Ravi Philemon
I was the media spokesperson for CAN!’s campaign for transport subsidy for people with disability.
CAN!’s petition-signing and awareness-raising campaign ended in May 2009. Since then, the members of CAN! have been trying to deliver the petition to the authorities; the petition was signed by 377 people comprising of both the able-bodied and the disabled.
They tried to deliver the petition through the government feedback portal, REACH.
REACH, however, claimed that it did not receive the first email sent to them, which asked REACH to connect CAN! with the Transport Ministry. CAN! then sent REACH a second email. REACH replied and said it will try and inform the Transport Ministry. Two weeks later, REACH asked CAN! to scan and send the petition to the Ministry of Transport.
But how can a poor, resource-less, informal group of people with disability like CAN!, scan a 25-page petition (with signatures) to the Transport Minister?
Then, the group got together and deliberated how they could send the petition to the ministry. A few ideas were discussed. It even thought of meeting the Transport Minister at his Meet-the-People Session, but decided against it as the members felt it ‘would not be the right thing to do’.
Finally in September, CAN! wrote email directly to the Minister for Transport. The group waited two weeks before the ministry replied. The ministry advised CAN! to submit the petition to the public transport operators instead.
CAN! got together again. “But why should we submit the petition to the public transport operators?” its members wondered. “They are responsible to their shareholders and not to the people who elected them – even the people with disability.”
Finally, they decided to deliver an open petition to the Public Transport Council (PTC), copied to the Transport Ministry, and the public transport operators, through a press conference.
When the media tried to contact the PTC on this, the PTC replied that it does not administer “any form of public transport subsidy”.
So, the Transport Ministry washes its hands off the issue and the PTC says it does not know anything about it, which brings the people with disability back to being at the mercy of the public transport operators.
Now, the question we have is this: “Why should the public transport operators consider any request for subsidy from the members of the public (even disabled members of the public), when they are only responsible to their shareholders?”
Would the people with disability have to wait for 10 more years, the same length of time they’ve been waiting so far, for the public transport operators to explore if they should be given a subsidy?
(Note: This is an edited version of the earlier piece)
Bullshit! What the hell are we paying our transport minister and his henchmen for??
Unfortunately your 10 years is an eerily realistic time line. e.g some oppo gets in the coming election. They do a good job, and more is elected in the following one which could be slightly less than 10 year or the one after that, slightly over 10 … maybe enough to force a Ministry position from the PAP. If it so happens that the position is Transport…
The MIW speak of building a more caring and compassionate society but they seem to be only interested in their own multi-million dollar salaries.
Like the management staff of our transport companies, they are all cold and heartless. Poly students have been asking for concessionary fares since 1977 to no avail. Better to squeeze blood from a rock.
This is exactly one of the reason I am voting for Change. I believe we have to help the less fortunate in our society even if it means less profit being taxed for our country.
Poly students who have tried in vain to get concessions from these transport companies should also come out in force during the next GE to vote for Change. Only with change can will we see these transport companies offering concessionary fares to poly students and people with disabilities.
Time for change is now.
They raise the fare even though their books reflect millions of dollars in profits every year…You think they going to care about subsidy for people with disability?
Hi Ravi.
I am CK and an ex supporter of the PAP.I am a business owner and am privy to business chambers and clans.I admire your work in the community services.I, my family and neighbours would like to endorse you to be our represntative in Parliament.We need people like you with a stout heart to represent Singaporeans.Bring normalcy to this autocracy.
I am posting not anonymously.The Opposition cause will have a swing vote from my side.This includes my family,extended family,friends,neighbours,clan members and business associates.We started a grassroots pact to vote for the Opposition.
We appreciate your work.We will do our small part by voting for you guys.I wish you,CAN! and New Hope the best.
CK
In this world every competitions, every businesses, every endeavors, there are definitely bounded to have winners and losers, the real problems are, the sg, all the time, wants to be the winners and never at a time be the loser, hence, the citizens become the ##victims## of this bunch of miw’s insatiable cum relentless acquisition of power and wealth!
Once again, the strongest survive, the toughest take all and, finally, the winner “sexes” all!
Luckily, the miw can only win in singapore but, not internationally/globally! Just look at suzhou-industrial-park and all other defective investments worldwide by the miw and their cronies! But do not worry, lose money, never mind, come back to singapore and squeeze the singaporeans! Singaporeans are the easiest targets!!!!
In-short, this bunch of miw only know how and/or can bully singaporeans, because singaporeans are all at their mercies and disposals like “rubbish”!!
Be honest to yourselves, how much can you do to them, really, be frank, which part of singapore is not under their control? Only “god” knows the answers!!!
Our society must certainly take care of the disadvantaged. I do not fault the transport operators whose objective to maximize profit for its shareholders through offering acceptable public transport services based on regulations.
It is the regulator which is obviously not in tune with the expectation of public transport regulation. Rather than the present framework, PTC should work on the basis that profit allowance for the operator is banded. If KPIs are met and exceeded, then operators are allowed to keep a higher profits (as a %). If the KPIs are not met, then the profit % shall be capped as a penalty. This framework motivates the operators positively and they need not necessarily fare poorer as a result.
It is disquieting that PTC and MOT have NOT actively promote the interest of the People. The handling of this petition by these agencies, in particular, is DISGRACEFUL.
This is the sad state of affairs in the so called First World & First class society in
Singapore today! We have CAN fighting for “subsidy” the word here is “SUBSIDY”
and not “FREE” transport concession for the last 10 years, and nobody in authority seem to have heard or notice! Something is very wrong! The poor and the disabled
are left to die and no body cares a damn! Otherwise how can the voices of CAN be
not heard for 10 long years?
Sad to say it’s the same case regarding the senior citizens’ whole day transport concession issue.This issue have been dragged on for decades! The same old silly excuse that the full paying passengers will be cross subsidising the fares is non-sense!The transport companies are not going to increase the number of trains and buses just to cater for the seniors and the disabled, thus the cost remains the same. So how does the cross subsidy comes into play?
Here we have to argue for the extra $30 for the poor till the cows come home.Fight for the transport concession till the throat is coarse and mouth dry.Whereas there, one $million minister, can just give out $10 million to the new foreigners and free English lessons without betting an eyelid!!
Is this the type of caring society the ministers have been so passionately talking about? Or are we all still in dreamland??
The half-hearted transport concession to the elderly is a very good example what kind of approach these self-serving fat cats are taking. Once you are beyond your productive years and can’t contribute to the city, please don’t use the public transport during the peak hours. That’s why the concession to the elderly only covers off-peak hours. Uniquely Singapore indeed!
Profit and more profit that’s all they are interested.
My plead to those Singaporeans who are still considering how you would vote in the next election, the oppositions need your swing votes to prevent those self-serving fat cats from passing any damn rubbish bills in parliament. Stop them from winning the 2/3 majority in the next election.
We need accountability from these world highest paid idiots. Change we want and change we can if we stand united.
It is a sad state of affair. How much will it cost to provide concessionary fare to the handicapped compared to the salary of a minister. Why is the transport ministry and PTC washing their hand clean?
The weak excuse from SMRT and SBS Transit is that giving concession to the handicapped is ‘at the expense’ of full-paying commuters. Do we all mind if it is really happening that way? A definite NO. What lame excuse!
Even now the concession for senior citizens above 60 years must be from 9 am onwards.
Full fares before 9am. And many senior citizens work and have to leave home before 9am and are forced to pay full fare.
Are the transport company not making huge profit year after year and increasing fare
to their whims and fancies ??
The handicapped and senior citizens have no foothold in a country who only cares for the welfare of the rich elites not the poor. Victims of circumstances’ voices are too indistinct to be heard.
Where are we heading from here?
The bottom line of these trying to get rich quick Multi-Millionaire-inspired Mini$ters and the top evil servants is this:
“If we keep giving out subsidies or free rides, then our profit margin is going to go down. That means our annual bonuses for the top honchos will be that much less.”
But they twisted the logic to say “… the commuters will have to pay for them …” kind of craps.
I am getting really sickened by these greedy self-enriching pretentious cunning wolves!
Even the malaysian railway is better (not in term of hardware though), as they give my father, who is Singaporean, concession rates with no questions asked (other than age related).
i think the top people are afraid the disabled will suka suka take public transport for “fun” you know…
it’s quite an experience to squeeze like sardines and smell foreigners’ armpits.
petition denied – next pls.
MOT seems to be saying: u don’t get any subsidy nor should u talk to me about any subsidy until I say so. And who the hell are u anyways.
10) leesjuanpat on December 4th, 2009 7.01 pm
It is a sad state of affair. How much will it cost to provide concessionary fare to the handicapped compared to the salary of a minister. Why is the transport ministry and PTC washing their hand clean?
Whatever ministry does these days are purely profiteering from the public business, just anything to do with the greedy ruling party is just making hugh pile of blood money through the expense of the public and citizens, man! its all monopolized business, not just sure profit, its outright robbing out from the public pockets into theirs, vote for the papees again lah! stupid people, 66% of morons.
CK@5: Thank you for your compliments. It is very encouraging.
I wish very much that all the multimillion dollar ministers could pool a portion, if not all of, their 13th month salaries to subsidise the transportation of the older and infirm under a very precise adminsitered scheme, on a regular basis.
I believe that multimillion dollar ministers should be quite happy getting 12 months of salary of an *honest * 12 months of service to the nation and their 13th month really is something which they wouldn’t need so much, and could be diverted to charitable causes, any type of humanitarian causes, not only transportation infrastructures for the needy, etc..
If this is done then there will not be any issue of the public operators losing profits.
If only the no. 1 man in white will read this and lead.
In fact, the nation should promote a “Use Your 13th Month Salary To Help The Needy Campaign”. Many people earning above the average salaries or more, would just save their 13th month in the bank for rainy days. Or they spend $3000 for a holiday, and many would still have some left over. Please especially MIW consider donating annually some of the 13th month salary. 12 months for you guys, already very blessed, do a good deed, you will be remembered sirs and madams.
Having said that, i guess that nothing in singapore will move if the No.1 MIW don’t make any comment or first step. All the (n+1 MIW’)'s are monkey see monkey do MIWs. Perhaps lily neo is an exception, someone pointed out that she donated all her increments to charity.
Zero
Will there be transport hikes again citing oil prices or any excuses in 2010 or 2011?
How much growth can there be?
It only goes to show that our government is only interested in MONEY for thhemselves. Where is the compasssion and empathy for the disabled.
Lets get rid of all of them in the next election. As someone mentioned get rid of all these millionaire ministers who think only for themselves and probably get some kick backs form being ton the board of all these transport companies. Where is the intergrity and also how can one be said to be objective and fight for the general public when you are on the board and also paid by them. For cure there will be a conflict of interest.
Stand up for all true singaporeans and dont be coned come the next election when all of a sudden the goodies arrive as they aways do to brainwash and confuse the electorial public. Let us not be fooled this time round and in the future.
Vote for a change> Vote for an opposition to rid the coutry of all these in humane ministers and the people involved.
With the GE around the corner, I’m wondering if CAN can leverage on that to petition for public transport concessions.
What happened to LHL’s “inclusive society” promise made when he came into power? It’s time we hold him to his word.
“But how can a poor, resource-less, informal group of people with disability like CAN!, scan a 25-page petition (with signatures) to the Transport Minister?”
Erm.. You only need 1 scanner right? Out of 377 people you managed to gather for your cause, not ONE person had a scanner at home?
BUT THEY CAN ‘THROW’ MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON WELCOME PARTY FOR FOREIGNERS.
–No One Will Be Left Behind –
http://news.asiaone.com/News/NDP+Rally+2007/NDP+Rally+2007.html
If you want to read about poor/needy people in Singapore go to
http://happyangelclub.wordpress.com/
–No One Will Be Left Behind — http://news.asiaone.com/News/NDP+Rally+2007/NDP+Rally+2007.html
XiiAoGeNgEnX@21: We are thankful for the 377 people who signed the petition. It takes about 3 – 5 minutes to scan one-page on the home scanner. For a 25-page scanner, it takes about 1.5 – 2 hours. The people who are disabled, either did not have the sight, the intellectual ability or the equipment to do it, Our able-bodied friends gave different levels of support for the petition, but did not have the time or sometimes the equipment to do it.
Meeting the Transport Minister in person to deliver the entire petition would also have given us the added pleasure of having met the Minister in person to let him know our predicament.
CAN! is aware that such a petition will have to be looked at by the various players who provide, administer and manage the public transportation and so the reply may not be immediate; but meeting the minister in person, would have given us the satisfaction that we have voiced our concerns and delivered our petition to the highest person there is who could help us most in this matter, the Minister for Transport himself.
CAN! -
You have the support of people in TOC.
Even if the Transport Minister is not free, he can ask you guys to meet his MOS, PS or a Senior Official from his ministry.
OF LATE, THERE SEEMS TO BE THIS ‘IN THING’ IN SINGAPORE ABOUT NOT HELPING THE DISABLED
Like the 3 ‘handicap’ ppl cases
- Handicap man still stuck at home despite LUP [Clementi Ave 5].
- Handicap/unemployed man brought to court by Town Council over 432 dollars in errears [Jalan Besar]
- Handicap/unemployed man needs help [Boon Lay]
SOMETHING IS DAMN WRONG , WHEN HELP IS DENIED TO THE HANDICAP PEOPLE.
I wonder how many handicapped individuals in Spore? 1,000? 10,000 perhaps? And how many times these handicappers takes the public transport per day?
Their costs are negligible & its an insignificant revenue to the operators. If KARMA has its way, how I wish for at least one each from the PTC, MOT & the transport operators board of directors to get maimed & be labelled as an handicap. Then they’ll understand the suffering by the genuine handicaps.
We have the stingiest government in the world. Yet we are the richest people on earth – we have the highest foreign reserves per capita in the world.
By denying subsidy to these unfortunate citizens and other consumption subsidies the govt has accumulated hugh reserves which enable the govt to do many things many poor countries could not do during the recent financial crisis. People with disabilities have limited economic value to them.
@ 26 Col. Faris
You said it right. But the unfortunate truth is, if any of the elites in the PTC, MOT or their family were to become handicapped by the cause and effect of life, i.e. as
you said KARMA, they are rich enough to move around in a chauffeur car. We would be too naive to think they will go by public transport.
Hence, these high and mighty people and cronies will never known what is poverty and compassion to the less privileged and handicapped.
As the saying goes: “to die a thousand death can never be living life for the suffering of the living death”. Being poor and deprived and handicapped can be a living death in a society of high-handled policy makers.
Do we have a heart??
http://happyangelclub.wordpress.com/
Can we have more friendly enviroment for the handicap people ?
Beside Bukit Merah NTUC entrance, there is a strong guy.
He is a handicap people selling big sweep here for more than 10 years. Sometime his big sweep and money were stolden by some bad guys who pretended to be customers buying big sweep from him but yet took away all the big sweep and ran away.
He is a strong guy. He thanks for other people who want to offer any help to him.
I asked him :” how do you go to the toilet?”
He said :” Oh, that is really a bit troublesome for me. Someone push me to the Bukit Merah bus interchange toilet.”
I said :” why go so far? is there any handicap toilet nearby ?”
He said :” There is one nearby at the Hawker centre but too small for my wheel chair to go in.”
I went to the handicap toilet last night and noticed that it was quite far from his place and it is not easy for him to push the wheel chair by himself.
But, if he has a electronic wheel chair. will it be better for him? If there is a big enough handicap toilet nearby him, will it change his 13 years troublesome which he needs to go to the toilet so far at the bus interchange? The Tanjong Pagar Town Council is just behind him. Is there any handicap toilet there?
When we are talking about having special pavement for cycling, do we also want to think about having handicap pavement? Let them using electronice wheelchair anytime by themselves. Let them have the opportunity to go everywhere by themselves. I believe it will brighten up their life.
It will be nice……………if…….
*all of the handicap people can own a electronic wheelchair and go everywhere easily anytime.
*The price of the wheelchair is affordable for every donor to sponsor the wheelchair for every handicap in Singapore.
* Our ministers may want to start to kick on of this project? one minister or one MP sponsor one electronic wheel chair for one handicap who need it? (it’s like an adoption project.)
More discussion at REACH :
http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/YourDiscussionCorner/tabid/117/ptid/414/page/1/totrecs/28/threadid/2848/forumtype/posts/Default.aspx
REACH:
http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/REACHsDiscussionCorner/tabid/116/ptid/404/page/2/totrecs/17/threadid/2885/forumtype/posts/Default.aspx
Budget 2010 » Discussion Forum Topic on Budget 2010
By Jane:
*Pls put in more budget for handicap because there are MORE AREAS NEED TO BE BARRIER FREE.
“Bullshit! What the hell are we paying our transport minister and his henchmen for?”
We are paying them to take expensive 5-week baking lessons in France
Singapore is a sad place to live in even for normal people, much less the disabled, old and poor. It is unlikely that the Singapore govt starts seeing value in disabled people and provide any substantial incentives. The country is run like a business, they have ‘no use for disabled people’. The only way forward for disabled is through the actions of well run NGO organisations.
It is sad, not only in this ministry but so many of the other ministries as well. Seems like all the over-paid ministers have been sleeping on their jobs – counting money.
Listen to what Yacoob Ibrahim expressed yesterday: “… there is something seriously wrong with the Malay community … what with 3 young lives lost … it is a community in trouble… blah… blah … blah …”.
Goodness gracious! The Minister for Muslim Affairs, expressing sudden bewilderment over the state of affairs of the community he has been charged to care for? Where has he been all this while?
Anyway, coming back to the article in question, Ravi mentioned one key point that one can identify with what’s wrong with our society at large – that of being a shareholder.
Indeed we are all shareholders of this land we call our home, but unfortunately, our we wield no power as shareholders – much like the political situation – where the peoples’ voices have to pass the scrutiny of an elite group of officers.
What the use of all the configurations in our public transport trains and buses to be handicap-friendly when at the end of the day, the cost is going to be retrieved back from these poor handicaps? Worst still, the rest of us have to suffer these configurations with lesser seating capacities while paying an ever-increasing fare.
I sometimes wonder how much more that the average Singaporean continue to take all these lying down … I really do wonder … are we slaves or shareholders?
They only care to maximize profit, GDP, their millionairs salary , bonuses, allowances ($13k+ for 3hours per month for peolpe meeting session- should remove it long ago ) and directorships & share sharing etc.
Remember! one mp dare to asked where got poor in singapore?Please show me…
Hi all,
Oh ! I did not know all of you are discussing this topic here. Now then I notice this article.
Thanks !
My big dream : everyone of the handicap people can own a electronic wheelchair.
http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/YourDiscussionCorner/tabid/117/ptid/414/page/13/totrecs/172/threadid/2848/forumtype/posts/Default.aspx
I think the best way for everybody here is to vote with your hand not with your mouth.
Come the next election, please make sure you put your hand where your mouth is and vote appropriately.
And ask this question when voting :
How much worse can the oppositions do?
as opposed to the PAP propaganda :
How much better can the oppositions do?