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Tag: COI

  • Gerald Giam: Caught In The NSEW Line Breakdown

    Gerald Giam: Caught In The NSEW Line Breakdown

    I was caught in the massive breakdown of the North-South and East-West Line (NSEWL) of the MRT yesterday evening as I was heading to a meeting at the WP HQ in Jalan Besar. When I reached Dover station at about 7.05pm, the eastbound train was already at the platform but with all its cabin lights off. I got onto the train anyway, but waited almost 5 minutes before it finally moved off. The westbound train on the opposite track was similarly stalled. My train stopped midway to the next station and all its lights went out again. This pattern was to repeat itself several more times over the next 25 minutes. When I reached Outram Park station at about 7.35pm, the lights in the train went out a final time and we were told to detrain as it was no longer in service.

    The PA system announcements at the station informed us that train service on the entire NSEWL had been suspended and free shuttle buses were available. So I exited the station thinking I could hop onto one of the buses. Big mistake! The street level was packed with people and there were no buses to be seen and no directional signs to guide the stranded commuters. Someone asked me where the buses were. I told him honestly that I had no idea.

    Knowing that it would be pointless to attempt taking a cab, I headed back down to the station, against the flow of the crowd, hoping to get in again and take the North-East Line (NEL). But all the fare gates were closed and I was told by an SMRT staff that I had to exit and walk around the station to get into the NEL entrance. I finally boarded the NEL and arrived at my meeting almost half an hour late.

    I consider myself fortunate that I was able to hop onto the NEL. The guy sitting next to me on the East-West Line train (before it stopped at Outram) said that he was heading to his home in Simei. I think he, like hundreds of thousands of other commuters, probably got home much later than usual.

    This 3.5 hour service disruption, which happened simultaneously on the two busiest MRT lines during the Tuesday evening rush hour, was probably the most serious service disruption ever. I had flashbacks to November 2011, when I had another close shave — I just missed getting on one of the trains from City Hall station that was to eventually stall in the middle of the tunnel.

    According to SMRT and LTA, the outage was due to a power fault. Preliminary investigations found that a faulty train could have caused the power to trip. I find it astonishing that a fault with a single train could cause power to be cut to trains at all 58 stations on the NSEWL. Is there so little redundancy in the system? Or are all the circuits strung together in series like a cheap set of Christmas tree lights?

    As of the time of this writing, it is still unclear if the MRT service will be available in time for the Wednesday morning rush hour. SMRT has already advised commuters to make alternative travel plans. Both the Minister for Transport and LTA have come out to apologise for the breakdown and demanded that the faults be investigated and rectified. That is little comfort for the quarter-of-a-million or so commuters who suffered this massive inconvenience and frustration.

    The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the November 2011 MRT disruptions had identified maintenance (or lack thereof) as a key cause of the multiple breakdowns then. Now, almost 4 years later, with a new CEO at the helm who promised to focus more on engineering and maintenance capabilities, we seem to be back to square one. What can we expect moving forward? Another COI?

     

    Source: http://geraldgiam.sg

  • Malay Traffic Police Hero Wants to Instill Law and Order, Protect the Innocent

    Fadli

    SINGAPORE: A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer narrowly escaped injury after a hydraulic jack that was being used to lift a bus suddenly gave way.

    This dramatic account by police officer Senior Station Inspector Akhbar Ali of how Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu’s body was extricated was heard on day seven by the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Little India riot on December 8 last year.

    The COI was told that an SCDF officer was trying to extricate Sakthivel’s body from under a bus as a boisterous crowd ignored instructions to back away. Instead, the crowd continued to push the vehicle.

    This caused the hydraulic jack that was lifting the bus to suddenly give way.

    The SCDF officer was almost pinned under the bus and only just managed to get out in time.

    He also managed to partially pull Sakthivel’s body out from under the bus. When the body was finally extricated, the SCDF officers placed a white cloth over the body.

    Senior Station Inspector Akhbar on Thursday said he also helped to clear a path for the SCDF officers as they carried Sakthivel’s body to a nearby ambulance.

    He also told the committee that he was angry and frustrated when he saw two police cars being flipped on their sides.

    He said a group of foreign workers told the officers not to intervene as the crowd was violent and would not hesitate to harm them.

    Separately, a traffic police officer – who directed seven others to get out of an ambulance and run – explained to the committee that they had not done so out of cowardice.

    Station Inspector Muhammad Adil Lawi said he heard the rioters threatening to burn the ambulance, and evacuating was a “tactical decision” as he felt their lives were at stake.

    There was also another vehicle which had been set ablaze near the ambulance.

    “When I saw the fire through the cracked windscreen, I realised there was no more time to spare, and that the threat was very real,” he said.

    Station Inspector Adil added that if they had not evacuated the vehicle, they would have been burnt alive.

    According to his statement, the ambulance exploded shortly after they left the vehicle.

    As the most senior officer in the vehicle, he said he felt a sense of responsibility, and directed the officers to run in the direction of Bukit Timah Road because he knew there were police resources there.

    In the video clip of the incident – which was shown in court on Thursday – a group of foreign workers were seen opening the doors of the ambulance.

    When asked if he knew whether these men were targeting the police, Station Inspector Adil responded: “I could not take the risk, because I don’t know if they were rioters or people trying to help us.”

    The committee also heard that not all the foreign workers who were present at the scene of the riot that night were hostile, and some had even tried to help the police.

    For example, a group of workers carrying a bag that appeared to be on fire tried to set a police patrol car ablaze, but were stopped by others in the crowd.

    In another video clip, a man was seen dancing around a burning Traffic Police motorcycle and, shortly after, was pulled away from the wreckage by another man from the crowd.

    Two other officers also described how they stayed at the scene despite being outnumbered, including Staff Sergeant Kamisah Hanafi, who was hit in the stomach by a concrete slab, and Traffic Police Officer Fadli Shaifuddin Mohamed Sani, who drew his baton and charged at a group of rioters several times to try and contain the situation.

    When asked by the committee if he feared for his safety, or was worried that he would be overwhelmed and his weapon taken, Traffic Police Officer Fadli Shaifuddin Mohamed Sani replied that his purpose was to instill law and order, and ensure that no innocent bystanders were hurt.

    He was commended by the four-member committee, who called his actions brave.

    Source: CNA