China is conducting a nation wide inspection of all ride hailing companies after a passenger was raped and murdered after calling a ride from Didi. It always needs a painful lesson for people to wake up. But for the stupidity has no cure type, no amount of lessons would change their thinking and way of life unless it affects them personally.
China is in a way quite homogeneous other than the autonomous regions. They too are quite homogeneous in their own ways. Any foreigner or stranger to their provinces would be noticeable. In Red Dot, when more than 50% of the residents are foreigners, with a large number of foreigners given citizenship, everyone is a stranger and no longer raise the red flag.
With ride hailing companies, and with taxis allowing locals, ie foreigners and new citizens to drive taxis, are there risk to personal security? Our strawberry generations are happily jumping into taxis and Grab rides without a single thought on who is the driver and his background. Singapore is very safe and safety is being taken for granted, not only by the strawberry generations but by parents and the govt.
The strangers, now locals, that were brought in are totally unknown elements, just like the maids. And they are given the right to drive our people, children and women in their cars to anywhere they like, and the maids are trusted to take care of our olds and babies with very little supervision, and to live in the homes. What kind of people are they, any psychiatric, psychopathic or mental problems, terrorist connections, paedophiles, sex maniacs, people with questionable morality and criminals?
The lackadaisical ways we go about allowing these foreigners to come in and live with us, and mingle with us like one of us is scary if one has any sense of fear and safety concerns. The exception clause always applies to Singapore. It would not happen here. We are very safe, very well governed. The foreigners we brought in are good people. They don't commit crimes, only Singaporeans commit crimes.
Good luck to the stupidity has no cures.
RB.. goodmorning.. hope u well..your logic on this topic suggests a feverish sleepless night n lack of panadol.. cab drivers would stand more chance of being accosted by passengers than it being the other way round.. cab driving is a dangerous profession n indeed.. American cab drivers protect themselves with bullet proof glass etc.. whether u are local or foreign cab driver u face the same risks.. the same thing with passengers... drivers attacking passengers are few n far between.. suggest you look elsewhere bro
ReplyDeleteIn a way your are right, partially. When oldies or white collar cab drivers picked up unruly and burly passengers, and desperadoes, they are at high risk.
ReplyDeleteBut when sex starved or criminal intent cab drivers picked up children, old folks or women and young gals, the risk changed sides and the stronger party would become the aggressor. You think this group of passengers would be a risk to the cab driver or the other way round?
Hope you can see both sides of the picture. Things are not so simple and have many aspects.
Yo.. all I'm suggesting is that it's not a xenophobic moment la.. cheers
ReplyDeleteDriverless taxis maybe the solution to eliminate crimes committed by both parties. Many drivers will lose their jobs. Robots will replace humans in work places too. Artifical Intelligence is expected to revolutionise industry in the near future. The means of production will gradually shift from use of human labour to the use of AI. A brave new world beckons. The strawberry generation is going to face tremendous competition not only from cheap foreign labour but smart robots.
ReplyDeleteIn sinkingland current ride hailing model, the concepts of sharing economy, gig economy, market contestability, x-efficiency, technological disruption etc are ALL at the WRONG end of the SPECTRUM in terms of social, allocative, production and technical efficiencies?
ReplyDeleteThe role of government intervention to achieve economic efficiency is also upended bc the dominant player is not private-sector owned technically?
The only trace of capitalism in this model is the pte hire drivers who are financially as doomed as the impoverished and downtrodden paupers during Charles Dickens era as the "purchaser" of the pte hire drivers service is essentially a single player monosopny market? The terms dictated to the pte hire drivers would be as "good" as those dictated by the IMF to those they are bailing out during financial crises such as Indonesia and Thailand during the AFC (Asian Financial Crisi) which inadvertently caused the downfall of Indonesian strong man President Suharto and the subsequent sudden and senseless attack against the Indonesian Chinese in 1998?
The so called gig and sharing economy are actually pernicious, beggars type job packaged to the strawbelly and (Y)TH (豆腐) generation to "pian" them to work for the 19th century era type capitalists in "cahoot" with the media surreptitiously to "spin what is fake" into "real" to make a "slave job" atas and hip?
The booking technology used in ride hailing service could have been adopted by taxi companies. In the process, it would have saved a lot of redundancy and duplication. These have resulted in huge wastage of resources and long term human capital decumulation of pte hirer drivers as many are relatively young and in their 20s. Long term job prospects would be severely affected as they are shunned by employers when these young drivers try to get out of the ride hailing industry?
The long term benefits brought about by the ride hailing model to the economy and social welfare are few and far in between but the costs to the efficiency of the economy could be gargantuan?
Over time, the experiment of the ride hailing industry technological disruption could be as damaging as the financial innovation of the early 2000s which caused the onset of the 2008 GFC (Global Financial Crisis)?
As many might have known, the root causes of the GFC have not been resolved and the problems simply mutated into another form, thus making another even bigger (and far more deadly and fatal) crisis over the horizon inevitable?
Those who championed the gig economy should have their pay revoked?
Questions. Questions. Questions.
ReplyDeleteWhat have the elected representatives of the people been doing?
Either sleeping in parliament in full view of the public.
Or absent from parliamentary sessions.
And collect taxpayers' easy free money every month while doing their own business or primary job or collect more directors' fees.
They say fools can ask more questions than wise men can answer.
So the MPs must be no fools?
One of China's richest men, Jack Ma, is to step down as executive chairman of the Alibaba e-commerce empire on Monday.
ReplyDeleteHe will remain on Alibaba's board of directors but focus on philanthropy in education.
Ma co-founded Alibaba in 1999 and has seen it become one of the world's biggest internet companies.
With a market value of more than $400bn (£309bn), it includes online selling, film production and cloud computing.
In an interview with the Times, former English teacher Mr Ma said retirement would not be the end of an era but "the beginning of an era", adding: "I love education".
Alibaba's sales surge continues.
What did he discussed with Dr Mahathir when he visited Malaysia?
Did his discussion with Dr Mahathir accelerated his "retirement"?
Has Xi Jinping got anything to do with Ma's sudden announcement of stepping down from steering Ali the Baba?
The global financial crisis, past or coming, are all created by the super rich to steal the wealth of everyone, whether middle class or poor. It happens every decade or so when the super rich finds that it is time to create a crisis to drain the wealth.
ReplyDeleteHow then can you say that the global financial crisis can be solved or ever be solved? Even if someone tried to solve it, the super rich will make sure he does not succeed. That is the world that we now live in. It is all greed and nothing but greed.
@ RB
ReplyDeleteYes, RB is quite correct: the more culturally and racially homogenous the society---developed society---the more "predictable" the social interactions between people.
Japan is like that. Very difficult for foreigners to stay permanently, and therefore influence the cultural mix.
Same with the Nordic cuntries---they didn't have the problems they now face until they opened their doors to "refugees" and "immigrants", specifically the Islamic immigrants.
During Australia's "White Australia Policy", similar social effects here. No one had high fences---just shrubs between neighbour. No one had front gates---wide open, and any people didn't lock their doors or their cars. Everyone knew everyone else in the neighbourhood.
...and then this word "globalisation" was introduced, and the world changed. Borders were gradually opened, restrictions to entry and settlement by immigrants morphed into policy where the mathematical models "proved" vast economic and social benefits from "multiculturalism". All races were to be "judged" (evaluated) equally. Anti-multicultural voices and open racists were shut out from any conversation. Nothing, it seems, was allowed to interfere with GLOBALIZATION.
Corporations and the Banksters LOVED IT! In their minds they were already calculating the profits and goodies to be earned. Being the greedy fucks they are, they rallied around the various govt with their enormous private resources and intelligence to give a huge boost to globalisation, and money...to this day...is still pouring in.
There is no denying that globalisation makes ALOT OF MONEY for those who are set up to benefit from globalisation.
However, on the other side, globalisation plays HAVOC with those who have LOST by globalist policies. They have no job security. In real terms (in developed cuntries), wages have stagnated at mid-1980s levels, but inflation has eaten away at the purchasing power of every currency. Foreign labour offshore has stolen their jobs. Now their elected officials import foreign labour onshore to compete directly in the local labour markets.
Globalisation is an all-or-nothing deal
How so? You get culture diversity, economic and financial diversity, a true free market of ideas...and all the good and bad "externalities", as an integrated WHOLE. You can't separate them and pick the ones you only like.
We love the internet, we like being able to travel freely using all these cheap deals using our credit cards and phones to pay our way thru the world. Can use cash, but not so necessary anymore. No need to carry travellers' cheques, exchange currency at ludicrous rates...just use phone/ credit card.
Then there are all these goodies made in China---like iPhones and other digital devices.
We can dial up amazon, and in a few hours we have our stuff. No need to even get dressed, let alone leave to go buy stuff.
Need to make some money ? No worries. We can trade ANY MARKET from our phones.
RB has spot-lighted only a few negative effects of having a non-homogenous (I.e. "globalised") culture. Yes, there is going to be some shit. Cultures will clash. Sometimes there's very bad shit---like terrorism, riots and violence. But these are "Black Swans"....they have the power to shock more than they actually do any long-term damage.
A China develops toward becoming a global super power and economic leader, it will become LESS homogenised.
@ OldDragon28
ReplyDeleteOf Rideshare and other "side hustles"
People mistaking think that rideshare and side-hustles are "new ideas". They are not.
Back in the old days we had pawang chas---aka "pirate taxi". Private car owners using their personal vehicles to carry fee paying passengers. Air BNB is a new business built from the idea that people with extra rooms in their private dwellings often rent out those rooms for and income stream.
Singaporeans have been "moon lighting" since time immemorial. These days they call this activity having a "side hustle"---some kind of enterprise (gig) which is not their main line of work.
Capitalists do as capitalists do: find out how their money/ assets can make them more money or CASH FLOW.
So the people in the gig economy, the modern day ride share driver, the person offering short-term rentals...all these people are CAPITALISTS attempting to create CASH FLOWS from their assets. This of course attracts the interest of other capitalists higher up on the "food chain" to come up with business models like Uber, Grab, Lyft, AirBNB, ShortStay.
Examples of "side hustles" from the past: Tupperware, Amway, Herbalife, tuition---maths, science, music, language, book-keeping, handyman services, etc
In true capitalist fashion, all side hustles have one objective: to get cash flows happening.
We're Singaporeans lah. We like money, and so we are just doing what our forebears did in their day.
Human nature doesn't change. Winning is better than losing. More money is better than less money. People respond to incentives. Supply and demand are created by humans themselves, thus "price" is a completely human-generated phenomenon. Supply and demand need each other. Supply and demand together IS THE ONLY REASON that cash flows exist.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@ 1027
ReplyDeleteDriverless cars are a long long way off. The popular press has derived a lot of milage from the advancement in robotic and AI, aided and abetted by people like Elon Musk, who is widly charismatic---good looking, smart, rich, innovative and opinionated and the poster boy for a nerdy future.
The fact is, the world is a lot more mundane than the predictors of the future and their fans make it out to be. Lately there have been "disasters" with self driving (autonomous) vehicles such that engineers have gone "back to the drawing board". This is how science and tech works: THROUGH FAILURE. Which is good, because when the final product arrives, it will be safER and more robust (so the theory goes).
The legal aspects of autonomous vehicles have yet to be sorted out, and it is a minefield for moral philosophy. For e.g: for emergency situations, do you program your car to save the occupant or save those outside the vehicle. Say you have a bunch of school kids that that your car is going to hit. You have right of way. Do you program the software to take evasive action to avoid killing the kids, but placing the vehicle on a trajectory with on-coming traffic or a tree which will kill the occupants, or do you allow the vehicle to kill the kids and keep the occupants safe?
So far, there has not been definitive answers to this type of "life boat" scenario. When just human drivers are to be considered, the courts figure it out. How the heck is anyone supposed to judge this when only machines are the decision makes and the initiators of action? The jury is out, and looks like they'll be out for awhile.
Joke
ReplyDelete----
Singaporeans are so poor things you know.
After GE 2015.
No more money.
No more jobs.
No more HDB flats.
No more hope.
Just too stupid to change.
True or not ... I don't know.
You tell me lah.
這種风危,是普通老百姓的專利,如果有意外,你會被告知,那是孤立事件.
ReplyDeleteA lot of elites in this world are addicted to cheap labour and hence they lobbied for open doors and lots of migrants. They do not care about their ordinary folks, country or culture. They only care about their bank accounts. Some migrants are ok but too many is a problem. Some globalisation is ok but too much is a problem. Balance is key.
ReplyDeleteOf course it is always easy to close the doors and reap the profits, just need to put on some drama like migrants start acting strange or terrorise people or drive into people and voters will send votes into far right hands as in europe. Elites always win because voters are sheepies.
ReplyDeletePeople and migrants will always lose but elites will always win.
ReplyDeleteSolution: stop blaming each other but only blame everything on the elites.
They are the cause of all woes. THus Jesus said they can hardly go heaven.
Jesus said 2018 years ago to a small group of village dafts, ignorant and illiterate pumpkins, who were easily conned.
ReplyDeleteToday, what he said is obsolete. And people though70% dafts but not as ignorant and illiterate as those 2000 years ago.
Today, the rich are already in Heaven. Where for they need to go Heaven. And don't you think Heaven is more enjoyable as in He'll or Earth? Do you think you can find so many kinds of boosts and boobs in Heaven? Do you think there are so many kinds of chicks in Heaven? Do you think you have the freedom to travel anywhere you like?
Don't be silly lah. There is no such thing as Heaven. Its your own imagination, or heresy without evidence to prove it.
So don't bluff others lah.
Heaven on earth is but for how many years? How much can one enjoy with such a short life span? Some even accumulated so much wealth but never enjoy life. They just concentrate on accumulating wealth. After that still have to leave everything behind, even the physical body.
ReplyDeleteWorth it? Must be!
Must be worth it lah. Otherwise, why would so many people want to become Rich? Even the pampers and retards also want to become Rich.
ReplyDeleteAnyond here DON'T WANT to become Rich?
This article is over 8 months old. From BBC UK News:
ReplyDeleteThe number of alleged sexual assaults committed by taxi or private hire drivers has risen by 20% in three years.
According to figures released under freedom of information laws, at least 337 assaults were reported between April 2016 and March 2017 in England and Wales – up from 282 in 2014-15. A number of incidents were recorded where the victim was a child under 16.
The figures, obtained from 23 of 43 police forces, relate to a wide range of vehicles, including illegal minicabs, Uber cars and black cabs. Most of the police forces could not break it down by firm or type of vehicle.
The disclosure follows a decision by Transport for London to in London, in part due to concerns about the company’s failure to report sexual assaults to police. Media reports show at least 32 allegations in London in 2016 involving Uber drivers. The company is appealing against TfL’s decision and its drivers can continue to operate while the appeal runs its course.
Campaigners noted that a rise in the number of reports of sexual assault could be positive if it meant more women were reporting crimes. But they were concerned it could also be due to a lack of vigilance when employing drivers.
Katie Russell, a spokesperson for Rape Crisis England and Wales, said: “It’s an alarming figure but it is always hard to know whether the increase is due to a rise in crime taking place or an increase in sexual assaults being reported. Sexual offences have been massively underreported so an increase in willingness to report will play some part in the statistical increases.
Russell added: “The obvious next step is for companies themselves to do urgent reviews of their security systems because obviously there are some weaknesses … We know rapists and sexual offenders are often quite devious in how they plan their attacks. They often get themselves in positions of authority and responsibility, where they have access to potential victims - those industries may be attractive to sexual offenders.”
Sarah Green from the End Violence Against Women Coalition said the figures should remind those in government “that licensing is of the upmost important for women’s safety”. She added: “We need an examination of how we ensure women undertaking a straightforward taxi service can know they will be safe.”
What about the figures for rapes and sexual offences in Singapore in recent years? Why is the LTA or Police keeping quiet? Afraid to alarm the public?
UK has Freedom of Information Law. Singapore follows UK Parliamentary Democracy. Why don't have Freedom of Information Law? Afraid to reveal something that cannot see the light of day? Something heinous or sinister to hide from her people?
ReplyDeleteCannot be, right?
Singapore leaders are all very outstanding and full of righteousness and integrity. Where got anything to hide one.
Everything is for National Security lah. The biggest boogeyman in the history of Man-Unkind is Nasional Screw-u-rity. You all don't know meh?
Never heard of Freedom of Information Law lah. Freedom of taking more money from CPF Savings and put into Terma-Sick and Gig-gig-I-See got lah. You know those big chronic gamblers? Once got hooked in gambling big time OPM, they simply cannot stop one. As stupidity has no cure, chronic gambling addiction also has no cure. Even worst is that the more OPM they lost, the more they fatten their own bank accounts through "leegalised" self-scaled self-justified salary and multiple dubious bonuses. Greed knows no limits. Even God, if there is one, cannot stop this kind of greedy gamblers. Right or wrong?
You expect them to give you Freedom?
Singapore got Hidding Information Law known as Official Secrets Act.
ReplyDeleteTo Be Or Not To Be?
ReplyDeleteHome Affairs and Law Minister Shanmugam said that in his personal point of view, care has to be taken against criminalising lifestyles and sexual attitudes, and treating people involved as criminals.
Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalizes sex between men but not sex between women.
Why?
Arab Spring Got Springed
ReplyDeleteEgyptian Court has delivered verdicts for more than 700 people over a pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-in after President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in 2013.
The court confirmed 75 people's death sentences and life imprisonment for 47 others, including Islamic leaders.
Rights group Amnesty International has called the trial "grossly unfair" and a violation of Egypt's
Constitution.
Violence erupted at the 2013 protest in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, with hundreds killed by security forces.
Earlier this year, Egypt's Parliament gave military officers immunity for the deadly crackdown and any crimes committed between July 2013 and January 2016.
This decision will not rest well in the hearts of many in Egypt. Instead of reconciliation, the present temporal government has chosen consolidation of power. This means a great division within the fragile Egyptian society. It, therefore, spells trouble, long-drawn friction and conflict that Will result from revenge and revenge and revenge.... Endlessly!
3.14am anon, the reason is when you see two women having sex, it's one of the most beautiful thing to watch over video and make many men very excited. But when u watch two men having sex, it's very disgusting lar!😰
ReplyDelete