Khaw blames management for rail woes

Source: Khaw blames distracted management for rail issues

I've never been had a positive impression of SMRT management even since the major disruptions in 2011. That was went things really went downhill.

I still remembered their inability to handle the crowds. They didn't know what to do during the disruptions. It's not unexpected. They weren't prepared for this sort of situation. But that does not explain why they don't have the ability to handle the situation as it happened though.

Then there was the SMRT bus driver strike in 2012 when the management failed to contain unhappiness of their drivers even though the issue was already made know to them in advance. The management should have handled that better and not allow it to progress to a strike.

After that, we had more train disruptions. The one on 7 July 2015 disrupted the NSEW line. I read with disbelief when the news appeared on social media.

And remember how the two engineers died on the tracks at Tampines?

And recently there's this "Rise in major breakdowns but MRT gets more reliable: LTA" story. That's a headline led to many people scratching their head. I was like "what the hell are they trying to say?"

Now Khaw blames the management.

Not only that, Khaw wants to set goals to catch up with Hong Kong and Taipei's rail system. It's great to set goals. Any achievement made by our rail network is applauded. But before we compare to other countries, why not just compare our system today with the system we had years before? And only after we surpass ourselves should we look towards comparing with other countries.

I'm cynical about the whole situation though.

So what if they don't hit the target? It's not like anything bad will happen. Life still goes on. SMRT is still profitable. Salaries will still get paid at the end of the month.

ST vs Lee Wei Ling (2016)

The current saga of Straits Times vs Lee Wei Ling is just stupid.

This is a perfect example of airing dirty laundry outside for all to see. This is when you could have washed the laundry properly first before airing it.

Lee Wei Ling said ST censored her article on Facebook.

There are some arguments and counter-arguments on Facebook.

Now, ST has replied with a respond to why the article wasn't published.

Let's see how stupid the situation has become.

If you as an editor had told the writer that there's plagiarism in the article, it would have been made clear that the article cannot be published. Also, the editor would have been able to educate the writer about the concept or plagiarism. The ST editor should have educated the writer in the first place. It's your job. It's plagiarism. You put your paper at risk by not telling the writer because if she continues to write, there's a chance in future you might not catch the mistake.

As for the writer, one that has written so many articles for ST, to not know what plagiarism is... That is just MIND BLOWING. When I read the words "intentionally plagiarized" in her facebook post, I was like "OMG, are you serious?"

Now both parties are made to look stupid and unprofessional.

Student killed herself after getting 2 Bs for O-levels

Reference: Student commits suicide after getting two Bs for O-levels, mum takes own life 3 months later

This is a tragic story.

The student decided to kill herself because she wasn't able to live up to expectations.

In exams, you can score a maximum of 100 or As. In life, you can score however high you want to. There's more to life than just exams. I hope that all parents who have read the story can take something away.

Comparing your kid against other kids who are performing better is the most silly thing to do in my opinion. You're just going to make your kid feel inferior and what does that achieve? So that he/she will do better in order to avoid being inferior? Why not encourage your kid to learn for the love of learning which will eventually give your kid a better life.

Every parent have their own way of teaching but to make your kid feel bad is not the right way.

Man in seat storm

Reference: Man caught in seat storm says he has heart condition & has not been feeling well

Lady’s rant against man who wouldn’t give up seat leads to heartwarming reunion

So now the seat for the disabled and needy has become the seat of morality and ethics. If you're on the seat and refuse to give up to someone that's shown on the sticker pasted above the seat, you have bad manners.

Says who?

Everyone can have their opinions, sure. But who are you to judge who's the right one to deserve the seat?

The guy already said that he's tired and that's a good enough excuse that he needed the seat. The woman carrying the baby also needs a seat. So how do you choose?

Take me for example, when I board trains, I don't sit even when there are empty seats. If I am tired and happen to sit at the new morality/ethics seat, I'm likely not to give it up too. I stand for most of my trips so that I can give other people a place to sit, whether they are abled or not. If one day I sit and the some moron took a photo of me, and paint whatever picture that moron wants to paint, is that an accurate picture?

In short, if you want to sit, sit. Want to give up the seat, do so. But don't turn this into a freaking morality test and go judging people.

And stop using the "ownself check ownself" or "you voted for this" arguments. Those are just excuses for your inability to argue with facts and sensibility. People using shortcut arguments are killing their brains without knowing so.

Knowing your rights at the airport

I saw this Facebook post pop up. It's quite interesting.

The guy in the story, PJ Wong, was stopped the ICA officer for a spot check. Wong questioned the intent of the officer and basically questioned all the procedures. Wong even started taking videos. The police officer tried to snatch his phone. The supervisor was called in and Wong was left off.

Here are some thoughts, the officer is doing his job and is within his power to carry out the search. The questions are unnecessary and the officer don't even need to give him any reason. The police officer has no right to take away the phone. That would be stealing. The situation can turn extremely ugly. Luckily for the officer, he did not get the phone. If I'm in the same situation, I would proceed on with the search. What's the big deal? By the way, Changi Airport is not a public area. Many people mistake places where public have access as public area. That's not true. The property owner has the right to remove you any time from the premise.

Update: There's now a facebook page to support officer Eugene Ng.

Khaw Boon Wan vs UberX

Reference: Brace yourself, UberX. Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan is coming for you

I seriously do not understand what is meant by "leveling the playing field".

This is competition. Competition helps lowers the price of taxi fare which is too bad for the taxi drivers of course. Competition also improves the service by getting more cars out to work as transport vehicles. It benefits more passengers than taxi drivers.

So how does "leveling the playing field" generate positive utility for the economy, or even benefit passengers?

Will taxing the rich make Singapore richer?

Reference: S'pore's total tax collection hits record high of $43.4b

So there are now 4,557 people earning more than $1 million each.

Their combined income came to $8.63 billion and they paid about $1.6 billion in income tax.

That works out to be 18.5% tax rate.

Singapore's total tax revenue recorded the 12 months before March 31 is $43.4 billion.

Those 4,557 high earners are only contributing 3% of the total tax revenue.

Say for example if we were to tax the hell out of those rich people at various tax rates below
30% - 2.59b in tax - 44.39b tax revenue - 5.8% of total
40% - 3.45b in tax - 45.39b tax revenue - 7.6% of total
50% - 4.32b in tax - 46.12b tax revenue - 9.3% of total

The rest of the so-called lower earners contributed $41.8b.

Say we increase the tax of the rest by 1%. That will give us an additional $4.18b.

To get that amount with high earners, we had to increase the tax level of high earners to you're-going-to-piss-them-off 50% level.

That's the law of large number. You will get a more significant result when you increase a small percentage that affects a large number.

Indonesia's comments on the 2015 haze

Shocking statements from “senior people” in Indonesian gov’t: Shanmugam

So what can you do, Singapore?

Nothing would be quite an accurate answer.

I can't stand all these wayang that's playing out on the international stage where politicians are ALL TALK NO ACTION (NATO). It's the biggest wayang playing live right now.

Shuqun student bullied for 5 months

Source: TMG Exclusive: Teacher knew about the bullying, teen was bullied for 5 months before video

There's this Shuqun Secondary School student who was bullied for 5 months before anything was done.

The teacher has failed to protect the student who was unable to protect himself. There should have been follow-up to see if the initial verbal warning to the bully is actually working. Apparently not in this case and the victim has to suffer because the teacher is incapable of teaching discipline and conduct to the bully.

Parents can avoid this type of behaviour by asking their kids about school and work occasionally. It's most important to foster an open-minded culture where kids can talk freely and won't be afraid to talk about this type of things.

This case reminds of the SMRT bully case where someone else has to stand up for the victim because the latter choice to suffer in silence.

People need to stand up for yourself because nobody else will do that for you. Your happiness should not have to depend on others.

The ball is round

"The ball is round" is the most stupid answer you can give to any question.