~by: Ng E-Jay~
The defects in our train systems are systemic in nature, and it would take a great deal of effort, resources and political will to get them fixed. Our engineering designs, the hardware, and the emergency procedures have all gone haywire.
What has gone wrong? Why is it that the whole apparatus and infrastructure seem to be tumbling down? The answer might lie deep within the corporatist system that has been created by the government, in which SMRT and LTA operate.
To begin with, SMRT does not just operate the train system. Its corporate portfolio includes buses, taxis, retail outlets, advertisement hosting, leasing of media spaces, provision of repair services, and provision of engineering expertise to other transport operators, both local and overseas.
SMRT is a publicly listed company. It was incorporated into the Singapore Stock Exchange in the year 2000, and is majority owned by Temasek Holdings (stake: 54%). SMRT enjoys an annual turnover of nearly S$700 million and has total assets worth more than S$1.4 billion.
SMRT manages the train system and is responsible for the maintenance, operation, repair and security of the train network.
However, SMRT does not build or own the physical infrastructure within which its trains operate. The physical infrastructure is built, owned, and maintained by LTA using taxpayer dollars. SMRT leases the physical apparatus from LTA in order to run the train system. Only the rolling stock and detachable assets belong to SMRT.
However, as has been noted, SMRT does not just operate the train network. SMRT also creates and leases out retail outlets within the MRT premises. The company also engages in marketing and leasing of advertising spaces. Both advertisements and leasing of retail outlets earn a considerable profit for SMRT.
Here’s the kicker: the physical infrastructure is built and maintained by LTA using taxpayer dollars, but the revenue generated from SMRT’s advertisement and leasing operations accrue to its own bottom line.
When SMRT’s profit grows, it pays an increasing dividend to shareholders, the largest of which is Temasek Holdings. Temasek Holdings does not return this growing profit pie to Singaporeans. It hordes the profit away in external reserves or otherwise invests the money at its own discretion, without needing to account to the electorate.
When SMRT meets certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the Board of Directors pay its CEO and other high ranking staff a handsome salary, in the millions. Let me be clear about this: at no time is the profit returned to Singaporean taxpayers, whose dollars were used to construct and maintain the physical infrastructure.
With such a diverse portfolio of business operations, has SMRT become too distracted, such that its President and CEO Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, as well as other managers, have lost sight of the really critical issues, such as public safety, reliability of the train system, and emergency procedures in the event of a breakdown or sabotage?
SMRT has turned the train stations into profit centres that cater not just to commuters, but to a whole host of businesses and commercial enterprises. It is lucrative, no doubt. But given the apparent lack of attention paid to issues like train reliability and robustness, perhaps its time for SMRT to go back to basics and re-focus on its core responsibilities to all Singaporeans commuters — providing a safe, reliable and efficient train network.
Like housing, utilities, and the cost of living, public transport is a politically sensitive facet of the Singaporean way of life. The government has made a very critical mistake, in allowing such a political powder keg to be quasi-privatized in a way that systemic problems are allowed to fester beneath the surface, only to erupt in a spectacular fashion from time to time.
As SMRT is being run as a private enterprise focussed primarily on its own bottom line, there is insufficient incentive given to the company to focus on quality, security, reliability and sustainability. In the end, it is the commuter who suffers.
With the view of maximizing shareholder returns, SMRT has possibly been outsourcing its engineering contracts to the lowest bidder, choosing engineering solutions and maintenance procedures that cost the least. Over time, is it any wonder why the train system has broken down more and more often? Does SMRT have any sense of moral responsibility and awareness of its deep moral obligations to the general public?
It is not only public transport that has been manipulated, quasi-privatized, and turned into a private profit centre at the expense of citizens. Telecommunications, public utilities, public housing, all have met a similar fate to some degree or other. Now, is there any wonder why the whole edifice seems to be crumbling into the ocean right before our very eyes?
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This article first appeared on sgpolitics.net. We thanks Ng E-Jay for allowing us to reproduce it in full here.
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The decline in Singapore started when we allowed an effeminate pinky boy attain the rank of a general in our army. From there everything came downhill.
Here’s the kicker: the physical infrastructure is built and maintained by LTA using taxpayer dollars, but the revenue generated from SMRT’s advertisement and leasing operations accrue to its own bottom line.
- this is downright disgusting… everything in Singapore is geared towards profiteering Temasek and not the citizens… Totally disgusted
@Balanced,
Nailed it on the head, you have.
ya,everyhting is cock-up cos the ministers simply let their lapdogs take care of eveything and their lapdogs are not trustworthy.
even smple grass-cutting contractors simply blow debris all over the palces litterring roads and choking kerbside drains that eventually cause mosquitoes breeding and even floods.
in the past,the ministry of environemnt employ their own road-sweepers and cleaners and our roads were spick and pan and there were no ‘freak’ flash-floods.
now ,withn so-called modernised buildings etc,we get flash-floods and severe mosquitoes problems.
VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN need to work harder at making sure all the GOVT’S CONTRACTORS clean up after they cut grass or do other raod -works.
yakult was too LENIENT with checks and the contractors like GRASS-CUTTERS develop their BAD HABITS which they carry with them still.
don;t fine sgporeasn for a twenty-cents puddle in their house when the minister let their own grass-cutters litter our roads and drains all over singapore.
that;s is probably why DENGUE FEVER is so prevalent for so many years!!!!
No matters how good the leaders, once stained by GREED…
What has gone wrong in Singapore? Absolute control by one party and one man. Same with Syria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, some Latin American and African countries.
They have a foot in Everything, almost.
With feet in so many thingies, its bound to have a lot of issues.
Its a good thing.
We can write a book about it.
What happens when old man is no more?
Problem started when old man was allowed to run amok. It’s been 35 years now.
their style is same with singtel, m1 etc…. all GLCs function similarly… all these network breakdowns, floods etc.
what can you do? you voted for it, just bite and swallow, another 5 years.
what is wrong here is thta GREED HAS BECOME THE CREED.
else,this palce would have been a wonderful place with common sgporeasn basically a bunch of good and nice ppl.
whoever say sgporeans are ‘ugly’ are ugly themselves,more so if the FTs said so.
if sgporeasn are that ugly,why are THESE fTS FLOCKING HERE in droves.
@lee ka yu
Ministers Key Performance indicator is GDP and GDP alone, thats why nobody cares if Sporeans die or not.
@Oxygen
Some people are upset this matter has evoked a very strong reaction from the public. Is it really that serious, after all there were no death or serious injury? I think so. It is not about what happens but why it happens which can lead to potentially fatal situations. The PM preempted further disquiet by promising a public inquiry.
Hypothetically, if there were a catastrophic accident with deaths and injuries, e.g. derailment, it is possible that no party is liable, provided all parties did their jobs properly and the cause of the accident is beyond anyone’s control, e.g. an earthquake along Orchard Road.
Contd….
Let’s suppose we are not in the above situation, one or more parties are negligent. We need to determine which parties cause the accident. Is the developer (builders, suppliers), the operator (i.e. SMRT), or the regulator (i.e. LTA) at fault?
We need not make it out to be complicated. The operator has to ensure public safety during operation. If an accident happens because of a fault of the MRT system, it is clear that the commuting public may always bring about a class action suit against the operator. It is up to the operator to decide whether to push any part of the blame to the developer and/or the regulator, provided there is merit in doing so.
SMRT being a Temasek-linked company, it is unlikely that SMRT and LTA will sue each other over this or any situation. I know of only one law suit where Singtel and IDA sued each other for $300m. IDA lost.
Contd…
Coming back to track maintenance. SMRT describes it briefly at it’s website and puts out a schedule from time to time.
SMRT claims to maintain the tracks at night. However, the “21 missing claws” is the smoking gun. Obviously the maintenance wasn’t adequate nor appropriate. I am concerned about what we do not know; the problems at SMRT may be even deeper. Who signed off the maintenance? Who audited the maintenance within SMRT? Has SMRT outsourced the maintenance? Whichever the case, SMRT cannot plead “clueless” if it were to go to court.
LTA’s role is to define broad guidelines like providing definitions in section 2 of the RTS Act (Cap 263A)
“maintenance” includes the detection and rectification of any faults;
“railway” means a network or system of fixed horizontal rails, tracks, grooves or other guide-ways on, under or above the ground along which a train moves or runs, and includes all tunnels, viaducts, bridges, crossings, stabling yards, depots, stations and other infrastructures constructed or intended to be constructed for any railway and any extensions thereto;
LTA should worry about whether there is omission in its role to supervise and ensure compliance. No prior insistence of visual inspection of the third rail may come back to haunt it.
We claimed to be the best in everything we do.
And because we are the best, STOP comparing us to the London tube, MTR and other public transport systems in other countries! Not everyone in Singapore has the opportunity to travel and experience all that!
For a country that claim to be the best and number 1 in this and that, we ARE NOT THE BEST AT MANAGING A CRISIS like what happened last week. What a shame!!
It strange, how strangled people in Spore have become. It all these atricles, I am yet to see one that brings an ‘insider’ line in. Like am sure, somebody’s friend, brother, aunty works in SMRT, and in particular their maintenance division. and they willing to ‘tweet’ on what the F is wrong with SMRT today. OH, what a Pity.
Same here with, me. I have a cousin brother there – but not spoken to him in 3 yrs; how to get inside info now!
But, Excellent article by Ng E_Jay – man, we need more like you, as the only way to get rid of the despots in via accounting. Show where the money is gone to!
Yes, the opposition members in parliament should ask, how much does LTA spends on MRT maintenance, and how much does SMRT spend!!
It will then become clear, how we are screwed daily by the very people ‘we’ voted for.
The problem is that they do not reveal all information.
This prevents many from further questioning.
This leads us to Question even more at the same time.
@ Steve Wu
Thank you for your interesting illumination and concluding thoughts.
If LTA and SMRT is “left-hand” won’t sue “right-hand” analogy in serious mishap like derailment not caused by natural disaster of ‘earthquake” etc, the class action lawsuit will be difficult to pursue – IF BOTH “LEFT AND RIGHT HANDS” STAY SILENCE OF FAULT DISCOVERY. No one outside knows where the fault lies.
Simple explanation: Poor leadership
“The government has made a VERY CRITICAL mistake, in allowing such a political powder keg to be quasi-privatized in a way that systemic problems are allowed to fester beneath the surface, only to erupt in a spectacular fashion from time to time. (emphasis mine)”
Adopting the lens of an anti-PAP sympathizer and playing skeptical devil’s advocate, I would respectfully disagree with the conclusion drawn by Mr Ng.
I believe that it is precisely because the public transport network and operations are of such political importance that the government has “shrewdly” privatized it. Imagine the multiplied political backlash directly aimed at the PAP if SMRT was actually a government entity!
By privatizing it, the PAP has managed to distance itself, at least partially, from the debacle: it can, in the end, claim only responsibility insofar as it did not regulate as well. If the government was actually directly in charge of the trains, any pretensions of “we tried our best but it is ultimately SMRT’s responsibility” will fail.
This is not to say whether nationalization or privatization ought to be the way to go: I do not think nationalization solves all problems, technical or systemic. It is fantastical to think that once SMRT is de-privatized, the train systems will run smoothly forevermore. Certainly, a good case can be made that the likelihood of corporate indifference and neglect will decrease. But to treat nationalization as the panacea will be foolhardy.
Perhaps SMRT should enlighten tax payers as to % of cheap foreign labor hired to maintain SMRT’s trains and tracks to offset the obscene salary paid to Miss SAW the CLAW!!
Pardon my ignorance of our national transportation operations & management hither – paying taxes to make the ruling elites richer in their pockets at our expense?!
As the dynasty and their royalties get flushed with our blood $, we are slave-driven and insulted. Also, what I am most disgusted of SMRT are their abusing of elderly Sporeans as janitors. My heart aches everytime I see the silver-haired aged cleaning after our (as well the annoying foreigners) mess with a monthly pittance probably less than a corporate lunch of the CEO.
Thank you TOC for the “enlightenment. I am so DISGUSTED by this crippling incumbent!