Coordinating nothing

Where was the Coordinating Minister when you needed him? He was not to be found anywhere near the NE Line train stations. To be fair, he did blog about it, albeit from afar. But the real question is: as the Transport Minister, why did he allow SBS Transit (SBST) to put into place a new train on a Monday morning? Clearly, there was no risk assessment conducted, or if it was done, it was slipshod work. Any astute engineer or manager, or transport minister worth his salt will know that, as the saying goes, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And it went horribly wrong on the first day of school and work after the weekend. 41,000 commuters were reportedly affected, yours truly being one of them. The risk would have been considerably reduced if the introduction of the new train was done on a Saturday morning or better still, a Sunday morning.

It would have turned out to be a big mistake if students, who have studied so hard for the last ten years, missed their national exam papers. As it was, students were left scrambling to get to their exam venues. According to reports, many managed to do so, though some only in the nick of time while others went to other exam centres, Any right thinking person with a sense of the risk involved in commuting would have delayed any change to the MRT line in this period. And the risks have proven to be quite significant over the last couple of years. Mr Khaw is the Coordinating Minister. He is the Transport Minister, and he has Mr Ng Chee Meng, Second Minister of Education in charge of Secondary Schools, working for him. Clearly, he has failed to join the dots. Mr Fixit nearly dropped his pants for all to see.

We expect more, Mr Coordinating Minister. Not just making appearances here and there and everywhere like a movie star or some celebrity. This just won't do. I hesitate to think of the ire of parents should their children have missed their exam papers yesterday morning because somebody did not do his job by coordinating well.

Fine who?

It is reported that the SMRT will be fined S$5.4M as penalty for the massive train breakdown on 7 July 2015. The breakdown, simultaneously, of both the East-West and North-South lines affected more than 400,000 commuters on their way home after a long day at the office. According to investigations, the breakdown could have been prevented but because of the lapse in maintenance by SMRT. In fact, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the problem that eventually caused the breakdown was known two months beforehand, but SMRT did not think it was serious enough to give it its utmost attention. I suppose the LTA thought this was gross negligence of the highest order and thus imposed the huge fine.

Frankly, many commuters, myself included, wonder if they ultimately have to foot the S$5.4M bill when SMRT raises fare citing "rising costs", etc, etc. I don't think anyone is applauding this news. Fines have been imposed in the past but these did not lead to significant improvements in maintenance nor reduce instances of major breakdowns. The LTA thinks that it must now impose a penalty that will cause the maximum pain. But pain for who? The way I see it, the person in-charge of the SMRT, the CEO no less, should step up and resign. I have written previously that Mr Lui Tuck Yew shouldn't have resigned, but he did. He is an honorable man worthy of everyone's respect. The head honcho of SMRT today is still sitting behind the CEO's desk. For him, and his senior management team, it will merely be an exercise in factoring in the $5.4M into the budget for next year, and reporting a slightly less profitable year, but still probably a profitable year.

Will the S$5.4M lesson be learnt? I doubt so unless there is a change at the top. Mr Kuek famously said that he still had work to do to right the wrong, but it has been almost 3 years to the date when he assumed the position of CEO. What has he been doing all these three years that he still needs more time? How long? Another three years, or until all the trains breakdown simultaneously? Like Mr Lui (though unnecessarily), he should step up to step down. Nobody is demanding that he perform hara-kiri, though that's really up to him.

If there is no change, only time will prove that this latest exercise in moving numbers on the balance sheet will have little bearing on the integrity, or lack of it, of the operations of the SMRT system. Frankly, truly, really, I have greater trust in the bus system today. And we should thank Mr Lui for this.

Leaving the Post

3 years ago when I last blogged, I praised Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew for taking an active role in addressing the transportation problems facing the country, which was more than we can say for the highly-paid CEOs. Then, as now, Singapore's public transport system is still nowhere near as reliable as its commuters expect and demand. The latest gigantic snafu on 7 July 2015,  the North-South and East-West lines broke down at the same time must have been the straw that broke the camel's back. No, no, no, the CEO of the transport company is still in place. He claims that he still has work to do to right the wrongs plaguing our SMRT transport system. Well SMRT has been at it for more than 3 years, and the next breakdown around the corner. It  initially didn't even have clue as to what caused this last great breakdown. How pathetic.

Now Minister Lui has stepped up to take the ultimate responsibility. He announced that he will not be contesting in the next Generation Election, which may only be a month away. The public has not been told why exactly Minister Lui wants to step down. The usual "he has done well... valued... couldn't get him to stay...regret...etc." reasons have been given for public consumption. But Mr Lui has been refreshingly frank about what the reasons were NOT about - it was not to spend more time with the family, it was not about looking for new challenges, etc. etc. I appreciate Mr Lui for being frank, something that has characterised his approach to issues. That is why he shouldn't have resigned. We have one less person in the top echelons of power to champion the public cause, for daring to do the audacious in almost nationalizing the transport system and then parcelling it out for REAL competition, unlike the wayang that had been going on in transport policies and practice for the last 30 years. Yes, the public has questioned the justification of publicly-listed bus company, SBS Transit, using tax-payers' money to fund their commercial business (the BSEP). However, when seen in the context of the subsequent change in transport policy of letting private enterprise bid for the operation of public transport, it is beginning to look like a master stroke.

I think for these and more, Mr Lui has more than earned his pay. He should have stayed to ensure that these plans are executed properly. But he trusts that there are others who can do so well enough. And for these, we thank you, Mr Lui.