Lui Tuck Yew spoke against the Worker’s Party proposal to nationalize public transport. To him, the privatization formula works and if it is nationalized, it will become inefficient, non commuters will also have to pay and cost will go up and everyone ended paying more.
Assuming he is right, and I think he is. Look at the housing programme after it was privatized. Look at the medical care services after they are privatized, and transportation of course. All became world class and all so cheap and affordable. Ok, cannot say cheap, but affordable. If they were not privatized, the cost would have gone up even more and everyone paying more. Please be grateful that they are privatized.
And there will be no motivation for a nationalized public service to improve, except maybe the ministries. The ministries are not privatized, and presumingly running well. Or are they, like all non privatized organizations, running inefficiently and incurring more and more cost? In a nutshell, is the govt runnning efficiently without being privatized or it is running badly and incurring higher cost? If it cannot run efficiently without being privatized, then the govt/ministries should also be privatized.
Let’s move away from all these circular arguments that are self serving. Let’s ask a simple question. Can the transport companies continue to run, under the present system and staff, ceteris paribus, and don’t run into the red for another 3 years?
Another question, can the public transport companies operate with the current profit margin or lesser profit margin by ploughing back some profits to commuters and avoid another fare hike in the short term?
How much profit is enough for the privately run companies? Or is it a privately run company in the first place? Why is a minister defending a privately run company and its profits?
In my opinion, any able administrator could run the companies without raising fares for the next three years without making losses, unless fuel cost shot up dramatically.
So why the hurry to raise fare?
7/13/2011
Singapore’s two most valuable living assets
LKY and Chok Tong are in great demand as statesmen dispensing good advices to less experienced leaders over the world. There must be a beeline queuing up to meet them and to seek their views and advices on world issues and economic development.
These are two very valuable men. In fact world leaders will be more willing to hear their views and wisdom than Bush or Clinton and the likes from the White House. And to think that these ex American Presidents are taking millions on their public talks just for novelty sake, I am sure our two wise men could command a bigger lecture fee.
They should engage a manager to market their popularities and turn themselves into profit centres. It is also good for the country to have two eminent men in the lecture circuit and educating the world leaders. If world leaders are prepared to pay to listen to jokers or one line puns from Hollywood celebrities, I am sure they will pay good money to hear pearls of wisdoms.
What are we waiting for? Both are living legends of modern history. Why give free advice when there are plentiful of money to be made? The income can be used to defray the cost of their offices and the supporting staff.
These are two very valuable men. In fact world leaders will be more willing to hear their views and wisdom than Bush or Clinton and the likes from the White House. And to think that these ex American Presidents are taking millions on their public talks just for novelty sake, I am sure our two wise men could command a bigger lecture fee.
They should engage a manager to market their popularities and turn themselves into profit centres. It is also good for the country to have two eminent men in the lecture circuit and educating the world leaders. If world leaders are prepared to pay to listen to jokers or one line puns from Hollywood celebrities, I am sure they will pay good money to hear pearls of wisdoms.
What are we waiting for? Both are living legends of modern history. Why give free advice when there are plentiful of money to be made? The income can be used to defray the cost of their offices and the supporting staff.
Is it a god damn right?
What makes the transport companies think that it is their god damn right to make millions in profits every year? And when profit is not enough, they simply apply to the LTA to raise fare? Is it a business that guarantees them profit year after year? Is there a business that has such a privilege status? Pow chiat business!
If they cannot make decent profit they should not be in the business and let someone else runs it. Don’t give the crap that they are answerable to the shareholders. They are answerable to the commuters too. Just because they are privatized, they can claime shareholders interests as the number one priority. Have they paid back the huge infrastructure cost of constructing the lines from public money?
In whatever guises, it is a public transport system and has a national duty to keep transportation cost low and to run efficiently. Making profit is secondary. The most important thing is that it is not running at a loss. For the last 10 to 20 years, how many billions have the transport companies been making, at about $200m to $300m annually?
It is time they think of the interests of the nation and the commuters. No business has a god damn right to be profitable year after year. Allow real competitors to run alternative routes and break down this monopoly.
If they cannot make decent profit they should not be in the business and let someone else runs it. Don’t give the crap that they are answerable to the shareholders. They are answerable to the commuters too. Just because they are privatized, they can claime shareholders interests as the number one priority. Have they paid back the huge infrastructure cost of constructing the lines from public money?
In whatever guises, it is a public transport system and has a national duty to keep transportation cost low and to run efficiently. Making profit is secondary. The most important thing is that it is not running at a loss. For the last 10 to 20 years, how many billions have the transport companies been making, at about $200m to $300m annually?
It is time they think of the interests of the nation and the commuters. No business has a god damn right to be profitable year after year. Allow real competitors to run alternative routes and break down this monopoly.
A new game called Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunting has taken on a new meaning in paradise. About 10 bodies were found over the last few months. Yesterday two more bodies were found, one in Clementi and one in Serangoon Reservoir. The Clementi body belonged to a housing agent and her housemate, another woman, was arrested. The body in the reservoir was an elderly man.
Just a month ago half a body of a Chinese National was found in Bedok Reservoir. Later another 5 were discovered. And these findings were random. If a concerted effort to search for bodies is mounted, there could discover more I supposed.
How about a Treasure Hunt and a reward for everybody found? Oops, better not, or else more bodies will be fabricated just to claim the reward. This is a new phenomenon here. Never heard of so many bodies being found in so short a spell of time.
Just a month ago half a body of a Chinese National was found in Bedok Reservoir. Later another 5 were discovered. And these findings were random. If a concerted effort to search for bodies is mounted, there could discover more I supposed.
How about a Treasure Hunt and a reward for everybody found? Oops, better not, or else more bodies will be fabricated just to claim the reward. This is a new phenomenon here. Never heard of so many bodies being found in so short a spell of time.
7/12/2011
Some images of the Bersih 2.0 demonstration
Photo credit to Azlan Zamhari's Gallery. The photos were circulating in the net and I received it in my email.
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