handicaps Welfare Assc got the grant to expand its fleet of 20. Not sure if they knew of and competed for the grant though. Why should all-for-profit public transport giant SMRT get the grant when a not-for-profit HWA deserved and needed it more?

Who could have qualified and applied for this wheelchair ferry service grant besides cab companies? I don't know. Another good recipient should have been town councils operating such special cabs for its residents, charging them at a nominal fee of course for this welfare service. This is an extension of and conjunction with the Central Singapore Community Development Council's 6-months Mediwheels trial where people who have difficulty walking can rent a mobility scooter for $10 a month! Yes, $10 a month and this is a fantastic plan except to the hardest and harshest of critics. However, I doubt these motorised scooters can be used as a means of commuting from Bedok to Bishan. WTF imagine a feisty Bedok uncle with cigarette dangling from his mouth, sitting on a motorised scooter with ERP unit installed, cruising at 5km/hr on the leftest PIE lane and then exiting into Bishan somewhere near Toa Payoh. Sure kena STOMP by the usual assholes there as a road hog!

Bedok to Bishan! Can means can!

Asphalt Darwinism and Roadkills

Cyclists are the sandwiched class in road use. They should keep off footpaths and be on the road as most cyclists on these paths are a dangerous menace to pedestrians. Some of the asshole cyclists zip by you and force you off onto the grass patch, or cycle close behind and then ding their bells loudly if they have one to startle old uncle or aunty pedestrians who did not hear them coming, onto the grass or worse onto the road. Cyclists don't belong on footpaths. The police should fine cyclists on pedestrian walkways like they do in London.

However, cyclists are the lowest on the food chain once on the road. Even lower than Malaysian death-defying motorbikes you see on all major roads darting in and out trying to knock into your car to and from Woodlands causeway!  This sad fact of asphalt Darwinism was seen in the tragic accident of Freddy Khoo. He was a triathlete and thus had community support from other fancy bikes pals in trying to bring road safety education to drivers - cyclists are not meant to be roadkill.

The death of fancy bike cyclists is fucking tragic, fuck, all deaths on the roads is tragic - the poor local uncle, or Bangla, or Tiong cyclist. The motorcyclist and his pillion, the car driver and his passengers, the bus and passengers on board, also the pedestrian who is at the wrong road or junction at the wrong time even if the poor fellow was obeying the rules and waiting to cross on the side of the road.

Now cyclists, mostly hobbyists and hobbyist-commuters, are jumping up and down and swinging their bike pumps angrily about 1.5m zone what fuck and dedicated cycling path. Some have taken a reasoned view of the situation nonetheless. Let me repeat, road accidents and fatalities are fucking awful. I grieve for road deaths caused by asshole drivers or bikers or truckers or even jay walking pedestrians. But if there is any widening of roads or special lanes, sorry fancy bike cyclists, wait in line. I would say the motorbikes deserve that special lane more urgently than cyclists. Not because they pay road tax and cyclists don't. But coz there are more motorbikes than cyclists and they should be taken care off first. UNLESS we are saying motorbikes and cyclists share a lane, which defies West European concepts of cycling lanes but it's fine by me as why must follow the Ang Moh colonial style?. Or maybe it is a bus-bike-bicycle lane! However, a deadly cocktail IMHO when buses squeeze into the lane.

Besides, WTF has a special lane for cyclists got to do with their safety seriously. If it is a asshole, drunk, sleepy or lousy driver, she or he is going to mow cyclists down anyway even if there is a bike lane or 3m safety zone or not! You seen some of those blurfuck tai-tai or aunties driving their Q7? Or those young think bigfuck drivers in their Swift or WRX? And it does not help that some asshole recreational Amstrong-wannabe cyclists cycle 2-3 abreast on the fucking road. They don't deserve to get run down of course, nobody deserves to get injured or killed on the road. Cycling lanes won't help, neither would the whining of some me-me-me cyclists as this guy puts it fairly accurately. It is just basic road safety and sense that can prevent accidents from cyclists to drivers to pedestrians. It's not about cyclists, it's about not being a dick on the roads.

SMRT Gets a Painful Slap on the Face

$1million fine slapped on left cheek. $1million fine slapped on right cheek. Total is $2 million fine and two slaps on the ass cheeks! Some will always say it is not enough. OK. Since when it is ever enough LOL.

Back in 2007, SMRT was fined before by LTA about $400,000 for a 7-hour delay for services between Tanah Merah and Pasir Ris MRT stations. This time, the fine is about 5 times more. $1 million for disruption on December 15, and another million for the frustration and inconvenience caused on December 17. The amount fine is the max permitted under the Rapid Transit Systems Act and that is the law, so we should not be dumbfuck and bitch that the right formula for the fine is 10% or 50% or 90% of the average profit for the past 5 years and some shit pulled-out-of-our-ass keyboard commentator insights.

The fines are huge amounts and the limits of the law, although they are loose change dropped into the seat for one player in the public transport oligopoly. According to SMRT, the profit from train services was around $91 million in FY 2012 (while buses and taxis were in the red). Remember also that the government as part of Budget 2012 gave a $1.1 billion subsidy to SMRT and SBS to renew and improve their bus fleets and routes earlier this year. A handout to the strained and stretched public transport system. Seriously?

So SMRT shareholders, don't feel too down about the hefty fines and jump in front of a MRT train and further disrupt MRT services and inconvenience the peak hour commuters out of stupid spite. There is still net gain in the books, although the company reputation's has derailed.

Singapore subway operator fined for December breakdowns


(Reuters) - Singapore subway operator SMRT will be given the maximum fine of S$2 million ($1.58 million) for two major disruptions in December that affected hundreds of thousands of commuters, a regulator said on Monday.

SMRT, about 54 percent owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, failed to maintain its network in good working order, the Land Transport Authority said.

A series of train disruptions in December tested Singapore's reputation for efficient services and dealt a blow to government efforts to promote public transport in the small and densely populated city-state of 5.2 million people.

During one of the biggest outages, hundreds of commuters were trapped underground without light or ventilation for more than an hour before they heard from SMRT.

"There were overall shortcomings in SMRT's maintenance and monitoring regime," the regulator said, adding that the maximum fine it could impose for each incident was S$1 million.

SMRT, which also operates buses and taxis, had net profit of S$120 million in its 2011 fiscal year on revenues of nearly S$1.06 billion, according to Temasek's latest annual report. ($1 = 1.2650 Singapore dollars)

One Year After GE 2011, So What?

If only we can throw all the parliamentarians into the bin!

Last year, the opposition finally won a GRC since the GRC ploy was conceived in 1988. Since then, we placed lots of hope on the WP really shoving the PAP aside in parliament. There was some shoving, but more like the PAP shoving the new WP MPs and NCMPs around. There were accusations of plagiarism (Pritam Singh and Chen Show Mao) and unsubstantiated facts in speeches (Gerald Giam). PAP bullies! - The WP crowd would shout.However, that's life in politics, that's life in parliament. WP to their credit, took it standing up and did not cry like pussies. The experienced WP members Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim didn't face the problems their newer guys did. The worst WP fracas was actually outside parliament. Hougang slipped into a by-election mode because its horny new MP Yaw screwed around and got kicked out of WP and therefore lost his MP seat. WTF. Should we thank him for a by-election and another public holiday? Yes, unless you are a Hougang resident as it is just a waste of your time. Anyway, the new WP cadres in parliament are just not as smart as we hoped they are and I bet Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim are smacking their fellow MPs and NCMPs to shape them up to avoid another self-pwn that the PAP would take advantage of. One year on, WP still has promise but it is not up there yet. If they keep this shoddy performance up, they might lose their GRC in the next round.

The PAP are just as bad as usual. Vikram Nair is the curly haired bad boy and he can sure bite, making parliament interesting at the very least. His infamous comment that Chen Show Mao's welfare and empowerment of the needy was like a Nigerian scam promised to make parliament more exciting and biting.  However, the thin-skinned folks in the internet want PAP to play nice, especially with specky nice guy Chen Show Mao. Frankly I want to see Pritam Singh and Vikram Nair go head to head. Nothing like seeing stereotypical eloquent Indians fencing with each other and accusing each other of political swindling and scams. Politics without the bitching rhetoric is just boring! One year on, the PAP still prefers to belittle and intimidate whenever they can. Sure, they have not sued anyone yet for defamation, but that bullying style does not sit well with the pussy Singaporean crowd who think that politics is made up of nice sincere smiles and cute bunnies with floppy years. Bring on the knuckledusters! - I can hear old Harry whispering and lifting feebly his two fists into the air, boxing style.

One year after the GE and promise of good times ahead, the PAP is still doing a shit job of most things. The optimistic exception for the moment is housing as Khaw Boon Wan is cranking up supply with new flats etc and cooling demand with ABSD. Right on top of my complaint list, the MRT system is literally falling apart, and PAP is going to give bus companies a jab to improve the public transport system. I don't know whether the jab is in the arm is to boost the bus companies or a jab into the eyes of taxpayers.

That is the biggest fuckshitbrains PAP policy in the past 12 months. Transport is the main pain in the ass and don't get me foaming at mouth about COE yet, not foreigners, not healthcare with means testing, not the cost of new flats. The government is still not deregulating public transport and allowing the re-entry of small private (pirate-like) bus companies to compete and complement the existing MRT and bus systems. Instead, they want to use taxpayers money and hand it over to shareholders of SMRT and SBS, no doubt some of them are retail investors like some of us but so what it just does not make sense. IMHO, now that is the ultimate PAP-fuck-you-you-voted-for-us salute. They want to show they are doing something, but in the end it still stinks because they are doing a shitty job of it.

Fine! and Free Rides!

 Screw you all! I'm out of here! Muahahahahahaha Quick quick quick let's go!

What recommendations from the COI I want to hear? Fine for SMRT! Free rides for commuters!

SMRT team has completed their findings on why their trains were so crap in December last year with its back-to-back 15 and 17 December train disruptions. So much for that December holiday month. SMRT staff didn't have holiday mood, and those who were stuck coz the SMRT trains suck also didn't have holiday mood. Butch Saw Phaik Hwa also didn't have holiday mood as the incidents derailed her SMRT CEO career.

The new transport minister, terrified that he would become jobless like Raymond Lim, quickly shook his head and made loud disappointing sighs at SMRT. So worried about keeping his job and making voters happy that in the recent SBS Transit MRT NEL disruption between Dhoby Ghaut and Harbour Front on 15 March, he actually went down to make his rounds and made sure the press took photo of him making his rounds and using his eye power! Whether push buttons or not is unimportant. What is important is to be seen to be pushing buttons. The former SAF general still remembers how to wayang from his military days.

In 2008, SMRT was fined close to $400,000 by LTA for a disruption for about 7 hours between Tanah Merah and Pasir Ris MRT stations. At that time as SMRT CEO was Phaik Hwa, SMRT was not worried as she could easily earn back the money from SMRT ad and shop rental businesses. Funny hor? SMRT a transport company was profitable not because of its transport operations but its retail offshoot. The December 2011 disruptions were worse than in 2008 and also the CEO who made SMRT profitable is no longer around. SMRT is screwed, and we commuters would be screwed next as the cost would be passed on to them in one way or another. You mean we won't?

SMRT completes inquiry into December service disruptions
Posted: 28 March 2012 1840 hrs

SINGAPORE: The SMRT Internal Investigation Team (IIT) has completed work on the December service disruptions and submitted its report to the Committee of Inquiry convened by the government.

The Board of Directors of SMRT Corporation Limited commissioned the IIT to review the causes and handling of train disruptions on the North-South Line on December 15 and 17.

SMRT said on Wednesday that the team reviewed the causes of the disruptions and the organisation's response to them.

It also made recommendations to prevent a recurrence and improve the organisation's response capabilities to mass disruption incidents.

The IIT submitted its report to the SMRT Board, which then submitted it to the COI.

SMRT said since the December 2011 incidents, it has been implementing its improvement plan to prevent a recurrence and enhance its capabilities to respond to train disruptions.

It said it appreciates the findings and recommendations provided by the IIT.

It added that it will carefully study and evaluate them, and consider further improvement measures that may be required.

SMRT said it will wait for the Committee of Inquiry's response and will implement further improvements as may be needed.