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| Rats |
Who cares about the "rollover system" decision - a fare increase of 6.6 per cent to be adjusted in two steps - made by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee in November 2013? This is December 2014, the price of oil has dived from a high of US$115 a barrel which Bank of America predicts could hit US$50 in 2015. Fuel cost is just one aspect of the economic effects about to be felt. According to the Financial Times, sliding oil is "exacerbating concerns about global disinflation", and has already triggered heavy selling across commodities. There are more at stake than the pissy formula that Lui uses to compute his "fare adjustment quantum".
What kind of signals is the Transport Minister sending when he rewards the train operator - with an ex-army officer in charge - who can't even secure his premises from intrusion by marauding graffiti artists? And now we hear the vicinity of Bukit Batok MRT station is invaded by a colony of marauding rodents. They can't even maintain a clean backyard. There's nothing wrong with their balance sheet though, and they are not about to trim some of the profits to improve the system. Maybe they are waiting for the rats to board the trains. The rats in parliament will do anything to improve ridership figures. And that has to be the reason why chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) Liu Thai Ker is saying the little red dot can accommodate 10 million people.
Pressed to name the challenges that Singapore will face with a 10-million population, Liu shoot back: "Don’t try to immediately picture the worst scenario. Can you use your imagination to picture a nicer scenario?" That picture of the rat nest has to be the tip of the iceberg.
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They proclaim that the interests of the citizens are foremost in the plans? It is obvious why they will increase the fares even in the face of tumbling oil prices - they are tendering the bus operations to foreign firms who want to be guaranteed profits. Otherwise the decision make no sense whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteOil price has dropped by nearly 47% and no appreciable reduction in the pump price and electric bills. When oil price goes up by ten dollars, pump price immediately goes up and so is electrity. Agree with author that it is a wrong time to increase bus fare.
ReplyDelete"Pressed to name the challenges that Singapore will face with a 10-million population, Liu shoot back: "Don’t try to immediately picture the worst scenario. Can you use your imagination to picture a nicer scenario?""
ReplyDeleteThis is the trouble with putting people in charge who are insulated from the consequences of their decisions. The scenario for Mr. Liu and friends is always rosy.
Since the rats appear at a PAP held ward, can we draw the conclusion that their Town Council people must be damn busy eating snakes (lazy) ?
ReplyDeleteIf the rats appear at Aljunied, one can bet those jiak-liao-bee PAPigs will be after the WP throats again.
Since when have the PAPigs become so evil and wicked hearted?
DeleteYou are more right than you think. Because they ate the snakes, they have taken away the natural enemies of the rats - hence the proliferation of rats.
DeleteMr Liu is a born artist, like his father. He is an architect for christ sake. He gets his immense professional and personal satisfaction by building and leaving behind more of his structures he built/designed for legacy. Why wouldn't it be in his interest and passion to build and build and build for 10million? Why don't he go back to Muar and see if he can turn his hometown of 300k population into 10m first since they have twice as much land space than SG does? If he can do it without rats infestation, tigers and flies and what not, than he can put his "artistic" theory into a science project for Gotham here. Why should the citizens here be used as his rat labs.
ReplyDeleteThe Gods surely have their own way of dealing with evil and wicked PAPigs, turning the pigs into rats?
ReplyDeleteFrom a FB commentator on Liu's Facebook who said it succinctly :
ReplyDelete//i am looking at smrt annual report 2014. profit from rail operation is $1m, bus is -$28m, and non-fare is +117m. SMRT annual report says they are "the leading multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore".//
I saw the rats news on tv on 16 Dec'2014. Wow, never saw so many rats in S'pore even when I lived in the kampung in 1960's to 1970's. What have happen to the working attitude of the gov't bodies? This rats infestation news had been reported in the newpapers two weeks ago, yet nothing has been done yet. Where are you: Desmond Lee, Vivian Bala, Lawrene Wong, NEA, HDB, Npark?
ReplyDeleteThe ground where the rats roam - are they under the purview of NPark, LTA or ENV? Or I forgot - call in the Fu from MSO.
ReplyDeleteWondering if GIC and Temasek Holdings are caught "off guard" again....or as usual listern to the usual self serving BS advisors telling them commodities still the in-thing this year still and next year...actually when Russia will get involved with the Ukraine issue is a no brainer...2 years ago US / German spooks have highlighted Russia has no choice due to eastern Ukraine population are ex Russian citizens themselves to "help politely" in the end....and it was just a matter of time the Saudis via OPEC will do something about the oil prices which Iran (paying for its nuclear ambitions and funding of "self help" groups around the world tomake the world a "better" place) and also Russia (to pay for its growing military/support also "self helping but polite" groups here and there) in this global game of influence and power...as well as play the oil card on US cos of US producing their own independent oil supply from shale fields...i wonder if Ah Loong has a good spook/true advisor who can tell him what is going to happen 1/2 years from now holistically...instead of just focusing just a narrow-side view of how things should and must be...hmmm...shrugs.
ReplyDeleteDid I just heard that the coverment is now blaming people for feeding the stray dogs for the rats to have multiplied? Of course, I would then ask, who is supposed to manage " Strays"? You see, nowadays, any excuse they care to throw up will the be countered and let us see what crap " answers" they may have to that!
ReplyDeletePeople don't just start feeding strays over night and suddenly rat colonies pop up. There must be a lot more causes to rat infestation than the feeders. It sounds more like cover up and finger pointing.
ReplyDelete