Need more gantries

A letter by a Liang Teh Hai to the ST forum stated the obvious one more time. There are just those few roads to drive from one point to another. ERP on one will divert traffic to another. It is just like passing the buck. Even laypersons can see this simple logic. But supertalents don't seem to. So more and more ERPs will be erected. This Liang Teh Hai fastforwarded the whole process and suggested we have ERPs at every corner of the island. Then charge on a pay as you drive formula. He forgets to erect ERPs at the entrance of every HDB car park. It is not going to be cheap and cost effective I think. His main concern is people driving the road for fun. So pay as you drive would stop people from driving for fun. But he forgets again that more and more people are just buying car to drive around for fun, on weekends and after work. This is supported by another letter by a Karunakar Krishnan Vasu who is asking for the after 3pm rule on Sat for weekend cars to be relax as this was probably due to the past policies when Sat was a working day. Some still do. But the idea is to let people drive after work for leisure. I think he is not asking too much. But difficult to change the mindsets of fanatics. They already knew what is best for the motorists.

Singapore will be ruined by the Opposition

So much talk about a freak election and an opposition that will dump Singapore. Nay. The current opposition is so inconsequential that they will not be elected. If they do, it will only be a small handful that could do nothing. The Singaporeans are not dumb. Should a opposition be elected in the next election, it will come from a new group of fresh face professionals. Not anyone who wants to be a opposition candidate can be elected. He or she must be credible. And should such a group come into power, it will be a big plus for Singapore. What I am seeing is that there are many potentials who are in positions to do a lot of harm to Singapore should LKY quit the scene. They are everywhere, in and outside the establishment. Some are just waiting patiently, some, the unthinking kind, will just be swept along by the new force of change without knowing whether it is good or bad for them. Singapore does not need an opposition to destroy it. Like I say before, the forces or factors that brought Singapore to its height will be the one that will bring Singapore to its knee.

Equal misery disincentives

Another way of encouraging people to take public transport the New Zealand way. We discouraged people to drive into the city by raising ERP charges, and in the process aiming for faster and smoother traffic flow. Such an approach will favour those who can afford to pay the hefty charges to drive happily into the city. Cannot afford don't drive. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast's approach was different. The only charge that is high is parking. (We have high parking charges too) No ERPs. In a way, it is also pay to go in. But there is a subtle difference. Everyone can still drive in without paying if you don't park. The actual incentive is to slow down the traffic deliberately in favour of pedestrains. The motorists will learn that it is faster and more efficient to take public transport to the city. Rich or not so rich can drive into the city but to bear with the inconvenience of slow traffic flow. Equal misery. The catch is that commercial vehicles too will be caught in the slow traffic as well. Not a very good idea and not very pro business. In our case, commercial or no commercial, just pay lah. Also not favouring business and driving up business cost. Straight jacket? I think we are smarter. But could be better if a distinction is made to be more pro business and pro public transport operators, including taxis.

Human failures unavoidable

Toh Yong Chuan from Home Affairs tried to explain that we have all the best systems, but no system can avoid human failures. That is definitely true. But there must be ways to make sure that we get the best people into the system. The best system to emulate is how to entice the best to join the govt. Pay them well, very well. That could be an easy way to avoid human failures. For since we have such a policy, we don't see any human failures at the top. All the human failures are at the bottom. The front line soldiers and staff. These little people have not benefitted from a high pay high quality policy. And the high cost of living is getting into them. I think if we pay the well, the equivalent of well at the top, we may also see lesser human problems. How come never think of that? We could be getting a clear and simple message coming from the rank and file, that they need to be paid well as well. No excuses, pay them well and if they still bungle, fire them. Then we will have the best people manning the best system. It is a sign of going downhill if we keep trying to explain away our problems. Action, the carrot and the stick always work, especially at the lower end. At the upper end I am not sure.

Cyberspace challenged by TOM

Yesterday's article by PN Balji in Today, 'Now that strike 3 has happened...' was perhaps the most hardhitting piece that TOM had published recently. This kind of articles or stand used to be what cyberspace is known for. Now with TOM taking a stronger and more critical stance, it will pose a challenge to whether cyberspace can do better. It is good news for Today's readers. It is also good that TOM could rise up to the challenge by cyberspace, to publish more serious introspective articles and stories. Let's have more interesting and challenging views on hot issues like Mas Selamat and whether the Home Minister should carry the can.