Thursday, July 9, 2015

Paid To Fail

You talking to me? You talking to ME?
The world saw how the Samsung heir apparent bowed humbly to apologise for an associated hospital’s failures in dealing with the country’s outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In contrast, the arrogant army officers were hardly contrite in their body language, their eyes ready to stare daggers at anybody who dared to question their competency.

There's good reason the ex-army officers are confident their jobs are not at risk. In the 16th Annual General Meeting convened earlier in the afternoon, they had just rubber stamped the sum of $908,296 as payment for Directors’ fees, up from $805,896 in FY 2014  (Desmond Kuek, 52, earned more than $2.25 million last year, up from dismal Saw Phaik Hwa's last drawn derisory $1.85 million). Shareholders were also amply taken care of, $40 million were distributed as dividends in 2014, up from $30 million in 2013. Why should they leave all that lovely money on the table for maintenance, just because 250,000 commuters stranded at the evening rush hours of July 7 were inconvenienced?

Welcome to the world of the new aristocracy. They are not expected to bow and scrape; they demand respect just because they command multi-million dollar salaries. Meritocracy is for the minions, who have to compete with foreign imports with degree mill qualifications, for a decent paying job.

After an overnight sweep of the doomed North-South and East-West lines, damaged power cables, faulty voltage relays and water leakage issues were discovered - Kuek had the gall to admit that routine maintenance is carried out only once in 6 months. But why should the maintenance staff care? They were recently paid $500 bonuses - whether for a job well done or keeping mum about top down incompetence we will never know. Get used to the new normal, people, even the ex-brigadier general prime minister is saying, "we are still very worried that the problem may recur”.

44 comments:

  1. The arrogance of these "natural aristocrats" is appalling. That miserable woman Saw was picked because she was a natural aristocrat or because she knew someone? The neglect started from there and compounded by the tsunami of foreign talents and further compounded by these arrogant military pricks. The commuting public will have to bear the cost of repair and maintenance whilst the aristocrats enjoy their ill-gotten gains. Time for change.

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    1. The commuting public will have to bear the cost of repair....//

      WE? In other words, the Bucks stop with us?!?

      Delete
    2. start taking the bus.

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    3. someone who has the gall pls deliver one physical KICK to Mr Kuek in public

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    4. A kick to him scrotum, provided the person who has the gall and committed anger do it

      Delete
  2. We the commuters are extremely concerned that the extreme concerns concerning the extreme concerns have become shallow and meaningless.

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    1. http://youtu.be/Zp5detunkbY

      You will be extremely pleased with the creativity of commuters who are here to support your extreme concerns via the video.

      Delete
  3. Our very own Greek moments.... a taste of
    - our wives being maids
    - rubbish not collected
    - corrupt officials if they are not paid sufficiently

    Request for minimum wage... denied flatly.
    But they 'benchmark' it to top 15 wage earners across industries... somehow.. that sounds like minimum wage to me.

    what the fuck

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  4. Why can't they for God's sake appoint someone with engineering background as CEO instead of a military man? If you are one of the current engineering heads of department which had been sidelined for promotion to make way for a military man, would you give your most earnest support to him in times of failure?

    Same with some big shot's wife appointed to look after our CPF monies which they say technically are no more our funds especially when the returns are multiples of our CPF rate of returns.

    With the stroke of the pen, they can even change the terms of the maturity date of our CPF deposits to one that is closer to our own expiry dates. Are they not a form of scammers?

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    1. I humbly submit that: If their only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail? Pinkie and all scholars cannot accept that groupthink permeates the whole oxbridge-infested scholar world, otherwise its like admitting they are not the best. In our system, rulers cannot be seen to be fallible, and so fudge on they will. Those hoping for anything different since the first MRT breakdown and BOI (which cost taxpayers tens of millions) shud just suck it up, its their own failing for putting these people there. You elect the same mould of people for 50 years, you get a certain system, shud not expect a Steve Jobs around to kick asses and inspire, right? So don;t blame them for seeing us all as nails.

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    2. I can't wait for the day when all CPF is only for crediting to the heirs' accounts if not used up for purchasing housing and Medishield Life.

      Delete
  5. New York ex-mayor Mr Bloomberg was salaried at $225k per year but chose to take $1 instead. Not only did he ride the subway to work regularly, he is also paid to govern a city state of 8.4m population. Tell me again, why does a smrt chief worth more than a New York City mayor who does more than just overseeing an segment of public transportation?

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    1. "why does a smrt chief worth more than a New York City mayor"

      You need friends for the day you proclaim a freak election result.

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    2. When the PM benchmark his pay to smrt CEO's?

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    3. Spot on 3:41pm anon

      We are already half junta occupied regime.

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  6. Desmond could have just resign and still pocket that $2 mil+. It's like striking TOTO without having to queue to buy. Not bad, I believe I am up for SMRT CEO job.

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  7. I shudder to think if these people are put in real life situations...in all probability...they get people killed...and yet still think it is not their fault..interesting no...zzz

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    1. Are you not borned yet when real life situation happened decade ago. Singapore SARS claimed 33 victims under then Minister of health Lim Hng Kiang. He had to be replaced within a week when he lost control of the epidemic. Just like how he handled the NKF case, this clueless scholar is now DY chair of our temasek and GIC now. When the whole thing blew over, unlike the Samsung heir, no one had to apologize, and leaders kept their job and after patting the front line heroes on their back and pretend to grieve publicly. That Kinabalu case is the mini version of the show. It all boils down to nature ..we mourned with you then we move on. Works every time..

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  8. SMRT is privatized, So ask yourself if Temasek Holdings being the 2nd largest share holder has anything to do with this profiteering, after all have to keep their 16% avg gains from the bonds they sell, what better way to guarantee these gains but by buying into local infrastructures that we cannot do without, telcos, transport, power/gas, properties. Its a rinse cycle, all you need is put people in and money comes out.

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  9. I pay to rail, not derailed.7/09/2015 2:01 PM

    http://res.cloudinary.com/sixsix/image/upload/v1436353447/l0a8hbwkwuroqzll4h1m.jpg

    Can someone please enlightened me how the rail disruptions has been reduced per the AGM statement?

    We pay to rail and the CEO is paid to fail. Liddat how to bridge the disconnect? No wonder even the bridging bus services were such a mess.

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  10. I detailed study into the shareholders of SMRT will reveal who are the beneficiaries. We all know our Ministers themselves enrich themselves by buying properties and investing in "high" yielding shares.

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  11. They want to know the root causes of all these failures?

    Well, here are two key ones:
    1) Foisting clueless paper generals and admirals into private companies when they don't have the relevant expertise.

    2) The major shareholder who needed the high dividends to improve its TSR and to play in the stockmarkets of the world. So much capital is dividend-ed up that there is not enough resources for maintenance.

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    Replies
    1. An auntie once told me SMRT is the only rail operator in the entire world that earns a profit as if that is a good thing...So I told her maybe we should only focus things that make money and stop building roads and schools because they don't?

      Check-fucking-mated. Yet another symptom of how PAP managed to raise an entire generation of brain-dead warm bodies utterly incapable of reasoning.

      Delete
  12. Wow, another bonding exercise to be one people one nation since the passing of the founding father leh. People should not complain lah, is all for your good, even if the song ends with " one frustrated singapore"

    NOrth South East west, SMRT is the best!
    You no longer move people, much less enhance lives.
    Must change tag line to "bonding journey" meh


    .

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  13. It is said stares can kill.

    Is it true ?

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  14. Maintenance is only once in 6 months!? And we have exceeded 1 billion ridership!

    But what stuck in the craw is that Lui Tuck Yew has vowed to claw back the commuters confidence. How is it that with 61% increase of engineers recruited onboard, major island wide meltdown can still recur?

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    Replies
    1. But hor to be fair, he didn's say where the engineers come from right? And he didn't say the local engineers are in process of handing over (aka "teaching" the new engineers, all from top top universities in PRC, India dn of course pinoys), after which the locals would be retrenched so Desmond and fellow officers can boost their pay packages another 5% while paying higher dividends to the major shareholder? Same trend everywhere and zoro the new manpower minister (aka S1 in army terms) seems to be paying lip service asking all employers to first advertise before hiring FT (aka you can hire as much FT as you like but only after paying SPH the mandatory advertisement fee!)

      Remember: Singtel fire, DBS and other local banks internet banking cock-ups, SGX shutdown etc etc? Guess what is the common trait? Correct!

      Delete
  15. Socialising costs, privatizing profits.

    Suck it up you worthless peasants.

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  16. Listen up, men:
    “In Japan, the chairman and CEO would call a press conference, take a deep bow and, in the good old days, they may even commit hara-kiri.”

    Commit hara-kiri? I guess only when the cow jumps over the MRT line.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they are only good for harakiri, but not seppuku since they don't have the bushido spirit. Only bullshit-do. Or should I say cow-dung-do.

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  17. The PAP makes use of the SAF scholarship system to pick these scholar generals to fill up leadership positions in GLCs and politics.

    Until the SAF scholarship system is revamped or scrapped, we will continue to have these military dunces ruin this country. These morons would never survive in the private sector. If you want a career in the military, by all means, stay in uniform till you retire or die.

    There's a theory that LKY, being the petty and paranoid little man he was, deliberately kept these SAF generals well fed and gainfully employed, so as to minimize the risk of military coups happening.

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    1. Yup. That's why the chiefs are all in the appointments for a limited number of years so that they cannot build up a power base. They are then quickly retired so that the younger generals can have a shot at the gravy train.

      Well fed certainly. But gainfully employed? Yes, gainfully for the generals and admirals of vice and rear (arse), but painfully for consumers and citizens.

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  18. Just how many Generals are there in the parliament, Temasek-linked companies and the civil service?
    We should make all these Retired generals wear their uniforms so that we know just how overwhelming their presence is.

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    1. They did and still do Surname their Family Names with their Military Ranks, even for NS Man.

      It leaves an impression that it is a military junta without uniform.

      Delete
  19. The SAF provides a wonderful tool to suit the party's purpose of identifying, training, observing their hand picked proteges...the process actually starts from kindergarten, right through to JC.

    The SAF allows opportunities for:

    - large scale organisation of events
    - obedient subjects
    - away from public scrutiny
    - good cover under the guise of military
    - limitless money
    - expansive resources
    - overseas experiments.

    That they ( scholars ) enjoy such a compliant group of people, they can only operate within Temesek's world.
    None will survive outside of this sterile environment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No wonder Singapore is made so sterile.
      So that a conducive environment is created for our tin pot Generals.
      There are many banana republics with Generals running loose in the economy.
      Indonesia in the 1980's under Suharto comes to mind.

      Delete
  20. Being the one of top richest country cannot even have a good mrt train system. What is the use of keeping of our resources, when all our system are not in tip top condition? Why are we paying to those cannot sacifice for the nation? Our leader should set a role model.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our leader is setting a role model.
      "What's wrong with collecting more money?"

      Delete
  21. Actually hor, the MRT breakdowns are due to overload, too many people, run too frequently. It is the direct consequence of the government's population policy. Breakdowns are inevitable lah, given the current situation.

    Ex-Brigadier General PM: "we are still very worried that the problem may recur”. I say, this is the bald-faced understatement of the year! So ex-army officers, yes-men, are roped in, paid highly, to take the heat and deflect the blame from the real culprit. Naturally their rice bowl is guaranteed. Will this real culprit please kee chiu! Time for change. VTO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like Tattler very aptly put it, "Paid To Fail".

      Delete
  22. Donch Worry. It is due to Overload and Underrepair. It is ALL your fault. You All take the trains at the same time so the sytem cannot take it. Very Simple !!! Then now you ALL let off your Pay Cow and Boo Cow on our Aristocracks. Very soon the People's Assholeciation will have to issue passes for you to avoid jamming the poor trains like the Australian Free Barbecue. Otherwhys you Singapeasants will not know how to think what is good for yourselves.

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  23. Nows Is the Time. Ownself Think For Ownself.

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  24. Welcum back! We love you Tatler! We really do! We miss your absence!

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