Electronic parking guides are up

Electronic panels showing the number of parking spaces available in the Marina centre area are up. Nice. Wonder how much they cost and who is paying for it, plus maintenance. They forgot to provide a viewing area on the side of the road for motorist to park and check which car park has available lots. This would be more convenient and avert any slowing down of traffic or accident when drivers have to look at them.

The poor must be rejoicing

Today I am feeling damn good. Inflation is hitting the rich harder by 3.9% while the bottom earners like me is hit only by 2.8%. Time to celebrate the good news. I am still wondering about those whose income is just sufficient for food and transport and how are they hit? 2.8% also? Now one plate of mee is up from $3 to $3.50, how many percent is that? A loaf of bread is up by how much? How much have vegetables gone up? I think for these buggers, the extra that they would have to pay just for food alone will be somewhere in the region of 20%. But officially or statistically they should also feel good. It is only 2.8%.

We are so obnoxious and intolerant

Someone asked me how was Gayle Goh's blog doing. I thought she was doing fine. For those who have forgotten about her, she was the junior college girl who caused a sensation when a civil servant, Bilahari, replied in her blog. So I went back to her blog and was disappointed. She has stopped blogging. In her last few posts she revealed vaguely, that she was kind of being attacked personally by the obnoxious and insensible people of paradise. She felt so hurt that she found it better to stop blogging, or if she were to do it again, she would do it under a pseudonym. Couldn't our society accept the views and existence of a young school girl? Is it fair to attack her and destroy her self confidence and make her feel so disappointed with the adult world? Some have encouraged her to keep on posting. I would too. But given her youth, it is not easy for her to take all the insinuations bravely. She would not be as thick skin as me nor to confront her attackers headon. She does not know how to brandish her knuckle duster to fend for herself. We have just lost the views and contribution of a young and promising blogger.

ERP coming to MRT? Huat ah!

Some times back I wrote a tongue in cheek piece on ERP in MRT. Now looks like this is going to be a possibility. This time it is to stagger people using MRT instead of cars using expressways. As a money making concept, this is simply brilliant. Yes there are many ways to skin a cat. Let me quote a few phrases from the New Paper. 'In Adelaide, too, public transport fares are 25 to 45 per cent cheaper between 9am and 3pm, compared to earlier and later peak periods. Ms Tammy Tan, spokesman for SBS Transit, which operates the North-East line, said a staggered-fare system is possible in Singapore. She declined to elaborate. But SMRT, which operates the North-South Line, said it prefers to cut congestion by increasing the frequency of train runs.' Maybe we are safe with SMRT for the time being. As for the North east line, pray hard.

Mas Selamat has done it

No, he has not blown up any air planes or buildings. But for just hiding in the unknown, Mas Selamat has created havoc to the lives of many on both sides of the causeway. The security forces, the lorry and bus drivers, the school children and the shopkeepers in Woodland, plus the suppliers of our food and vegetables across the causeway, are all suffering. Their businesses and livelihood are all hanging in the balance until Mas Selamat is caught. Then, with the delays and slowdown in goods vehicles coming through, the prices of basic items are also shooting up. Now who is paying for these and being badly affected by the higher prices? Practically every hardlanders. It is very costly, I must say.