Most of us would have heard the news about our SMRT trains being exported back to China because of ‘superficial’ hairline cracks.
Apparently, LTA says that it is of no concern. It tried to downplay the defect. It also mentioned that repair of the trains will take about 7 years and later on clarified that it will take between 3-7 years.
Interestingly, the news was first reported by foreign media and not by our mainstream media who is supposed to be the citizens first point ofinformation.
Either they (journalists) are incompetent to sniff out such infos or someone in charge is holding back information to cover up this mess.
Instead of taking those responsible over these purchases and do a full inquiry, it has decided to keep the matter unknown to the public and hush up these activities (train defects) in an attempt to cover up.
As these issues involves the life of millions of commuters, it is important that the public is informed of such matters. Afterall, Singaporeans have a stake in the transport system and billions of public funds were used to purchase these trains.
Our government is never known for its transparency. Where the late LKY would have taken out to dry those responsible over major mishaps, the current leadership has developed a system of shielding those who are responsible.
Without transparency and a functioning media, we are at the mercy of those who are in position to manipulate the people for its own benefit.
Soldiers will be roped in as marshals to give directions to stricken commuters in the event of a massive train breakdown, The Straits Times has learnt.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), which is beefing up its contingency plans, has approached the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to explore deploying the men in green to give directions and manage crowds. They will be tapped only during large-scale disruptions.
LTA said that personnel from the police, Public Transport Security Command (Transcom) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force are already helping LTA and the public transport operators in managing such incidents.
An LTA spokesman told The Straits Times that it “will also work with other agencies like the Defence Ministry (Mindef) to provide additional manpower resources if necessary”.
When contacted, Mindef confirmed the move, saying that SAF will work with LTA in the event of a major disruption, “while maintaining our primary responsibility to safeguard our security environment”.
The latest move comes on the back of a spate of major incidents involving Singapore’s rail system.
When trains broke down around 7pm, there were accounts of people not managing to reach home until close to midnight. Some walked all the way.
A review was conducted in the wake of the incident, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo in Parliament on Monday.
It was found that the contingency plans of rail operator SMRT were “not adequate” to handle the scale of the breakdown, she added.
As a result, trunk bus services calling at MRT stations hit by delays or breakdowns will be ramped up to provide alternative travel options for commuters, said Mrs Teo.
Transport expert Park Byung Joon said that tapping on the military during massive disruptions makes sense, as soldiers can be called up and deployed at short notice and “can channel commuters to the right places as quickly as possible”.
The adjunct associate professor at SIM University said using the military as “an alternative backup manpower” during such incidents is not unheard of.
He pointed out that some special force troops in the South Korean army learn how to operate trains, to ensure train services continue in the event of a strike by train drivers.
Alex Yam, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs, said deploying SAF personnel at MRT stations is not entirely new as soldiers are already put in key installations like Jurong Island and Changi Airport to conduct patrols.
They also have experience in crowd control during major national events like the National Day Parade.
Mr Yam added: “Transcom already has a sizeable pool of officers, so activating military men will not be the first course of action. It is a last resort.”
Lui’s resignation – a sign of weak leadership from the top
“Singapore will not encourage a culture where ministers resign whenever things go wrong on their watch, whether or not they are actually to blame,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was reported to have said in 2008 during the debate on the escape of terrorist suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari.
My Paper, 2008
Mr Lee was disabusing calls for the then Minister of Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng, to step down after Mas Selamat climbed through a window at the Whitley Road Detention Centre and escaped.
Mr Wong stayed on and finally stepped down from the Cabinet in 2011, but remains a Member of Parliament (MP) till this day.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew’s surprise announcement on Tuesday that he will not be contesting the upcoming elections is, despite the criticisms, the right thing for him to do.
This is in spite of the flawed principle espoused by Mr Lee – that ministers will not be asked to resign when “things go wrong on their watch, whether or not they are actually to blame.”
While Mr Lui himself did not provide a clear reason for his stepping down, it is not unreasonable to suspect that he did it out of a sense of honour – to take responsibility for the failings of the transport system these past several years – and doing so in a manner which will not be seen as setting a precedent for ministers to resign when things go wrong.
“I have put in my utmost into fulfilling my responsibilities,” Mr Lui, who first came into politics in the 2006 general election, said in his letter to Mr Lee.
The upcoming General Election, he said, “provides an opportunity for me to step back from politics without causing major disruption to Government at the end of its term.”
Without a clear reason for his decision, speculations will surface and indeed they have.
“Was subjected to daily incessant attacks but carried on doing his duty, calmly, and with equanimity,” Law Minister, K Shanmugam, said on his Facebook page. “Could not have been easy for him and his family to be subjected to such incessant and frequently unfair attacks. Many in his position will naturally ask why should they subject themselves to this.”
Mr Shanmugam’s remarks stand in contrast to that of his fellow PAP MP and Mayor of Central Singapore CDC, Denise Phua.
Ms Phua, who is Mr Lui’s colleague in the soon-to-be-defunct Moulmein-Kallang GRC, said the latter “took the brunt of public anger” but “took criticisms and online flaming in his stride, and quietly focused on resolving problems on the ground.”
Nonetheless, to place the blame on criticisms, incessant or not, is simplistic and misguided.
While no one would argue that ministers nowadays do in fact face vocal criticisms from the public, one must also look deeper into the cause.
And as far as Mr Lui’s situation is concerned, there are many issues which have led to such vocal criticisms – and one of these is the lack of accountability from those who are in charge of the transport system, despite all the years of failures, delays, disruptions, and breakdowns.
For example, no one in the oversight regulatory body, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), has been taken to account for its failure to ensure maintenance work was carried out regularly and adequately.
The LTA website says, “LTA regulates and oversees all three main modes of public transport (taxis, buses and trains) and ensures that they meet safety and service standards.”
A committee of inquiry held after the two massive breakdowns in December 2011 concluded that “maintenance lapses [were the] main cause of [the] train breakdowns.”
“Lapses in the way SMRT maintained its rail system were key contributory factors behind last December’s MRT breakdowns, a high-level inquiry has concluded,” the Straits Times reported back then.
In the first half of this year alone, there were five major MRT service disruptions, which were close to half the total last year.
And just last month, another massive breakdown affected some 250,000 commuters.
Yet, no one has been held to account for all the years of disruptions – not even Saw Phaik Hwa, the former CEO of SMRT.
Instead, she was made the highest-paid SMRT CEO at the time, for two years running, taking home a paycheck of S$1.85 million before she resigned in 2012.
But her salary has been dwarfed by that of her successor Desmond Kuek, who has seen his pay doubled – from about S$1.2 million to $2.25 million – in the space of just 3 years, and making him the highest-paid SMRT CEO ever.
And transport fares continue to rise, despite the billions of dollars which have been poured in, and which will be poured into the public transport operators.
It also doesn’t help that even the former chairman of the Public Transport Council, which regulates fares, slammed commuters for expecting higher standards without wanting higher fares.
Straits Times, May 2014
So, given these and many other issues, is it any wonder that the man at the helm has become the target of unhappiness?
And isn’t it simplistic for the likes of the Law Minister to point to so-called “unfair attacks” by the public to explain one possible reason for Mr Lui’s stepping down?
Mr Lui has done the honourable thing – whether he felt he had done his best or whether he felt he had failed to resolve the transport problems – by stepping down.
For this, perhaps the man ought to be applauded.
At least he does not make excuses for himself, or lays the blame on critics or “unfair attacks”.
If indeed Mr Lui decided to step down because of these “unfair attacks”, then the blame really should be on the weak leadership from the top which shields those directly responsible for failures.
Ironically, it is Mr Lui who seems to have held himself to a higher standard than that of the Prime Minister, who has not shown the gumption to take his ministers (and others) to task but instead shields them with ill-conceived arguments – that “Singapore will not encourage a culture where ministers resign whenever things go wrong on their watch, whether or not they are actually to blame.”
This can only breed even more distrust and give rise to more criticisms.
Just look at the Auditor-General’s Office recent report on its audit of government ministries and statutory boards – has anyone been similarly held accountable?
Transport fares will be reduced by up to 1.9 per cent from December, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Monday (Aug 3).
Mr Lui, who spoke to the media at One-North MRT station, said fares were being lowered following reduced fuel costs.
He added that he would leave it to the Public Transport Council to work out the specific reductions, but expects “every commuter group” to pay lower fares.
These fares will kick in in December, coinciding with the opening of the second phase of the Downtown Line.
In addition, Mr Lui also said commuters would soon have shorter wait times while riding on the Circle Line.
Seven new trains have been put into service since June 24 this year, and another three to five will be deployed by the end of this year, the Land Transport Authority said in a media statement on Monday.
The new trains are part of a plan to roll out 24 new trains on the Circle Line, boosting capacity by 60 per cent. There are currently 47 trains on the Circle Line.
At the moment, commuters wait an average of 3.5 minutes during peak hour for a ride. This will be cut to 2.7 minutes.
During off-peak periods, commuters will only have to wait five minutes, down from an average of seven minutes.
The Workers’ Party is deeply worried over the 3.5 hour disruption of train services along the entire stretch of both the North-South and East-West MRT lines on 7 July 2015. The severe inconvenience caused to an estimated quarter-of-a-million commuters during the evening rush hour makes this the most serious MRT disruption in Singapore’s history.
The latest breakdown comes on the heels of repeated assurances by both SMRT and the authorities about the improved reliability of our transport system. Yet, the number of significant train delays reached an all-time high of 12 in 2014 and stands at 8 in 2015. This is despite billions of dollars of government funds being pumped into improving the existing MRT infrastructure since 2011.
Even as the LTA and SMRT work together with their engineers and external consultants to identify the precise cause of the breakdown, we find it particularly troubling that two of our country’s main rail lines can be fully disrupted by what appears to be an electrical fault. This raises questions about our transport system’s resilience, particularly as such a system-wide failure could have repercussions on our nation’s economic and national security interests.
We call on the authorities to enforce a more rigorous maintenance regime on the rail network, with effective measures in place to ensure that commuters’ interests take precedence over corporate profits. For key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the number of unscheduled train withdrawals per 100,000 train kilometres and the number of service delays exceeding 30 minutes, concrete targets must be set and disclosed to the public.
In the meantime, engineering and front-line staff should also be provided with proper support by their employers to ensure that they are equipped to handle any similarly challenging situations in the future. Their efforts and tireless work – many working through the night – should be recognised, and we would like to express our appreciation for their hard work.
