All clear on the MCE

From my window the sun was bright and hazy as usual. In the distance, the surface road parallel to the MCE that was clogged up on Monday morning was a totally new sight to behold with traffic flowing smoothly like a miracle. The vehicles were staying about 50m apart. It is quite puzzling how on earth could the 3 hour jam could happen on the first working day of its operation and now everything is so smooth, with so few vehicles on the road.
 
Let me venture a guess. It was typical of Sinkies to head for something new on the first day of the MCE’s operation. Everyone wanted to experience this new wonder. They may want to be the first on the MCE or get their names in the Guinness Book of Record for travelling on the first day in the most expensive expressway, and now with the added 3 hour jam to remember. They must also be encouraged by news on how it would shorten travelling time plus the novelty, let the herd heading the same way. And the choke points on the surface roads only compounded the problem further. Maybe they should not have blow the trumpet so hard. This could be another reason for the big jam.
 
Today is the beginning of a new year and a new excitement. But there is no excitement on the MCE anymore. It is all routine. No need for red faces too.
Let me hazard another guess why this is so. Most of the office workers are likely to be back to work and traffic volume is expected to be high. But looking at the number of vehicles on this road, one wonders why there are so few cars on it. The no jam picture is likely due to the series of remedial actions taken by LTA to reduce the choke points and installing more traffic signs along the way, thus making driving easier. The motorists too will be more familiar with the new roads by now.
 
Some are still cynical and think that it is likely due to the large number of motorists avoiding the MCE altogether. With the greatly reduce traffic, sure the MCE will be like a free way for Formula One racing.
 
Whatever, it is a good start and people will gradually get use to this MCE and things will be better in times to come. Tomorrow will be better. Some people can breathe a sigh of relief that the $4.3b are well spent.

Snippets on the MCE

On Monday morning it was like the sky opened up. No it was not pouring rain. The sun was out there though a bit hazy. And the haze got worse when all the cars, buses, lorries etc caught in one of the most massive traffic jam in our recent history started to pump out more gas into the morning air. Getting stuck in this jam for more than an hour was considered lucky. Some got stuck for 2 to 3 hours, enough time to get to Malacca or KL.

Criticism of the most congested or massive congestion expressway was widespread, spontaneous and furious. $4.3b were spent on this great piece of maze that transformed a straight expressway to a crooked and longer one to help motorists to reach their destinations faster by 2 to 3 hours more. Some were shaking their heads that we need to spend $4.3b to replicate the jams in our neighbouring capital cities. Surely that must not be the intention unless it is done to show the people what bad govt is all about. Just hope it is not the outstanding contribution of our FTs.

Maybe the jam was a fiction of one’s imagination as some eminent motorists were claiming that they reached their destination in much shorter time driving through the MCE. Maybe that was the truth, the MCE was smooth flowing. The jams were on the surface roads after exiting the MCE and got caught by some choke points.

Several recommendations were put up by the netizens. One, since MCE is free and smooth flowing, the LTA should remove the ERP charges. But this suggestion is bad if no alternative sites for ERP are erected to recover the $4.3b construction cost. Actually there is no lack of roads for new ERP gantries. All the exit roads after the MCE are ideal locations for ERPs as these are the places that the jams occurred.

Some also suggested having more electronic signboards along the MCE, like those for car parks, to tell motorists which exits are free and which exits are jammed. Motorists would then be well informed on which exit to take to avoid the jams.

Some were wondering why the traffic planners and experts did not conduct computer simulations on the new traffic pattern with such major changes. If they have done so, more pro active measures could be taken to avoid the once in 50 year traffic jam.

One more recommendation, maybe LTA should reconsider the closing of existing stretch of ECP to give motorists more options and expressways to drive through. Driving in a straight expressway must be shorter than driving through a crooked one. This principle must be made know to the road designers so that in future when they design expressways they would not attempt anything crooked.

Those who were stuck in taxis in the jams are asking the LTA for a refund as the $16 fare could go up to $50 or $80. Can refund or not? They must be paying for sitting on the most expensive expressway in the world.

There is no need to worry about complaints that the MCE would become a white elephant if the closed section of the ECP is reopened. The MCE is already built and the money spent, water under the bridge. Just make a few explanations and life will go one. The final result must be lesser congestion when there are now two expressways instead of one.

What do you think?

Singapore becoming a failed state

Don’t get me wrong, this city will still be a glittering jewel in the 3^rd World. It will have the finest buildings, infrastructure and funny gardens and shopping malls where only very rich govts have the money to build. It will have all the trimmings of a world class metropolis. But it will fail the Singaporeans, the citizens of the island. The city state will be owned by foreigners and for the good and interests of the foreigners. The Singaporeans, I like to call them Sinkies, as they are sinking everyday to a lower level without knowing, will become the nuts and bolts of the glittering mess. More Sinkies are encouraged to product more babies for the Singapore Matrix.

Glance at any of the fine living or lifestyle media, at the main media, at the bill boards, you will not believe you are in an Asian city. All the handsome and beautiful people featured are Europeans. Even buying a home, you will see European models as the lifestyle choice. And more and more of the high end homes are now homes of the world’s rich and famous.

In the corporate world, the top jobs often ended with a foreigner sitting on it. The top management are increasingly filled by foreigners, in public offices or in private companies. Our parks and recreation establishments are run by foreigners as if no locals are up to it. Compare to Resort World which is an international organisation with an international market, they are confident that their locals are good enough to helm the company. They have foreigners but as technicians, the technical and professional people, not the top management.

How many of our local MNCs or govt departments really need foreigners to helm the organisations when a local will do? Do the foreigners make that much of a difference especially in an industry when the customers are local? And we have fake locals in the forms of PRs and new citizens to give the impression that they are one of us and deserved to be paid the millions from our money while Sinkies are not. Some citizens are so sore over this that they are calling this game change traitorous, a selling out of Sinkie interests.

And one is not far from the truth to say that more than 50% of the residents in the island are now foreigners. And if one is to include the new citizens, the original Sinkies are an absolute minority and will soon need affirmative actions to protect their right to live in this island.

Singapore is morphing into a failed state to the Sinkies. It is only a matter of time when the island is fully owned and occupied by foreigners and owning all the great and glittering infrastructure and the island. It is a great economic success, a great infrastructure and architecture wonders for the foreigners and a few elite. The rest of the Sinkies, if they are still around, will be turned into serfs of foreigners. They will lose ownership of their home island. This will be the great and sorrowful transformation of modern Singapore, a transfer of ownership to foreigners with the helpless Sinkies not knowing what is happening.

Shall I wish all Sinkies a Happy New Year?

First time Kishore sounded so hollow

Kishore’s article in the media yesterday, ‘How to prevent a war between China and Japan’ gave one a little anticipation that he was offering some enlightening wisdom to a historical Gordian Knot. His recommendation was anything but a sign of lacking in depth in the understanding of China Japan relations and the history of the Diaoyu Island dispute.

The Noda govt before Abe put on a farcical act claiming that it was trying to defuse a nationalistic move to buy the Islands by Shintaro Ishihara, the Tokyo governor. The buying or selling of the Islands by any Japanese is offensive to the Chinese govt and the Chinese people. The excuse by the Noda govt to buy the Islands instead was taking the Chinese people and govt as fools. It was a national insult to think the Chinese did not know what the whole play was about.

This kind of offensive act at the expense of China was prevalent in the 19^th and 20^th century by Imperialist Japan. Such acts were committed over and over again to violate the national sovereignty of China and grabbing chunks of Chinese territories. The humiliating acts were possible at a time when China was the Sick Man of Asia, invaded and semi colonized by the European powers and Japan.

A renewed China that is good enough to keep the Americans from attempting wild designs on Chinese territories would not give an inch to a little Japan intent to keep the Diaoyu Islands it seized from Manchu China. And for Kishore to suggest that China would be pleased if Abe would to sell the Islands to any Japanese non govt entity would appease China must be, not being rude, patronizing and naïve.

The ignorance on China Japan historical disputes is showing. China would never give up taking back the Islands. No country with the military means would allow a weaker nation to occupy its territories. Japan can go on an arms race with
 

China, even with the backing of the Americans, it would still end up suffering a bloody nose this time. And attempt to start a war will see Chinese soldiers in Japan and returning the favour with Nankin vividly in the minds of all Chinese. Japan may want to commit to another suicidal defence of the main Japanese islands like in Okinawa and the Pacific Islands defending against the American forces. China now has absolute numerical superiority in all fields of military hardware and headcounts.

The game has changed. China is now not a helpless underdeveloped and ill equipped or ill prepared poor country. It has the full compliments of all the arms of a full fledged superpower and a massive war industry to go with. Japan can try to go on an arms race with China and see if it has the unlimited resources to do so. Even the Americans are bankrupting itself trying to maintain its huge armed forces and will be broke without having to fight a war.

If Japan is bent on keeping the Islands, it is a matter of when before China take the Islands back by force. There is no other option, no buying and selling of the Islands by the Japanese in anyway that would be acceptable to China. The only way for Japan to avoid a showdown with China is to return the Islands voluntarily and gain more goodwill and clean up its war debt with China.

China or any other country will never compromise on its core national interest. Diaoyu Islands are everything about China, about China as a respectable nation, as a superpower. There can be no compromise on territorial integrity.

Pouring cold water on Chuan Jin’s optimism

 In his latest interview, Chuan Jin expressed confidence that the PAP would be in good stead in the next GE and likely to rule for at least another term. I do not wish to elaborate further on this assumptions and reasoning. All I can say is that the PAP is in for a rude awakening.
 
I just want to mention what happened at Punggol East as a good example of what is installed for the PAP. Punggol East may be just a single ward constituency. The message from Punggol East is loud and clear. And if I were to analyse for the PAP, it is most worrisome.
 
Punggol East was a total rejection of everything the PAP stood for, super talent, successful professional and big income candidate that was equivalent to a good and desirable MP. Punggol East said not interested. Punggol East was about PAP and the opposition and more, it was about a new alternative. The message was clear, anyone but PAP. Punggol East was about a careful and thinking electorate who knew what they really wanted and what mattered. Punggol East was about voting seriously, when every vote must count. The conscious choice of casting all their votes to one opposition party was a near miracle. It was like an invisible hand orchestrating the voters to vote for the WP. Punggol East was about sophistication and a new thinking, a new seriousness to vote for the best opposition candidate into Parliament. Punggol East is no fluke. Don’t pray pray.
 
All it needs now is for the voters of a few GRCs to think and behave like Punggol East and PAP will be history. And the likelihood of this happening is so real. It doesn’t take much really. It was the collective consciousness of the people fusing together as one. This is damn powerful to have happened. No politician could work out a thing like.
 
It is also good that PAP should continue to think that the people still support its policies and its chosen candidates and would not dare to say no, to fear rocking the sampan or changing ship. More good years, Medishield Life is really good, PWP is the best, more minimum sums, more foreigners, higher property and car prices…. It is good that the PAP continues to be confident that it can continue the way it was, that things will be the same and that it would be voted to form the next govt again.
 
It is good that the PAP can forget about Punggol East and think it is just an isolated event. It is good that the PAP thinks it has done well and has won over the voters again with all the pro people policies and the talented MPs and ministers in its stable.
Only the next GE will tell if the people are still with the PAP or have chosen the Punggol East way. What Chuan Jin or the PAP believes or what anyone of us believes is not important, irrelevant.