by: Sharon C/
The recent call for fare adjustments of 2.8% by the public transport operators is definitely not justifiable.
One of the reasons I believe that fares should remain status quo for now is because the transport operators are hiring more foreign drivers than locals, which means that even if fuel costs have increased the transport operators would be able to off-set that increase with lesser manpower costs.
In addition, public transport is a public good and so should not be profit-oriented.
Yes, public transport as they are now, is owned by private companies but aren’t they still regulated by the government? And since they are still regulated by the government, can they not approve fare adjustments until the operators improve their service?
In the past, fare hikes always came with the promises of better service. But were the promises kept?
We see more foreign drivers who are unable to communicate with the locals, and are unsure of bus routes. These foreign drivers, ungraciously slam the boarding doors on us even though we ran with all our might to catch the bus. And they often choose uncouth words over cordial ones when they need to give a reminder or a warning.
How many bus drivers actually greet passengers when they board? Yes, there may be one or two who actively exchange greetings, but they are the minority. What about the majority?
And I am frustrated even though I have only experienced these horrendous service standards and almost endless waiting times, for the past few years only (I’m a Year 2 Junior College student).
Commuters wouldn’t mind paying more if they can expect faster and better service standards.
Service standards which include shorter queues at bus interchanges, shorter waiting time for services, lesser technical glitches and breakdowns.
Not forgetting bus captains who actually behave like captains.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
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Daniel Ling,
if you’re viewing the article with an open mind you would not have failed to pick up the main rouse. i guess you’re just stirred up sentiments citing an emotive catch-phase like xenophobia.
yes, there are some personal accounts you quoted from the writer, true or not, i cannot be prove. when such articles are posted, others who have encountered similiar experience do find resonance in the points raised. the increasing numbers of foreigners in our midst is quite a worrying social issue. perhaps, instances one too many.
i dun speak for TOC, as for singling out foreigners. it may just be the negative feedback that our PAP govt needs to hear so badly. our dear PM needs to know the ground sentiments 1st. his “proper channels” of feedback is “corrupt”, ie, spoil already.
xenophobia like all phobias, can get either get better or get the better of you. if the govt does not respond appropreiately to control the phobia, then should the people who have the threshold limits breached be dealt with a light touch?
dun play with fire, wad do you suggest for those who do?
Daniel Ling,
locals or foreigners, i treat people as individuals, there are rude locals as well as rude foreigners. to improve social graces, our govt must be more selective in bringing in people who have those positive traits.
shaping societal values & culture is a long & slow process. & i am shaped by my own personal life’s experience, good or bad, local or foreign.
S’pore does not have a good service culture, evident from the top civil servants who are more keen on ruling than serving. how do you intend to stem the trickle down effects of such service standards?
@Justice Bao most definitely not. I just think that the author, like many STOMPers and TOC readers, attacks foreigners as part of some form of cheap in-group validation.
It feels good to poke fun at the effeminate ah kua in your class doesn’t it? Or score brownie points with the rowdy soccer gang and the “cool guys” in the class by complaining that the “apu neh neh” smells funny.
That’s fine if it’s a bunch of juveniles in a class setting. Ok it’s not fine either but that’s part of being an immature kid.
But I’m appalled to see that some TOC articles (this is not the first) are taking potshots at foreigners to get people angry and fired up about the issues they are writing about.
@ Mice is nice “to improve social graces, our govt must be more selective in bringing in people who have those positive traits”
Not sure how this can be implemented. A courtesy evaluation of each immigrant? A graciousness examination? I think integration programs might be a better idea (not that they have been very successful elsewhere in the world). Currently I understand very little is done to help those already here to integrate.
Besides, I think much of the foreign-drivers-are-ruder-than-locals menatality has to do with us locals looking through tinted lenses, and attribution error.
Gamblers often wear their lucky red underwear/socks/shirts when they go to gamble. When they lose, they attribute it to bad luck. When they win, they attribute it to the red socks. They remember only the good things.
We don’t like foreigners. We remember only the bad experiences we have with them.
As for the “main grouse” you mention the author was writing about, which you said i missed, yes she was angry (as am I) about the fare hike proposal. And all her arguments were in support of this main grouse.
However the first reason she gives for being angry is… foreign driver hiring policy. Somehow, of all the reasons (some with a much bigger effect on cost structure, and thus more pertinent to the reasonableness of the fare hikes), she chooses to call out the most popularly unpopular issue. Right. But she’s only J2 so I guess we might be able to let this slide.
However the longest paragraph in the article then details the sins of these foreign drivers. No matter that local drivers are just as guilty of all of that she lists here.
I was not saying that her whole article was devoted to complaining about foreigners. What I took issue with was that a DISPROPORTIONATE amount of her complaints were about them. And the fact that it’s appearing on TOC, which I feel is slowly losing it’s objectivity in coverage.
As to the word “xenophobic”, yes it is emotionally charged. But I think that the author’s tone was… super anti-Ah-Tiong. Couldn’t you feel it oozing from her poison-filled rants against “these foreign drivers”? Could you suggest then a more appropriate word to describe such an author?
Daniel Ling,
how does the govt evaluate potential condidates for civil service jobs then? does the govt not know? if they dun how can they sing praises on meritocracy? how then does our police know if potential cops have the right attributes? that they will not abuse their firearms? you do not know how its done does not mean others do not know how to do it.
i do not like so many foreigners, but this is different from not liking foreigners at all. this foreigner hiring policy that many companies adopt to certain degrees isn’t doing S’pore a favour.
Ah Tiongs being Ah Tiong, are mostly simple people, termed as “process monkeys”. i am not saying they are monkeys, fyi, but its a term to discribe people’s ability.
the writer tone may be angst filled, but to say its poison, then why do companies bring foreign poison here? do you know how strict Australian immigration are at protecting their turf against foreign invasion on their fauna & flora?
Daniel Ling,
its unfortunate you chose to berate a young gal just to voice your 2 cents worth comment.
not setting a better example but by talking a junior down isn’t going to help the “immature” mature.
JC2 is not mature enough to legally watch R(a) movies, fyi.
so why not do your part so the immature will mature as time goes by? LKY mature enough an example for the writer to emulate?
Like many of Singapore state managed privatized companies…. they are private whenever they need to make unpopular decisions or announce bad news.
When there is good news they are always presented as part of a public-private effort.
Bus drivers greeting passengers is an unnatural behavior. There is no need to do that, a smile or nod will be enough. They just catch me by surprise and make me waste energy having to reciprocate. They could be instructed to do this. This is extra load on the driver who have to do several things simultaneously already.