SMRT dismissed two staff involved in 22 March accident

SMRT sends emails to staff, defending its decision to dismiss two staff involved in fatal accident on 22 March

I read SMRT's letter in full and it seems that they are going by the book when it comes to dismissing the train driver. That's even though it seems that the train driver wasn't at fault. At least to me he wasn't because there was nothing he could have done to prevent the accident. His job is to control the train. He was fired because of bad luck -- being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wow.

To me, it's another case of I-can-do-what-I-want-and-don't-really-care-what-you-think.

Property Soul: An insightful property blog for those in Singapore

There's this blog called Property Soul that I've been reading for a while and it would be to the benefit of those in Singapore to read it before investing in properties.

The lady writer is knowledgeable, substantiates what she says and her articles are quite inspiring and enlightening.

Singapore to monitor Pokemon Go. For what?

Reference: How can the Singapore government monitor Pokemon Go?
I can’t believe I’m defending Minister Yaacob Ibrahim’s Pokémon Go comments

This is what happens when there's a business so powerful that it can cause disruption in Singapore. Just like when Airbnb and Uber entered Singapore, they had to be monitored. Now we're monitoring a video game.

Rather than thinking of how we can MANAGE these technology disruptors, why not focus our resource on how we can create these businesses instead? How can we promote creativity and entrepreneurship in our country to come out with business that make an impact around the world?

Lives in USA are worth less than gun laws

So there's another shooting in USA, in an Orlando nightclub. People are angry, people are sad. However, Orlando is just one of the many shootings that day, it's just that more people died which is why it's on the news.

Whenever there's such shootings, you'll see forums and comments of people who support the right to own guns.

The thing is, people believe what they want to believe. Whatever anti-gun argument you use, I'm pretty sure they have a comeback, and it may be a reasonable comeback, one that's totally substantiated by facts, statistics.

Those people who are arguing for the right to own guns don't really care about other people who are getting shot. They may be sad about the Orlando shooting, but that's not going to change their behavior and attitude of owning guns themselves.

Let me put it this way: lives of people in USA are worth less than the gun laws. If lives are actually precious, they would have done something to stop innocent people from getting killed. And it's such a shame that no one in the government has the guts to do what's right. They just accept life as it is today. If people can own guns so easily, statistically, there are going to be shootings. It's just another shooting that won't change anything.

If the lives of those people are important, the US government would have done something by now. Columbine shooting was in 1999.

Food rage lady should have been dragged out of the mall

Source: Food rage lady gives her side of the story, says she had a cold that day

When talk and reason fail, perhaps it's time to call the security to drag her out of the mall. This is to maintain the harmony and peace of other customers who are eating. It's a private property after all.

NTUC FairPrice and the rats at Kang Kar Mall

Source:
NTUC's initial response on taking legal action
NTUC FairPrice, FB user trade words over rats at Kang Kar Mall

It is unfortunate when entities abuse their position to bully the weak. That looks like the case to me when Sun Yu Ming posted photos of bread that had wrappings chewed through by rats, and NTUC FairPrice retaliated on their Facebook page.

It's also unfortunate that some people really can't think well even if they are in management. I'm referring to the person who wrote the post on NTUC FairPrice's FB page and the person who approved it. Can you not think properly?

People on the Yahoo page linked above have properly called out that the rats and the shortchanging are two different issues.

Here's some advice, for NTUC FairPrice and also other commercial entities.

When people make a complaint against your company, thank them for their time to provide feedback. They obviously care enough to actually give you some feedback. There are companies out there that are paying people to provide feedback. And you're getting this feedback from Mr Sun for free!

Next, find out what happen and use that feedback to improve your company.

Don't be afraid of bad news. Every problem is an opportunity.

What and how you do in a situation like this reflects who you are. Do you want to be a moron or a responsible person in the mind of the public?

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.