40s and 50s still jobless

Gilbert Goh Keow Wah wrote to Today complaining that many of his friends were still jobless and have difficulties getting a job even when they were well qualified and with a breath of experience. How could this be? The msm have been publishing great statistics like hundreds of thousands of jobs were created and unemployment is at a record low that employers have to raise salaries to ridiculous amount to retain employees. I think his letter is just a small anomaly. Not representative of the real situation on the ground. Not real.

Reviewing the transport policies

The Straits Times on Saturday generously gave up 4 pages of its valued space to let people understand how much thoughts and efforts have been put in to address the state of our road transport policies. I think it hopes to tell the people how difficult it was to make all those decisions and why the people must appreciate the policy makers behind it and accept that they have done the best they could under all the existing constraints. And it also said that there is a big review going on to improve on what it is today to make public transportation and car ownership more acceptable and palatable to the people. After reading what were written, I doubt there will be any real improvements that will benefit the people and society except the public purse. There are still many obstacles in the mindset that if they are not removed, there will not be any significant change to speak of. They will be whipping a dead horse the same way they did, and dressing it up as if it is a new and vibrant creature. The same story of ‘if you want something that is world best, you must pay for it’ is the mantra of the present regime. Money is still seen as the answer to all problems, pay or buy your way out. What they should do is to rethink on what transportation means to the people’s life and the economy. The current policies promote economic activities at an ever increasing cost. On the other hand it stifles social activities of the people. Going shopping or moving around for social activities is very expensive. You pay to get there and you pay to remain there. People have avoided visiting friends or relatives due to the prohibitive transport and parking costs. It is time to ask if our transport policies should be money and profit driven. If we can abandon this thought and accept transportation, free and easy, economical and efficient, as a social cost that the country needs to keep the people moving, facilitate economic and social activities, then something really new will happen to enhance the life of the people. Public transport must be for transportation and communication, a public service, and not for profit. The profit is indirect, both tangible and intangible. Is this acceptable? As long as the key motive for public transportation is to make profit, all the policies will be half baked. We need to pay this cost to raise the vibrancy of our people and society. Take away the profit motive, put in younger people to manage public services when they are at an age that a couple of hundred thousand are big money to them. When they grow older and their appetite gets bigger, let them move on to run profit making organisations to fill up their bank accounts. While in these public service organisations, their performance must be measured on how they reduce costs or maintain cost at a reasonable level while continuing to improve efficiency and productivity. These kinds of performance indicators require a different mindset to appreciate. If we continue to measure everyone and organisation by how much profit or money they make, then nothing will change. Everything, every cost will only go up and up without any real improvement in the quality of service. The ERP charges is a good example. The current policies are choking the system, holding the commuters and car owners at ransom by demanding higher payment to get around. And the problems remain. Any improvement is marginable and temporary.

Notable quote - The Emperor of the Dark Side

'Welcome to the Dark Side. Stand side by side with your father. Feel the power...' The Emperor of Star Wars

When you write your own pay cheque?

The transport policies, the COEs, ERPs, bus fares, mrt fares, car ownership, etc etc, together is a very complicated issue. It is not easy for peasants to understand or to grapple with. Even super talents find it tough to handle. So please try to appreciate that they are doing their best.

A Septo Sutedja, had a role play as a Transport Minister and got away feeling better that he now had a better understanding of the complicated issues involved. So, is he now more satisfied with the way things are?

When we pay people top dollars, millions of dollars, to do a job, we expect the job to be done to our satisfaction. Once we start to pay market price, we do not see the job as a sacrifice, a voluntary social work. We have gone past that. We are not in a state to understand and appreciate that the best effort has been put in and that’s it.

We don’t pay a mean salary just to accept whatever that is dished out to us. Only the best is expected, and the people shall decide what is good enough. For it is the people’s money that is going into the pay cheque. You name the price, we pay. No question asks.

Now you deliver.

Joke of the Day

The parents are angry because the school bus fee has been raised by $5 to $10 per month. And the School Transport Association was so apologetic for raising this amount. The only reason I can think of, and feel comforted, is that they were not run by super talents.