1,500 chicken culled in an exercise

This is the most realistic exercise we ever had to protect ourselves from bird flu. 1,500 chicken coming across the causeway were culled as part of a major exercise. As exercises become more serious, the more realistic the better will the participants learn and be prepared for the real thing. The next exercise on a building collapse will probably see the falling of a building with living people inside. The casualties will be collateral damage and necessary to make the exercise real. And the simulation of a terrorist attack, I can't imagine how real it can be. Wonder if any country will conduct military exercise involving live ammunitions and life being sacrificed? Iraq is a kind of life military exercise to test weapons and systems I supposed. Animals or lives are dispensable to achieve our aims of protecting more lives. All those who are protesting against cruelties to animals involved in lab test please buck off. If we can just culled 1,500 chicken for an exercise, what is a little pain and suffering. We are progressing very rapidly.

What went wrong with the taxi fare hike?

The taxi drivers are the people on the ground who fully appreciate and understand the situation. They were hit hard and need to lower cost or maybe raise fare a little to cover the rising cost. They knew their customers well and how much they could afford to bear. Those who think that a hefty hike is the way are people with a lot of money and think that taxi passengers are as rich as them. This is the first out of touch premise. If they have listened to the taxi drivers, they would not push the limit that far. The second mistake is to forget the cardinal principle of little increases, bit by bit, and tell the passengers that the small increases are affordable. Then increase a little every few months to get the passengers use to the higher prices. This principle was forgotten in the heat of the moment. Insanity creeps in and we have the hefty and justifiable increases.

Secrets of Success - Raising fees or charges

This is another efficient and well tested formula. Whenever there is a need to raise fees or tariff rates, just offer a 3 month or 6 month rebate. This can be done right at the beginning or quarterly over a year. The customers will feel grateful that they have a rebate, a subsidy mentality, and actually feel good. They will forget that for a few months of rebates they will eventually pay the new rate for the rest of their lives.

ERP coming to your HDB carparks.

Well, ERP gantry is now at Lor 6 Toa Payoh. So if you think of escaping the Expressways, fat hope. Wherever you try to sneak away from paying, the ERP will come to you. Eventually the gantries will be erected in front of HDB car parks. And that will be the day when all the car parks will be turned into warehouses for brand new and expensive cars. Move out of the carpark you pay. Car ownership will still be a privileged. And driving around will be a bigger privilege. Paradise is looking beautiful where people will spend their time strolling along free walkways and enjoying the beautiful landscapings around their estates.

Who's views matter?

Several letters gone to the msm and a few were published in Today discussing why views from certain people from the establishment meant more than kopitiam talks or the masses. They took offence that the people's right of expression as entrenched in the constitution was poof poofed away. This reminds me of a Hokien song called 'kim pao ghin.' It means that only certain people's words are meaningful and certain people will only get into trouble when they open their mouths. That's life. This simple process is also very selective.