after countless days of procrastinating i finally, have come out the effort to actually type this out, apart from changing the blogskin after more than half a year.
in a few words, i can say that the world in 2008 so far sucks.
first of all, in nearly 10 years the US$ has dropped to an all low of 1.374 (approx) and the future looks bleak. thanks to housing mortgages fall-outs and other factors offsets like fed reserves interest rates being cut and oil prices soaring like eagles flying free, wall street faces a calamity short of a recession. either its time to just sit it out, or invest in USD right now. or else if the US citizens decide to cash out on all their pensions, the white house is screwed man. lol. ~~ this is something ive asked around for my friends' views, and we generally have the a consensus over these issues.
another thing close to our hearts, especially people who are gonna get licenses, and in turn wheels soon. no offence to anyone here, but in recent years, has anyone realized that the revenue generated from land transport has ballooned. its as good as saying that part of the money we forked out to pay for the ERP charges, road tax blah blah has been utilized to build EVEN MORE ERP gantries to collect even more revenue out of motorists. although transport minister Raymond Lim said that "ERP is necessary", and highlighting the comparison between London's transport congestion management scheme, it still remains a stark fact that ERP is not the definite issue to road congestion. if this trend carries on, in the next 20 years or so we will have ERP gantries situated right outside our front yards, and we have to bite our cashcards and go under the gantries while we get charged a small fee to exit our homes. after so much talk to improve our public transport system, i fail to get a seat on the MRT more than 70% of the time even though sometimes i start my ride at the terminal stations. this applies for buses as well. it may not be financially sustainable to provide buses that only ferry such small capacity, but being squished like sardines isnt the way. personally i hope to see more short term improvements, and more extensive long-term plans instead of just giving a fancy name for a goal in the not-so-long future.
and i have i mentioned that transport fares are increasing too quickly these days? its not like we see the money being used for improving the system, except for building fancy MRT 'exchange' areas around every single station i can think of.
the most recent piss-off that tingles lots of frustration out of the general population is the new "law" that cabs were not allowed to stop ANYWHERE else in CBD other than taxi stands. half a month into the rule which started its effect on 1st march 2008, it received pretty extreme disdain from commuters, businesses, and cabbies alike. lots of new issues popped out, like severe drop in business from hotels due to the lack of taxi stands, taxi being no more than a private bus, and also stuff like being ignorant of the rule. punishment for flouting? 3 DIPS points and 100 smackers smacked on you.
LTA cited in news releases that the move is to "improve the safety of commuters, taxi drivers and other road users as it will reduce the number of taxis driving into bus lanes to pick up passengers or indiscriminately stopping along the roads and disrupting the flow of traffic. This way, public buses which carry more passengers will enjoy a smoother and faster journey." heres the irony: when the proposed rule first surfaced, Mr Yang Ban Seng, CEO of ComfortDelGro's Taxi Business, said, "The move to mandate that taxi passengers can only be picked up or alighted at taxi stands, taxi stops and building driveways in the CBD is a good one and we are supportive of it. In fact, we have been working with LTA and our Taxi Association to address implementation issues of concern to our taxi drivers
Mr Foo Chi Yong, Chairman of Premier Taxi Operators' Association, said, "We are fully supportive of LTA's measures to improve taxi services...."
Added Mr Foo Chi Yong, President of Premier Taxi Operators' Association, "I am relieved to note that the authorities have exercised flexibility in enforcing the new policy during the initial period.
"We are heartened by LTA's receptiveness to industry feedback. The proposed tweaks to the system will help ease the problems that our drivers have experienced on the ground. We will continue to work closely with the LTA and our associations to monitor the situation on the ground," said MrYang Ban Seng, CEO of ComfortDelgro's Taxi Business.
~~~~ how you perceive the before-and-after statements, i dont care. this isnt supposed to be a post to blast anybody. its for me to bitch.
it seems to me that LTA prefers using the monkey-proof approach towards regulating safety as well as efficiency of land transport systems. no doubt both are important, but once again, it is only a small relief to the situation whereby cabs get into fender benders with bus and other vehicles because of sudden swerving to alight/pickup passengers. to cut everything short, long term education is better than short term aggression. we got to remember that a good chunk of cabbies include elder singaporeans who eke out a living from driving 14 hours a day. they dont give a damn out of education on road safety if it doesnt give them more money. so yes, please take that into account, if any authorities actually spied on my blog to read this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ enough enough. policies make me hungry. off for dinner~
Naheuy
Hana Fishy <3
Samick Guitar
Victorian
[Nil Sine Labore]
Meridian [Mugger]
HANA THE HERMIT
Wants
Class 3 Licence
Honda Jazz/Fit
Maybe a Nissan GTR =x
Or a EvoX will do too =p
Sony Bravia HDTV
Xbox 360
To pick up guitar skills again
To build up a noob investment portfolio
Double degree!
