SHE had started piano lessons at a music school in Punggol Plaza three weeks ago and was already showing a flair for the keys. But while on the way to her weekly class on Tuesday evening with her grandfather, a car ploughed into Zhao Lin Qian, killing the five-year-old instantly. The pair were believed to have been jaywalking across the two-lane Punggol Field Road at about 8pm when she was hit. There was a pedestrian crossing as well as an overheard bridge nearby, but they had not used either.

Source: ST

I believe the print copy reported that the grandfather was ‘enraged’.  The grandparents arrived from China and were helping to take care of the deceased.   It was his first time accompanying her to class and he did not know how to get there, so Lin Qian led the way.  Mr Zhao added: ‘The car was going very fast and it just hit her. What could I have done?’ 

Well, you could have gotten her to stick to the pavements.  Perhaps it’s normal to jaywalk in China and hence his outrage that a car could even hit his grand-daughter who was ‘merely’ jaywalking.

Now don’t get me wrong.  The driver is in the wrong, and I think the choice of his car doesn’t help him (he was driving a Subaru Impreza).  But no punishment meted out by the courts could ever compare with the anguish he is facing now and for the rest of his life.   And the life of this young 27-year old hangs in balance, a jail term could destroy his career and dreams.

Why can’t pedestrians stick to the pavements?  I once nearly knocked down a woman who was arguing with her partner at the road side.  She threw herself onto the road but fortunately her partner dragged her back on to the side.  Who protects me if I hit her?

Perhaps public education and fines are passe in this day and age.  What does the Traffice Police have to say?  According to the ST report, ”the Traffic Police reminded all pedestrians that they should use designated crossings.”  And “motorists should also be alert and anticipate sudden occurrences on the road, such as people darting out, and slow down or prepare to brake when necessary.”  Wow, that could work in utopia, I guess. 

Our millionaire Transport minister should think of better ways to keep our roads safe for drivers and pedestrians (locals and foreign talent included).

http://www.theedgesingapore.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1254%3Awhy-taipeis-mrt-trumps-singapores&catid=979%3Asunita-sue-leng&Itemid=54

Excerpts:

And the broad conclusion is that Taipei proves it is possible to offer a high-quality, high-frequency and affordable MRT service without losing money. It also suggests that certain services, such as public transport, tend to function optimally as natural monopolies and ought not to be owned by companies that seek to maximise profits.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/12/transport-fares-not-linked-to-oil-prices-really/

Transport fares not linked to oil prices? Really?
Monday, 22 December 2008, 9:22 am | 171 views
Andrew Loh
At a grassroots event on 20 December, Transport Minister Raymond Lim was reported to have said that “transport fares are not directly linked to oil prices”:
21 December 2008 (Straits Times)
The answer is that public transport fares are not directly linked to oil prices… Refuting the idea that fares are directly linked to oil prices, he pointed out that ‘from 2007 to this year… oil prices went up 40 per cent, but fares went up just 0.7 per cent’.
However, in the last two years transport operators have cited increases in oil prices as a reason for asking for fares to be increased. One report (see below) even reported operators as citing higher oil prices as the “main justification for a fare rise”.
23 March 2007 (Straits Times)
In the past two years, the operators cited higher oil prices as the main justification for a fare rise.
2 August 2007 (Straits Times, AsiaOne)
Back then, the operators blamed high costs – in particular the high price of fuel and manpower – for the need to raise their fares.
Today, the companies are citing the same reasons – manpower and energy – for their fare increases.
1 August 2008 (Straits Times):
In a statement on Friday, SBS Transit said it is applying to raise bus and train fares because fuel and energy costs have “increased significantly in the last year”.
So what is going on? Were Singaporeans misled? Why is the Transport Minister now saying that fares are not linked to fuel prices?

Ask any driver, you bound to find out that they are still stucked in the traffic especially during the peak hours despite the fact that these areas are the location where the ERP gantries currently located.

So the question is, Singapore government is spending so much money to solve the problem or to get more revenue from the people? In most developed countries, rationale of ERP system is more on:

1. Control of heavy vehicles that cause the most damage to road, and therefore they shall be the one being taxed heavily for road repairs and maintanence work.

2. Control large luxury cars that consume the most petrol and cause the most pollution to the environment.

3. Those that of lower petrol consumption will pay lesser and including the hybrid and natural gas automobil.

As you can see, these countries especially the Europe emphasis on environment rather on the use of ERP to curb traffic jam. In Singapore, like any other implementations, it seem the sole purpose of the so-called solution is to get more money from the people across the board rather than focusing on the batch of people that contributed to the inconvience itself.

Often, you hear from foreign visitors comment on the everlasting construction work going on in this small little red dot everytime they visit here. Compared to the past, you find almost every single hour of a day, there are bound to have heavy trucks, lorry or even mobile crane fighting for space on our public road or even highway itself.

With this increasing volume in construction activities, you would not be surprised to find that electrical cables laying project that usually occupied one of the 3 lanes road causing rows and rows of vehicles lining up to wait for their turn to squeeze pass these obstruction.

Next time, while you are on the road, try observe the road condition during peak hours. You will find that, every time when there are 3 big vehicles on the road occupying lane 2, 3 and 4, they effectively slow down the speed of the vehicles trapped behind them!

Another common sight you find in a road accident, the slow down of other vehicles following behind because every time when then driver drove passed a accident scene, they slow down to look at the vehicles involved in the accident.

It that so simple? ERP?

RED-man

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

Tom Wright painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s property sector going forward at The Wall Street Journal. His article ended with the following:
“I’m yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel [for Singapore],” says Mr. Tan, the high-end broker.
We would expect people to continue to dig the dirt and tell it to [...]



Our skin isn’t as thick as it should be

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere.  Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere.  As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

The online-offline firewall, while somewhat alleviated by offline [...]



Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew – The answer to the African problem?

Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org.   Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]



Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.
 

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