Friday, March 13, 2015

Spectre Of Zero Car Growth

With some children, they are best seen and not heard. Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo is one over grown kid who just does not know when to zip her lips. Even before we have a chance to recover from her disastrous “national service cannot be measured in dollars and cents” sound bite, she has to come up with a more monstrous "zero car growth likely in the future" quip.

Our parents once looked forward to the 5 Cs - Cash, Car, Credit Card, Condominium and Country Club. Although short changed by Goh Chok Tong's promise of a Swiss standard of living, through hard work and prudent financial planning, many have managed to achieved the 5 C status. Now Teo is threatening to set us back by one C. Whatever happened to "progress for our nation"?

She could have checked with her boss first - Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew - who promised in 2011 that the car growth rate would not be reduced to zero, knowing that such an outcome would go against the aspirations of those looking forward to owning a personal set of wheels. Perhaps she is making the bet that Lui, cursed and bogged down by the recent failures of the train system - poor guy is reportedly vowing to "claw back confidence in the rail system" - would never survive another election. Perhaps she wants a situation whereby only the elite can drive around in private vehicles on publicly funded roads, relegating the rest of us mere mortals to - how did Anton Casey put it? - the "stench of public transport."

The Singapore Vehicle Traders Association secretary raised a pertinent point, "If it's zero growth, is it still necessary to leave a COE system?" Let's see how Teo responds to her ultimate pay master about the loss of revenue from the lucrative COE scam.

24 comments:

  1. wonder who fried her brain ?

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    Replies
    1. she has a brain?

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    2. She never had one. Only a multi coloured eye shadow palette to paint her face with and fill in the pork marks every time she appears on tv.

      Someone should just give her a tight slap to wake her up from her rose coloured dreams. The words she sprouts really show an empty vessel.

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  2. You see a conflict between this lady and Lui? Given their track record, it is most likely a testing of the waters by them. Trust them to be transparent and upfront?

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    1. /lady/ ?
      All ladies are women
      but not all women are ladies.

      Delete
  3. /// "If it's zero growth, is it still necessary to leave a COE system?" ///

    The answer from Clueless Jo will definitely by an emphatic "YES". The Singapore Vehicle Traders Association secretary obviously doesn't know the real intent of the COE. It is not to control car population or manage traffic congestion. It is to collect billions of dollars in revenue.

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    Replies
    1. Everybody knows. Its just SVTA being diplomatic in giving face to the G by pretending COE is to control vehicle numbers.
      Just that G treats citizens as kids.
      Just look at most of the policies meted out -CPF minimum sum 3/4 tank rule etc

      Delete
  4. The COE was a brilliant idea.

    It created a market where buyer has to 2nd guess other buyers bid. The elites dictates supply and stand back and watch the chaos & mayhem... just that its all done silently through dealers and the electronic media.

    In the process, collect extra money too.

    Brilliant, absolutely brilliant... one computer, one algorithm and the entire car industry is tamed. Wonder if the programmer got any money for this.

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  5. Mmmmm. Could you pls clarify which set of lips? I'm curious to know. It seems both sets of lips are quite kurung ajar!

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    Replies
    1. The public ones, or the ones without the "l"?

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  6. The programmer from $2 IT company lah!

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  7. If you're wondering where the Tuck is Yew going to be, he will be crawling out on his knee after the next GE with the atrocious state of our railway networks. Having Teo who has a solid vote banks in Bishan, she can help him deliver more bad news without tattering his repute. What more, LHL came out to justify the 'hardwork'. It still doesn't explain why Japan and HK can run such an efficient system with a lot more population capacity, and why not ours? What are we missing? Have we bought some seriously bad lemons? Haven't we paid millions for the COI findings? Why are the persistent causes not adequately addressed and fixed? Zero car growth means more public transport, what further encouraging signs are there that they can handle it?

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    Replies
    1. Clearly not benchmarked against Japan.
      Would have seppuku by now.

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  8. What's with the PAP bitches? One makes mockery of a major general with "CPF is not your money", and another reverses a rear admiral's position on zero car growth.

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    1. That's the problem with having military guys in the civilian government and service. The general is generally speaking, and making major decisions without taking the private sector into consideration. Their lieutenants, them female dogs as you so aptly put, are clueless.

      As I said before, the vice of the Vice Admiral is the rear of the Rear of Admiral and vice versa.

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  9. It is called my mountain (HC) backing me (PAP self entitled "wo-MEN") is bigger than your mountain (LHL) backing you (Tuck Yew & hen-pecked PAP males).

    Scenario starting to look as such so above. When we have people to free ... so busy pocking their noses or to create mayhem at others expense...pay so much...so free to do all these nonsense...PAP style as usual....zzz

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  10. Let's call it what it is. It's not Zero Growth, it's Negative Growth for locals. Increasing proportion of COEs has been going to foreigners in the past decade. Let's see if they dare to release the numbers.

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  11. Read this! Spot on https://dotseng.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/on-trains-that-cannot-run-for-nuts/

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  12. Quote
    Outsource it lock, stock and barrel to the Japanese. Do not delay. Either that or put up with more grief and lame excuses why we have a first world train service that seems to run more like the Pan African Railway services.

    At some point somewhere along the line of reasonableness…..the buck has to stop. Either that or one will just run out of tracks.

    All wise men know of imagethe unpleasant business of putting a bullet thru the head of a horse with a broken leg….only stupid people do not know of this and continue to reinforce failure.

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  13. I will vote for the car salesman (ok, secretary of the association of car traders) - sharp minds abound in red dot, just not among those paid a million a year and now ruining our lives.

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  14. Trains that cannot run for nuts.
    And the most critical nut is the loose nut that is running the train system.

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  15. THE RAT UTOPIA EXPERIMENT THAT TURNED INTO RAT HELL
    Source:
    http://therealsingapore.com/content/rat-utopia-experiment-turned-rat-hell

    Reminds me of Singaporeans in our first class trains and first class HDB flats.

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  16. Rear Admirals are only good for admiring from the rear while all the warships are fighting in the front line. Tell me how many military generals, especially those who have not got to any war before, make good leaders in the commercial or public sector?

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  17. J̶a̶w̶s̶ Jos is no spring chicken, so I scratch my head at her latest utterances, jibes and candour. Perhaps she thinks her vote bank in her constituency is so secure that she is not afraid to be obnoxious or a spectre. To catch the eye of the princeling? After all she is one step away from a ministership and the million smackaroos, and join the ranks of the Fu woman, who assumed office at 48, a scant 2 years older than her now. Time is running out, so you can't trivialise it.

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