Can't stand whenever I speak of something, people would reply like "why not go join government service" or "like this private can't make money".
Geesh, if one really wants to make profits, it also has to be socially responsible else everyone could make profits from any method. If there's no rule, everyone could start making profits from any method be it legal or illegal. At this point, I'm reminded by what Evergreen Group's founder Dr Chang Yung Fa mentioned about people these days over ethnics.
Some of these people whom I know are simply taking the easy way out, anything find the govt as scapegoat. Little wonders why they mention of issues against government for anything (i.e. cost of living like compare how cheap KFC meal is in M'sia, but I dare them to live and work in M'sia and earn in RM) and even talking to people about migrating.
Next people say I'm patriotic, in reality it's rather they do not care anything about this place. I think simply my younger generation "Gen Y" many are a let down, the hunger factor to improve our lives has died and complacency has set in.
Love your country, take responsibility for her and she'll love you back else who will? Is that very difficult?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
How inefficent the 'first world' Singapore is.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS)'s Casino opening indeed has created a continuous flow of human traffic at the HarbourFront MRT Terminal, VivoCity and the bus stop outside VivoCity which RWS8 shuttle service stops to pick up passengers to RWS.
I did notice everyone be it SBS, VivoCity's mangament, Traffic Police deployed resources to ensure smooth operations with the huge crowd. However, the long queue at the MRT station general ticketing machine (GTM) exposes how third world standard are of our public transport fare collection system.
So much of the ESC's report of encouraging people to invest more to improve productivity when the the public sector isn't willing to spend capital to improve current system themselves.
There was a massive long queue for tourist to purchase and return their single trip ticket farecard to collect the $1 deposit on top of commuters who might wish to top up their farecards. I roughly counted that there was 40 - 50 people queueing at any one time. It seems queuing is getting to become a part and parcel of a typical Singaporean's life.
It's costly as the tourist might have more time to shop to purchase goods or the positive impression they've for Singapore's infrastructure. All these factors aren't going to be able to be counted in real monetary terms.
Back in late December I suggested to LTA about using RFID chip to act as the single trip ticket medium to increase efficiency. It has been done in Taipei. Yet it was shot down citing it being too costly to upgrade the system.
I'm dumbfounded. If Singapore can spend billions onto building more and more MRT lines and we can't even spend money to improve on our current facilities, what does it show? Firstly, it's like one Chinese phase, aiming high when you can't get your basics done.
Secondly I wonder are we getting complacent, thinking we should content with what we've now? Or is it wait till others overtake us and we've lost of attractiveness to foreign investors before we buck up? W/o natural resources, it's practically suicide. Anyway in the first place, if cost is an issue, how could we have money to build new MRT lines? Isn't it contradictory?
In fact Taipei's MRT service level is much much better in terms of service, efficiency, frequency than SMRT. I salute to the Tapei MRT's management as the system being BOT (build operate transfer), profitability is harder to achieve compared to SMRT and yet able to provide better MRT service than Singapore.
In Singapore LTA plans, build the MRT line and stations. It would then be given to operators to operate with a concession, after which the operational profits would be kept by the operator. But this cannot be said for BOT projects whereby the operator would build from scratch and eventually operate the line themselves. Hence they could only recover their investment in the construction phase years later.
Investment in productivity and efficiency requires effort, the will to get it done and capital to start with. At the same time the effect of better profitability would only be seen around 5 years later (not instant results). Hence we have to do away with obsession on short term profit gains before it's too late into creating an economy with better leading edges against other economies in the long run.
Oh well, back to myself watching the movie starring Fann Wong on Channel 8 on the perceived typical government department bureaucracy.
I did notice everyone be it SBS, VivoCity's mangament, Traffic Police deployed resources to ensure smooth operations with the huge crowd. However, the long queue at the MRT station general ticketing machine (GTM) exposes how third world standard are of our public transport fare collection system.
So much of the ESC's report of encouraging people to invest more to improve productivity when the the public sector isn't willing to spend capital to improve current system themselves.
There was a massive long queue for tourist to purchase and return their single trip ticket farecard to collect the $1 deposit on top of commuters who might wish to top up their farecards. I roughly counted that there was 40 - 50 people queueing at any one time. It seems queuing is getting to become a part and parcel of a typical Singaporean's life.
It's costly as the tourist might have more time to shop to purchase goods or the positive impression they've for Singapore's infrastructure. All these factors aren't going to be able to be counted in real monetary terms.
Back in late December I suggested to LTA about using RFID chip to act as the single trip ticket medium to increase efficiency. It has been done in Taipei. Yet it was shot down citing it being too costly to upgrade the system.
I'm dumbfounded. If Singapore can spend billions onto building more and more MRT lines and we can't even spend money to improve on our current facilities, what does it show? Firstly, it's like one Chinese phase, aiming high when you can't get your basics done.
Secondly I wonder are we getting complacent, thinking we should content with what we've now? Or is it wait till others overtake us and we've lost of attractiveness to foreign investors before we buck up? W/o natural resources, it's practically suicide. Anyway in the first place, if cost is an issue, how could we have money to build new MRT lines? Isn't it contradictory?
In fact Taipei's MRT service level is much much better in terms of service, efficiency, frequency than SMRT. I salute to the Tapei MRT's management as the system being BOT (build operate transfer), profitability is harder to achieve compared to SMRT and yet able to provide better MRT service than Singapore.
In Singapore LTA plans, build the MRT line and stations. It would then be given to operators to operate with a concession, after which the operational profits would be kept by the operator. But this cannot be said for BOT projects whereby the operator would build from scratch and eventually operate the line themselves. Hence they could only recover their investment in the construction phase years later.
Investment in productivity and efficiency requires effort, the will to get it done and capital to start with. At the same time the effect of better profitability would only be seen around 5 years later (not instant results). Hence we have to do away with obsession on short term profit gains before it's too late into creating an economy with better leading edges against other economies in the long run.
Oh well, back to myself watching the movie starring Fann Wong on Channel 8 on the perceived typical government department bureaucracy.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Economic Strategy Committee report
Overall the report highlights did point out the path the country needs to take in order to survive in the compeititve world in the next 5 - 15 years.
But I hope it would really materialise simply because organisations might be turned off into invest to improve productivity in the name of profits. One example I could think of is the inefficient single trip MRT ticket system. I'm told by LTA that it's not possible to upgrade to using the efficient RFID chip as like in Taipei, ROC because of 'cost'.
I think we should start to rethink should we continue on building MRT since it cost billions and yet upgrading of current systems of solving our current problem and basics is not a priority citing 'cost'. Seems we've forgotten how we came from - of getting the basics settled before moving on further.
At the same time land usage has to be prudent. I hope no more of the flop of having 2 Boon Lay Bus Int to occur again elsewhere. It ends up counterproductive.
But I hope it would really materialise simply because organisations might be turned off into invest to improve productivity in the name of profits. One example I could think of is the inefficient single trip MRT ticket system. I'm told by LTA that it's not possible to upgrade to using the efficient RFID chip as like in Taipei, ROC because of 'cost'.
I think we should start to rethink should we continue on building MRT since it cost billions and yet upgrading of current systems of solving our current problem and basics is not a priority citing 'cost'. Seems we've forgotten how we came from - of getting the basics settled before moving on further.
At the same time land usage has to be prudent. I hope no more of the flop of having 2 Boon Lay Bus Int to occur again elsewhere. It ends up counterproductive.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Resorts World Sentosa visit
Mmm. Visited the place incl Festive Hotel & Hard Rock Hotel. The reality is that only the 4 hotels are virtually opened for business in the IR.
Nice interior. Of course the Casino entrance is the place of 'interest' for now especially it's the first time you see the word "Casino" in Singapore. Hopefully Universal Studio Singapore would open soon. I myself would likely enter least once in my lifetime (weekday ticket cost S$66).
Anyway there's already NightRider NR1 & NR6 operating to/ from RWS to Yishun & Sengkang New Town respectively. During the Weekend daytime, there's RWS shuttle service RWS88 (S$2 per trip, to City Hall MRT Station/ Coleman St bus stop {Used by SBS Sv 130 towards Ang Mo Kio} at 20 mins frequency) and 963R (Distance related Express fares between S$1.50 and S$2.35, serving Clementi, Bt Batok, Hillview, Bt Panjang, Woodlands residential bus stops at 30 - 40 mins frequency).
It seems that SMRT has already anticipated the eventual IR crowd to be high. Hence my ride on RWS88 was terrible, the bus hogging the bus lane at 20kph along Telok Blangah Rd, Kg Bahru Rd, Eu Tong Sen St as SMRT allocated a whopping 45 mins travelling time for the short journey. Beats me though that the bus uses the congested Chinatown area (due to DTL works) than using Robinson Rd/ Fullerton Rd.
People are puzzled with RWS88 & 963R as it approaches the bus stop as SMRT has apparently missed out onto updating service information on top of the current RWS8 at the RWS bus stop. Little needs to mention there's no queueing system in place yet for RWS88 & 963R.
Nice interior. Of course the Casino entrance is the place of 'interest' for now especially it's the first time you see the word "Casino" in Singapore. Hopefully Universal Studio Singapore would open soon. I myself would likely enter least once in my lifetime (weekday ticket cost S$66).
Anyway there's already NightRider NR1 & NR6 operating to/ from RWS to Yishun & Sengkang New Town respectively. During the Weekend daytime, there's RWS shuttle service RWS88 (S$2 per trip, to City Hall MRT Station/ Coleman St bus stop {Used by SBS Sv 130 towards Ang Mo Kio} at 20 mins frequency) and 963R (Distance related Express fares between S$1.50 and S$2.35, serving Clementi, Bt Batok, Hillview, Bt Panjang, Woodlands residential bus stops at 30 - 40 mins frequency).
It seems that SMRT has already anticipated the eventual IR crowd to be high. Hence my ride on RWS88 was terrible, the bus hogging the bus lane at 20kph along Telok Blangah Rd, Kg Bahru Rd, Eu Tong Sen St as SMRT allocated a whopping 45 mins travelling time for the short journey. Beats me though that the bus uses the congested Chinatown area (due to DTL works) than using Robinson Rd/ Fullerton Rd.
People are puzzled with RWS88 & 963R as it approaches the bus stop as SMRT has apparently missed out onto updating service information on top of the current RWS8 at the RWS bus stop. Little needs to mention there's no queueing system in place yet for RWS88 & 963R.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
"Please move in to the rear, Thank you!"
It was quite a scene of spotting false images of buses being packed potrayed by NP & UniSIM students.
Noticed trips of these so called packed buses of Sv 74, 184 heading towards Dover & Clementi respectively. However, the buses are actually empty at the upper deck and the rear carriage respectively.
I wonder where has the graciousness of the younger generation of Singaporean gone to? They should learn to put themselves into the shoes of passengers who are boarding along the way en-route to Dover or Clementi MRT stations.
It's quite a shame that there are people who are still complaining of 'packed' buses when no one is co-operating to move in. I think going at this rate, SBS should stop buying double decker buses since the younger and growing up generation of Singaporeans cannot apperciate operators purchasing bigger capacity buses to carry more passengers per trip.
In fact such acts only delays and lengthens the bus travelling time. My feeling is that SBS buses are 'late' these days thanks to un-cooperative passengers. That's why my personal oppinion is that SMU should not even include public transport as part of the customer satisfaction index - there's no use for this survey as every commuters is responsible for everyone's public transport journey experience as well being a co-shared facility.
By then Singaporeans should not be complaining why single decker buses are so packed. Complain this, complain that, what do people want?
Noticed trips of these so called packed buses of Sv 74, 184 heading towards Dover & Clementi respectively. However, the buses are actually empty at the upper deck and the rear carriage respectively.
I wonder where has the graciousness of the younger generation of Singaporean gone to? They should learn to put themselves into the shoes of passengers who are boarding along the way en-route to Dover or Clementi MRT stations.
It's quite a shame that there are people who are still complaining of 'packed' buses when no one is co-operating to move in. I think going at this rate, SBS should stop buying double decker buses since the younger and growing up generation of Singaporeans cannot apperciate operators purchasing bigger capacity buses to carry more passengers per trip.
In fact such acts only delays and lengthens the bus travelling time. My feeling is that SBS buses are 'late' these days thanks to un-cooperative passengers. That's why my personal oppinion is that SMU should not even include public transport as part of the customer satisfaction index - there's no use for this survey as every commuters is responsible for everyone's public transport journey experience as well being a co-shared facility.
By then Singaporeans should not be complaining why single decker buses are so packed. Complain this, complain that, what do people want?
Monday, January 18, 2010
Resorts World Sentosa opening on Wed
Yes, it's opening on Wednesday starting with 4 out of 6 hotels.
From CNA, SMRT would be introducing 6 more bus services to Resorts World Sentosa. I wonder where is SMRT going to get the buses with their current fleet size.
CNA article on the first day of revised Sentosa entry fee:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1031528/1/.html
From CNA, SMRT would be introducing 6 more bus services to Resorts World Sentosa. I wonder where is SMRT going to get the buses with their current fleet size.
CNA article on the first day of revised Sentosa entry fee:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1031528/1/.html
Our Singapore's infrastructure capacity
At the beginning, I would really confess that I didn't expect my letter of thoughts about our domestic infrastructure's capacity issues would really be published on the press (ST forum 18/01/2010 online).
However I forgot to pen down that actually overall everything is still well provided for in Singapore in particular our seaports and airport facilities - big and spacious. My mind was simply on our domestic infrastructure then. My mind is still fuming that Boon Lay needs to keep the old interchange open for the big crowds heading to NTU/ NIE onboard SBS Svs 179, 179A & 199.
In fact PSA is now building a container barge terminal at Jurong Island to provide an alternative to the current haulage to PSA's current four container terminals namely at Tg Pagar, Keppel, Pulau Brani & Pasir Panjang. It's a good move as it would relieve AYE or Jln Buroh/ West Coast Highway from the massive jam
Although it's just a barge terminal, based on the tender notices, electric powered rubber tyred gantry cranes for the stacking yard would be installed and commissioned.
Tender notices for works on Jurong Island barge terminal: http://www.singaporepsa.com/business/tenders/2009-12.html
mmm.. Counting down and it's 127 more days to my pre - university entry medical checkup on 25th May and 217 days to NTU AY2010/2011's commencement (orientation week). It was just 603 days ago that I graduated from NP.
However I forgot to pen down that actually overall everything is still well provided for in Singapore in particular our seaports and airport facilities - big and spacious. My mind was simply on our domestic infrastructure then. My mind is still fuming that Boon Lay needs to keep the old interchange open for the big crowds heading to NTU/ NIE onboard SBS Svs 179, 179A & 199.
In fact PSA is now building a container barge terminal at Jurong Island to provide an alternative to the current haulage to PSA's current four container terminals namely at Tg Pagar, Keppel, Pulau Brani & Pasir Panjang. It's a good move as it would relieve AYE or Jln Buroh/ West Coast Highway from the massive jam
Although it's just a barge terminal, based on the tender notices, electric powered rubber tyred gantry cranes for the stacking yard would be installed and commissioned.
Tender notices for works on Jurong Island barge terminal: http://www.singaporepsa.com/business/tenders/2009-12.html
mmm.. Counting down and it's 127 more days to my pre - university entry medical checkup on 25th May and 217 days to NTU AY2010/2011's commencement (orientation week). It was just 603 days ago that I graduated from NP.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)