9/23/2006

angry on a saturday morn

30 years ago I screamed that we should have season tickets for public transport to lower the cost of travelling and to revitalise the economy and socialisation of the people. The benefits of a cheaper season ticket are enormous. Just close the eyes and think about them, what such a scheme would do to the health of the country. It is like freeing all the arteries and let the blood flow smoothly to circulate all the organs. And this is nothing new. The whole of Europe is practising this for the benefits of the commuters and travellers. Today, our super talents suddenly came out with this idea of season tickets as if they have discovered a wonder drug. And they even talked cock and bull about the advantages of season tickets as if no one knew about them. And they even said they got the idea from feedbacks from the people. Now that they have such a precious product, they are not going to give it away easily. You need to apply for it and only some people or members of some organisations are privileged to have it. And it takes 14 days to process and approve your application. What the shit! I wanted to use 4 letter words. And the cost of a season ticket is not really cheap. It is priced in a way that not many people will benefit from it except heavy users or those who travelled very long distances. When are they going to reward regular users? Have they heard of the marketing concept of bulk discount or free mileage for frequent travellers? The most disgusting thing about this is that it is a monopoly given to them by the govt. And they are using it to maximise every cent of profit they can get from the poor commuters. They only think profit. Yeah, cost of living can only go up. Where is the sense of doing National Service to serve the people and country? Where is the responsibility to provide a cheap and efficient transport service as a public service? Oh, it is a private enterprise, profit oriented. They are answerable to their shareholders. Should public transport be returned to the govt and run as a public service to serve the people? Haven't the public been suffering from such kinds of crap reasoning for too long? $80 or $98 to be paid in advance and for 3 months. 1 million commuters at $300 per head means $300 million in the coffer safely and earn additional interest. No cash flow or liquidity problem. When can't the additional advantage be shared with the commuters? Why can't profits be trimmed and season tickets be at a slight discount, say $60 and available to all CITIZENS? When are the citizens going to have a little privilege against the non citizens? Oh, sorry, maybe only 2000 people qualify or think it worthwhile to apply for a season ticket.

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