In the Sunday Times of 27 June 2010, SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa, referring to crowded trains, was reported to have said:
“People can board the trains – it is whether they choose to.”
As commuters who take the train daily, do you agree with her statement?
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First it was the crowded roads and the need for car owners to be forced out of the roads. Then people started taking buses because cars were getting too expensive. The buses became over-crowded and trains were introduced. Now that the trains are over-crowded, it seems like the Transport Ministry have no more answers to how to solve the over-crowding problem; unless we can fly about in our known mini-jetplanes.
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As with all things PAP, when there is no solution in sight – the fault must be pinned on the people. What else is new? Nothing surprising!
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I am more surprise no one picked up a bigger issue let loose by Lee Wei ling’s trigger-happy writing two Sundays ago in which she glorified her father almost to sainthood sanctity. I was in a hurry to go abroad and could not sound it out sooner.
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She let loose a very big cat out of the bag when she revealed – and unwittingly gave valid reason too – as to why LKY should retire immediately. She wrote, with the aim of portraying her father as an attentive and loving husband that he had allowed his role as SM & MM to take a back seat while channeling more of his time and energy to caring for his wife when she was recovering from stroke.
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In other word, the people whom the MM were serving had to take a back seat to his wife. Without attempting to sound unkind for such a predicament his wife was in at that time, I cannot help but think that it was even more unkind of LKY to have stayed on when there is such a conflict of interest.
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It is not one or two days we are talking about but months and possibly more than a year even. He did not perform the role he was elected to perform and should therefore come forward to explain himself whether he had at any time compromised on his duty as MP and MM during that period of time when his wife needed his attention more than the people who elected him into office. Is this still being compromised now, even as we speak?
gemami
It is not one or two days we are talking about but months and possibly more than a year even. He did not perform the role he was elected to perform and should therefore come forward to explain himself whether he had at any time compromised on his duty as MP and MM during that period of time when his wife needed his attention more than the people who elected him into office. Is this still being compromised now, even as we speak?
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leekuanyew is a very very greedy man
~period~
he demand that he should get his $100,000++ salary/month whether his ailin wife needs him or not!!!
no way in Heaven or Hell would he VOLUNTEERarLEE retired! OnLEE his son our prime the prime minister can RETIRE him..butt as the PROPERGANDA goes…our prince is indeed the piety filiel son (or a bloom kiasee 1s..take YOUR pick)
My Views 28 June 2010
Why didn’t these people purchase a car or take a taxi is an interesting question.
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how much you earned? buy your owned car or take a taxi?
so which mic you want? wired or wireless?
off course we ALL know leehsienhloong do pay you a handsome monthly salary to lick his balls..how much are you earnin/month? $14,500 perhaps?
OMG, see how cocky this CEO is??
She knows damn well we, the commuters have no alternative transportation mode
that’s why she can flaunt her cockiness
right infront of his boss!!!
As it is, even the trains are packed to the seams, we, the commuters also have no choice,but to board the trains!!
What we, the commuters are airing out is that we are being taken for rides!!
With the money we paid out as fares, we are not getting our money’s worth!!
Please go to Hongkong and see for yourself the efficiencies of the MRT system before you show off your cockiness!!
BTW the security of the SMRT as to how it is to be implemented is your bloody business!!
Don’t compare this issue with Fort Knox.
If you decide to put security guards at every 50 feet, its your perogative!!
Even you decide not to put any guards, its also your perogative,as you ARE the CEO!!
What we, the citizens is concerned, is the fact that, inspite of all the hoo-haas of our first world security being put in place, especially after the escape
of the limping terrorist,2 foreign talents can just slipped in and spent hours inside the depot to show off their artistry!!
Please get down from your high horse, just because you are enjoying the monopoly of running the SMRT,you can behave and talk as such!!
Saw Phaik Hwa is not fit to be the CEO of SMRT, issuing such statement with no regards to the commuting publics daily difficulty on the trains.
Why don’t Saw Phaik Hwa herself take the ride on MRT for a month to experience herself the discomfort of crowded trains
maybe she will not say such irresponsible statement. Can we citizens petition to remove her from the CEO position of SMRT. Any feedback is welcomed.
i will be the first to sign the petition to have her removed!
she doesnt understand about PUBLIC transport.
All these MIW appointed persons are there to follow instructions by their masters.With sole monopoly of the transport system,any Tom or Dick can deliver beautiful results and profits and the peasants have no other alternatives.That speaks for the haughtiness of her reply.Time is up that we should gang up and rally for a change or else we’ll regret for eternity.
This is a photo I took at City Hall MRT during the evening peak hour.
http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/2530713
Similar photos have been published in blogs, websites snd even the pro-establishment ST.
Despite all these photos showing how incredibly crowded the trains are, the SMRT, LTA all the way up to the Minister for Transport continue to cite statistics that “prove” the trains can still take lots more people.
What is the point of harping on these statistics? Is it to say that all of us who complain about over-crowded trains are lying? And that maybe we use Photoshop to add more people to our photos?
If the gahmen, civil service and those who provide public services like public transport continue to disregard – even poo-pooh – our genuine feedback, just don’t be too surprised when the truth of our unhappiness and dissatisfaction emerges on elections day.
Instead of getting chastised for the security lapse ,this cocky CEO does not seem humbled or penitent in the least.
In more civilsed nations,this CEO would have hmubly begged for forgiveness and volunteered to step down.
What a shame,what a shame.
Want to vomit when looking at her picture.
She should be stripped off her CEO
post for security lapses!!
she should be working in coffee shop serve coffee by the look of the photo.
look more to a coffee shop aunty then ceo
Am i right to guess that she has not been punished or given a bad KPI even up to now ?
The Security Lapse or BOO BOO or FIASCO or FAILURE is an ORGANIZATION-wide failure.
I am sure the CEO is not at fault nor responsible nor accountable to this ?
I wonder how much respect her staff have of her. I mean deep down inside, not diplomatically nor superficially nor self-preservatorily.
KUDOS to Singaporeans!
You Accept Everything.
Eternal.
The CEO is absolutely right! I almost never take the 1st train that comes, or even the 2nd or 3rd because I CHOOSE NOT TO. I want to enjoy our world class MRT stations – the buzz and vibrancy created by closely-packed humans, the air perfumed with of all manner of natural body scents, the continuous background music of announcements over the public address system … The pleasures are addictive, and free of charge!
I think this CEO is not only UGLY for a women but also DUMB !
What does she mean that one can choose not to board a packed train ? !
Haven’t she heard of time constraints and being on time for work.
There is NO CHOICE but to go into the packed train and packed it in.
I guess she doesn’t understand that as she drives and can come to work at her own time.
She should be sacked or demoted.
ms saw, do singaporean a favour. go work somewhere, i am sure there are many companies that needed your expertise in making ‘profits’.
Not only is the CEO dumb and even more dumber with her remarks but she certainly does not have a basic grasp or understanding of why people choose not to board trains.
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If you are a guy and the train comes along with a cabin full of women, are you going to squeeze yourself into it. As any normal man would do, you would either run to the next cabin or you would wait for another train. If not, one wrong move perceived as being deliberately made would land you in big trouble.
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If you are a woman and the train comes with a loadful of men in a cabin, would you venture into it and put yourself at risk of being taken advantaged of? No woman in her right frame of mind would want to invite such trouble and so you skip and wait for the next train.
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Perhaps the CEO might want to try this out and see whether she would enter a cabin full of China-men or Bangladeshi-men, or, would she rather prefer to skip and wait for another train. But then again, probably nothing will happen to her if one is to take her looks into consideration.
gemami
that is really first class analysis and good joke. I wish there is a political cartoonist to draw up your observations.
zero
ms saw, if you are cursing inside why your security staff screwed you and now landing you in hot soup. well, its isnt any of your staff’s fault. you are the decision maker and the current state is the result of your management and leadership. Its ALL your own making. singaporeans have enough of the lousy mrt system and shockingly, the high up still has the cheek to claim first class.
do you not realise this is pent-up frustration?
and this is to raymond lim:
ever wonder why hong kong is so successful. car owners in hk even prefer taking public transport. listening are you?
To iwantLEEKUANYEWwill
$100,000 ++ pm to LKY is probably peanuts! Mr Lim Chee Onn was installed as chairman of Keppel Corp – by either LKY himself or upon his instructions, and LCO was remunerated with something like $7-8 million pa. And who is/was LCO compared with LKY in the papy camp? LKY was and of course still is, right at the top of the totem pole, multiple rungs above LCO.
How much LKY has been paid and is still being paid is anybody’s guess. My guess is that it would be no less than $1 million pm. I may be wrong of course. On the other hand, my estimate may even be on the low side.
Yup, I agree that Ms Saw Phaik Hwa’s expression to crowding in trains is a reflection of cockiness.
Maybe she is in need of some training in public relations and public ommunication.
Whoever her boss is may now be seriously thinking of reserving a special course for her. And if that is so, that would be progress.
I can take the last train and sleep in my office, “its whether I choose to”. Stupid elitist, just because I am not CEO does it mean my time is any less precious than yours? If I wait for the next train does it mean it is any less crowded than the last? Next time think with your brains instead of your gluteus maximus before making a smart-ass comment.
And while we’re at it, SMRT & SBS Transit should ban the use of cell phones in the trains. I understand Japan does not allow the use of cell phones in the trains there. Here it is very common for people to be on their cell phones in the packed trains. There is no way for those around them to avoid the radiation emitted. For the sake of public health use of cell phones should be banned in the trains.
Hey thanks! Zero, for the compliment.
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If anyone is looking for more reasons why people choose not to board trains, here is another.
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Imagine everyone is like the CEO, who claims to have no qualms in squeezing into a fully-filled cabin-full of people. Imagine further if the train should stall midway through its journey because an over-indulgent PAP supporter suddenly discovered that his PAP heroes are not lifting a finger to help him with his troubles; and then decided to jump in front of the train during the morning rush hour.
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So, here we are, the train at full stop… each passenger standing upright with no room to move, no air to breathe except the morning breaths flowing out from each other’s nostrils and mouths, and becoming more sweaty by the minute. The minutes turned to hours. Legs are wobbling, heads are giddy. Yet no one could move an inch. You faint but you are still standing upright.
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Is this the kind of scenario the CEO fantasizes about, that she would be caught in a jam with bodies holding her up, rubbing her and squeezing her in delight?
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If this is not her fantasy, then she must come out to explain herself why she is pressing for commuters to forgo their own personal safety and health in order to support her claim that our trains are not over-crowded.
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Would the CEO also give assurance that her trains will never stall for whatever reasons so that we do not become like sardines in a tin can – complete with the same smell and squishy, slimy feelings of a tin of sardines; instead of expecting commuters to fulfill her fantasy?
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Gee! I don’t even need two cents to come up with such thoughts!
Ms Saw has greatly insulted the hundreds of thousands of commuters who pack themselves in MRT Trains and, by so doing, contribute towards her very comfortable salary.
In response to continued public feedback about over-crowded trains, the SMRT chief executive COULD HAVE CHOSEN to adopt a hands-on approach and go down to the ground to evaluate the situation for herself. But no. She CHOSE to re-vomit statistics that say the trains are not crowded in the first place.
She went further… She then chided commuters for CHOOSING not to board trains that, according to her statistics, are still comfortable with an average of only 4 persons per sq m during peak hours, versus trains in London, Shanghai and Tokyo that have about 7 to 8 persons per sq m.
Such remarks are highly offensive. For they imply that commuters are not only complaining about a non-existent problem, but perhaps also lying (or at least grossly exaggerating) about the situation.
Will somebody please start a petition to demand a public apology from her and also to demand her immediate removal from office?
People who CHOOSE not to solve problems by denying reality are unfit to be CEO of any organisation, let alone a supposedly public-service organisation like SMRT.
Likewise we should demand the removal of Transport Minister Raymond Lim, for he has also re-vomited the same set of statistics when the issue was raised in Parliament some time back.
While we are at it, let’s also remove all the other out-of-touch, incompetent, irresponsible and finger-pointing PAP Ministers and MPs. Their response to public issues follow the same standard operating procedure:
1. Deny that any problem exists (and use statistics to back this up).
2. Say it is not their responsibility and/or that the problem cannot be solved anyway – eg Singapore can never be free from floods.
3. Scold the public for being choosy, complaining, etc. Or, if they are unable to deny the problem, then scold the public for causing it.
well said, richard.
so opposition party, listen up. this is an issue that is affecting us. the people are fuming mad. like it or not, we have no choice and public transportation is an integral part of our everyday’s lives. our high up are out of touch. sometimes i think they live in mars.
so use this issue to your advantage.
simply look at the the number of views and comments of this post. imagine singaporeans squeezing for space at the start of the day and squeezing again at the end of the workday.
lets boot out the incapables, arrogant and ignorant!
ps: according to report last week, ms saw’s annual pay roared to 1.67 million. that is $139,166 per months, on top of the perks that comes along with the job!
rwkc
How much LKY has been paid and is still being paid is anybody’s guess. My guess is that it would be no less than $1 million pm
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wah! i think when leekuanyew kicked the bucket…i ain’t carryinc his goldcladdedcoffin…with all those $$$$$$$$$$$$ he brin to his coffin..he need a giant industrial forklift…
Oh yes, worldcrass, I forgot another word to describe our Ministers and MPs: ARROGANT!
Not to praise SMRT but as compared to the subway in Kolkatta, SMRT is way much better…
However, our million doolllah ministirer mentioned we have world class service.. well, seems like world class does not means it is good!!!!! To this highly paid individual, be sensitive and think before speaking.
worldcrass 29 June 2010
…, on top of the perks that comes along with the job!
what are those perks? Free rides on public transports? If so, we must really get her to ultilize her ‘perks’. lol
of course we can board trains, ms saw. so long as we keep bringing in more foreign talent till we reach 6million.
we are rated low in human rights …because we are treated like sardines day in day out.
to the ceo, its not about choice…its about no choice. how many will want to take those peak hour trains if they have a choice?
rwkc
the mad man is paid over 3 million a year.
according to her daughter, since 2003 ‘he tried his best to arrange his working schedule around my mother’s needs’.
so are taxpayers paying for a male nurse or a forecast extraordinaire?
is that CEO Responsible or Accountable for the Failure?
If not , can someone tell me which other senior management is?
Or no one is responsible?
If so, i apply for the job can?
The MRT system was started in the 1980s. The train and the station size were optimised for a smaller population.
MRT trains are unique compared to buses, cars and planes. It quite difficult to change their capacities in a meaningful way, especially in Singapore’s context. So, MRT can only increase the train frequency.
If our MRT stations were able to handle longer trains or the tracks able to accomodate bigger trains, MRT would be more than happy. Afterall, they are profit-motivated.
The problem is the chenghu did not envisage a population of 5 million and more. Almost every woe is link to the population explosion – water, housing, transport, employment, food prices, etc.
The mother of all solutions is to reduce the population.
You mean: “reduce the foreigner population”, right?
wonder how would she feel being sandwiched between 2 men tightly everyday…
For me, its just a fundamental flaw that our govnt didnt cater for any future expansion. I was in HK recently and i realized their station was much longer than ours. So who’s mistake is it that we didnt cater for future expansion? Its the same with the lift upgrading in HDB. they also forgotten that we all get old one day and they only realised now but of course, we have to pay to shoulder their mistake. Maybe they will say they will upgrade/ expand our existing station and ask us to pay for it. For all the “highly educated scholars” sitting in the ministries/ govnt offices, i find it very disgracing that we made such a basic fundamental mistake.
@ leesjuanpat & worldcrass,
How to petition to remove her as CEO of SMRT?
This SMRT CEO caboh and the Singtel CEO caboh too sure related to the hairy famiLEE & cronies.Gelenti,he will never give this good fat salary to outsider.
Actually, I started taking the MRT when I was in the Army during the 80s. It was a very comfortable ride & most of the time, I could get a seat & enjoy the journey. People are still happy with taking the bus & everything was really affordable. Fast forward to 2010, all I hear is that the buses & trains are always full & it’s such a nightmare for everyone. I think the population back in the 80s was around 2.5 million & now, it’s 4.7 million!! That’s almost a 100% increase! I am wondering if by importing so many FTs into Singapore has damaged our way of life. We have become so competitive that all we know is to make money!! Yes, we have become ‘money-face’ but we dont deserve the blame fully. The PAP must foot a big part of it cos they made us hungry for money & I think that’s killing us! We are always stressed out with work, IPPT, sick parents, HDB, marriage, CPF & lots more. We have progressed well but also, it has taken the human out of us. We no longer care cos the most important thing is to make money & more money! Just like the ministries, they peg their performance to growth & it’s growth-at-cost!
Everything is about money & I am really shocked that SMRT made so much money year after year & they still need to increase fares. Of course, the cost of raw materials & fuel have gone up but isnt public transport a form of service to the people? I dont quite understand why they need to sell MRT, SBS & PUB, except to make profits out of Singaporeans that have no choice but to pay for their services. This is totally wrong & I hope one day, PAP will be kicked out & hopefully, the new government could be more forgiving & gracious towards us!
Hiya…..expected SMRT lady would say likedat la….Everytime SMRT tio Shoot she will shoot back la….LOL
Gemini wrote about MML, sorry I did not read earlier…
He did not perform the role he was elected to perform and should therefore come forward to explain himself whether he had at any time compromised on his duty as MP and MM during that period of time when his wife needed his attention more than the people who elected him into office.
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Errr… has MM Lee ever attended “Meet the People” sessions in recent years or decides, like other MPs do? Is this part of an MP’s duties and responsibilities, for which they get paid?
Can anybody in his constituency shed light?
Yes, note that what prompt the present government to work is Money.With the understanding that MPs get paid very handsomely, it is no wonder that they want to stay in place. It is no more the noble idea of serving the people with care and concern. It is sad that whether we are willing or not , to be realistic, we too are molded, trained, coerced to weigh everything with Money, learning this from the government. Money is the one and only Reality in Singapore.
Give it a thought:
Humans are treated as Commodity , particulary in Singapore.
(Its) worth is based on how much
Money can be generated from (its) contribution.
(Its) worth is how many babies can be produced from (it)nto generate more income.
(Its) worth is how much (it) can be squeeze out.
(Its) worth is how much (it) can be made use of.
This is your unique singapore.
shd go Hong lim park and petition to remove her!
Know how the Garment will respond to gripes about commuters being packed like cattle…..
It will explain it away by informing us that “MRT”stands for MASS Rapid Transit,meaning a contrivance that is meant to quickly transport us en mass.Hence,do not expect any comfort like those of a private car.
The Garment would even feel proud that we are packed like commuters of Tokyo during peak hours.It means that we have,indeed,turned “First World”.
So stop complaining and accept the transformation of us humans becoming sardines…..
How do the super elites commute to work….They only know sardines as a type of food.Perhaps,they do not even eat it.
One day, our trains will be seatless in order to squeeze in more people.
Tongkat Ahmad, excellent observation/comments.
I like your analogical reference to sardines.
Corporations were at one time aiming for profitability in the thousands, if not millions. Then some corporations were churning out profits in the tens of millions. But now tens of millions or hundreds of millions is not good enough; tens of millions may now be considered peanuts. With the greed for higher and higher growth or profitability, the aim is now to go for billions, regardless of inflationary pressures [or bad end results for consumers] such aims may bring.
Reduce staffing costs – but only for certain grades of staffers of course; reward more to executives like CEOs, they are the jewels in the company.
Charge higher rent, and if the renters pass the higher cost to consumers, then it’s the business of the consumers.
Not as crowded as Taipei?!?!?!?!
Has she actually seen the trains in Taipei during peak hours?
More orderly and civilised than here. I was there at 8am once and I saw no mad rush.
People even queue up to exit and board the train.
NO PUSHING. No squeezing.
I was so impressed. It was even a highlight of my taiwan trip.