When Lui Tuck Yew suggested that nationalising public transportation would lead to stagnation of service quality or efficiency over time, does he mean that Government officials are inept and inefficient in running their agencies as compared to private entities? It is not a question of whether private agencies are more efficient than government agencies but rather the presence of competition or lack of it rather, that causes these operators to slack. SMRT currently is non government run, enjoys a FULL monopoly, but yet runs with a track record of poor service and quality:
Ask ANY Singaporean taking the trains or buses, they will give u the TRUE story on what's happening on the grounds. The Workers Party has, indeed, brought up a very valid point, and the People can attest to it. The people that must account for this poor service would be the top echelons of management in SMRT, who accounts for millions of dollars worth of remuneration. And despite all these poor report cards, who was it that suggested a FARE INCREASE, and a MAXIMUM INCREASE at that?
You do not need to pay MILLIONS to a handful of people to run a MONOPOLY. Any average middle class Joe with a tertiary education CAN run a MONOPOLY well enough for a fraction of the remuneration. The balance of the MILLIONS can be used to offset transportation costs for the poor and the elderly.
In chasing the economic trophy which creates abundant wealth for capitalists and the elite few, the Government has created a huge inflationary bubble which translates to very high standard of living for the poor and the middle class by way of rising costs in food, medical, transport and housing. The Government must seriously consider using part of its reserves to ensure basic staple costs such as MEDICAL, TRANSPORT & FOOD are kept low for the lower and middle class. Why so?
Because you created the bubble, you address the consequences. You helped the rich, but please do not forsake the poor. We all know this is the BEST POLITICAL time to raise fees and prices (immediately after elections), but has the people you selected to run the public transport companies done well enough for the citizens to justify the fare increase?
Just go and ask the man on the street who takes public transport daily to rate the top management performance- The answer is already on the table, and the solution is clear: ANYONE can run a monopoly, the question is how well they run it. Have the existing management done well? If I can speak on behalf of the Singapore Citizen, I think they have really long socks to pull, and a lot of reflection to do, instead of going the easy way of just raising fares. Population has increased, ridership has increased, everything bodes well for profit performance, why the need to raise fares?
Last night, in my dreams, I realise I'm the Transport Minister: I did a thorough performance audit and did a major shake up in the top management ranks, and then I realise I lost my job because I didn't heed the political clout of these existing top management staff.
When I awoke, I realise all the citizen's concerns will still come to naught: The fares will still be increased, the top management will still rake in millions, there will still be a monopoly, the poor and middle class people will still have to absorb the fare increase and pregnant ladies will still have to stand while 'tired, sick, and deeply asleep' men still hog the reserved seats
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