Desmond Kuek - the Army trained Backstabber

According to inside sources in SMRT, 6 staff has been fired for owning up to falsification of the maintenance record despite being guaranteed no penalty would be meted during the “amnesty period”. The staff who came forward are from the facilities management department, in-charge of tunnel ventilation and anti-flood and anti-fire measures.

The move by former army general SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek to fire the staff who owned up is an open backstab despite him promising no penalties.

In a company email circulation earlier this week, SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek wrote that staffs who owned up before the commencement of a “full audit” would be excused from punishment:

“In order to quickly establish the extent of such improper practices, an amnesty period was allowed for staff to volunteer information in open reporting as a mitigation against further disciplinary action.”

On Oct 7, the train tunnels between Bishan and Newton were found to be flooded by rain water after the pump drainage system failed. The pump system maintenance records were later found to have been falsified according to a preliminary investigation report issued by SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

SMRT CEOs Desmond Kuek and Lee Ling Wee, and the two Transport Ministers Khaw Boon Wan and Ng Chee Meng, refuse to take responsibility of the flooded train tunnel incident, and pushed all blame to SMRT employees for the “lapses”.

Latest Update on MRT Scandal:

MRT train collides with stationary train at Joo Koon station; 29 people hurt

SINGAPORE: Twenty-nine people were injured after an SMRT train collided with a stationary train at Joo Koon station at 8.20am on Wednesday morning (Nov 15), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT said.
In its first tweet at 8.25am, SMRT said that a "train fault" happened at Joo Koon station. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) later said it was alerted to the incident at 8.33am. 

In a joint statement issued at 11.12am, SMRT and LTA said a train heading in the direction of Tuas Link station stalled at Joo Koon station at 8.18am.
Advertisement

A minute later, a second train stopped behind the first faulty train, the statement added.
"At 8.20am, the second train moved forward unexpectedly, and came into contact with the first train," the statement said. SMRT and LTA added that they are investigating the incident.

Twenty-seven passengers and two SMRT staff sustained "light to moderate injuries", and were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital (NUH).

Channel NewsAsia understands that 10 people were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and 15 sent to NUH from the scene of the incident.

Later in the day, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital received four walk-in patients, with the latest at about 7.30pm.

Out of the 15 sent to NUH, one declined treatment and returned home, while 13 others received treatment and were discharged. One passenger is currently warded for observation.

Out of the 14 injured admitted to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, 11 were treated and discharged, while two were warded for observation and the new patient is being treated.

"The Ministry of Transport, Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT will remain in touch with the injured passengers and others who may come forward later to offer the necessary assistance," LTA and SMRT said in an updated joint statement late on Wednesday.

A spokesman from Ng Teng Fong Hospital said among those injured at the hospital, two were assessed to have sustained injuries under the P2 category.

According to the Health Ministry’s website, medical care at emergency departments is prioritised according to four levels. In this case, the category refers to “Major Emergency Patients” who are usually unable to walk. Injuries under this category include limb fractures, joint dislocation and severe back pain.

Another eight sustained minor injuries and were assessed to be under the P3 category, which includes sprains and minor head injuries.

Facebook user Mei Anne wrote that she was a passenger on one of the trains, and hurt her back as a result of the collision.

Two trains collided at Joo Koon MRT station on Nov 15. (Photo: Facebook/Mei Anne)
A platform at Joo Koon MRT station was cordoned off with police tape following the incident. At least 10 emergency vehicles were seen outside the station.

At about 2pm, more than five hours after the train collision, SMRT announced that train service between Boon Lay and Tuas Link stations in both directions will be suspended for two hours.
"This is to facilitate the recovery of the two trains involved in this morning’s incident at Joo Koon MRT station. We are doing all we can to restore services safely and expeditiously," said the train operator in a Facebook post.

It added that free regular bus and bridging bus services are available between those two stations.
At about 3.20pm, one of the trains involved in the incident was pulled away in the direction of Tuas Link MRT station.

In an update at 5.15pm, SMRT said services between Boon Lay and Tuas Link station "have resumed but are running slower".

Commuters were advised to add 10 minutes' travel time between Jurong East and Tuas Link.

In an update at about 5.45pm, SMRT advised commuters to "seek alternative transport" or add 25 minutes of travel time for those taking the North-South Line. Free bridging bus services between Bishan and Yishun were available.

The delay was later increased to 40 minutes and commuters were advised to take alternative rail lines.

LAST MRT TRAIN COLLISION WAS IN 1993
The last time that an MRT train collision happened in Singapore was more than two decades ago. That incident, a front-to-back collision between two trains at Clementi station on Aug 5, 1993, resulted in 156 injured commuters.

An independent inquiry panel found that the accident was caused by a 50L oil spill from a maintenance locomotive which had been carrying out maintenance work at about 5am on the day of the accident.

Following the findings, SMRT revised its operating procedures to require staff to inspect the platform tracks for oil, and in the event of an oil spill, the train at the station preceding the spill will not move off until the train ahead has left the station.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mrt-train-collides-with-stationary-train-at-joo-koon-station-29-9407266

Train Driver Caught Sleeping On The Job

With this kind of train driver, the KL-Singapore High Speed Train is going to be a High Speed Short-cut to Hell when it is launched!

Rapid KL (KL's MRT system operator) has come out to defend one of its train captains after a photo showing him allegedly sleeping on the job went viral on social media.

Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) Group Communications and Strategic Marketing head Lim Jin Aun told Bernama that the train driver was just resting by placing his head on the driving panel, and not sleeping as claimed by the media.

“We were informed that he took a short rest while waiting for the train, which was operating on semi-auto, to arrive at a station. The allegation in the article is not true.

“Nevertheless, it is still an offence because train captains are required to be on stand-by at all times during the journey,” he was quoted as saying.

Lim added that disciplinary action had been taken against the train captain.

“A warning letter had been issued to him and he has been suspended from work for a week since yesterday.

“He has also been ordered to go for counselling and attend courses on technical guidance and self-development,” he was further quoted as saying.

On July 3, Facebook user Philip Pak Ming Wong posted a photo showing the train captain sleeping at the control panel.

The photo has since been shared more than 2,100 times on the social media site.

Singapore MRT Trains Crackings - How Safe Are Our China-made MRT Trains?

I think Singaporeans and commuters deserve a thorough independent investigation into why safety issues were not shared with the public and why the award for more trains are coming from the same "sub-standard" supplier. The transport minister should also let us know his views on the grave matter. Singaporeans may feel let down on the "perceived" covet operation. Does this also explains why the trains are noisier with rattling and squeaking sounds all over the place. If safety is a major concern, all the more the public should be made aware, so they can feedback any unusual sounds or observations they may encounter in their travel when the trains are in operation to the relevant SMRT officials for further investigation.

We are also beginning to understand why the previous Transport Ministers resigned or did not want to carry on. They probably knew of some things that we, the public, don't. In short, just simply too much shits around.

Why LTA must secretly send back those trains to China in the cover of darkness? 

More than two dozen are in operation here and are barely five years old. They were made by China Southern Railway (CSR) Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company, which together with Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries, won the first contract to supply 22 six-car trains for the North-South and East-West lines in 2009.

According to reports by online news portal FactWire, some of the trains had windows shattering repeatedly, and in 2011, one of the trains’ Chinese-made uninterruptible power supply batteries exploded during repair.

FactWire said cracks were also found in structural components of trains, including the sub-floor – a compartment under the passenger floor holding the equipment box and electrical wires – and bolster function parts connecting the car body to the bogie, the latter having the most serious problems.

With 26 trains out of service (11% of total), MRT commuters might want to consider waking up a few hours earlier than usual or bunking in at the office to avoid being late for work as it sure as hell is going to be more crowded than ever.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even China’s own railway operator condemns CSR Sifang

By: 永久浪客/Forever Vagabond

At the end of last year, the China Railway Corporation (CRC) (中国铁路总公司) held a company’s conference to discuss train safety issues. CRC observed that the trains which they are operating continue to be fault-prone.

Fault incidents continue unabated, posing threats to passenger safety. CRC concluded that the decline in quality of the manufactured trains from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) (中国中车股份有限公司) is the main cause (http://companies.caixin.com/2016-03-22/100922969.html).

CRC is the national railway operator of China, under the regulation of the Ministry of Transport and the State Railways Administration. It operates rail commuter and freight transport services via several subsidiaries.

CRRC, on the other hand, is China’s state owned rolling stock manufacturer. It has some 190,000 employees and is the largest rolling stock manufacturer in China as well as in the world. One of its subsidiaries is none other than CSR Sifang, which has been contracted to build trains for SMRT.

CRC blames CRRC

At the conference, CRC noted that the rail system experienced a total of 1,710 cases of train incidents in 2015. Of these, 210 cases were due to negligence during operations but 1,500 cases were due to malfunctions in trains.

The number of malfunctions in trains in 2015 increased steeply from 2014’s figure by 45%. CRC put the blame with regard to the rise in number of malfunction cases on falling quality standards of trains made by CRRC, China’s main train manufacturer.

The CRC’s management also said that its local offices should take some responsibility because they overlooked quality issues when making the train purchases and did not tell headquarters even after they discovered safety risks.

CRC has instructed its local offices to establish a proper system for checking the quality of trains, and that it plans to seek compensation from CRRC for “serious accidents” that are due to the poor quality of the manufactured trains.

CRC specifically mentions CSR Sifang, subsidiary of CRRC

At the conference, CRC felt that one of the reasons for the declining quality is because of the rush to deliver the new trains. Some of the CRRC’s factories, in the words of CRC, start to “not wash the carrots before selling them” (“萝卜快了不洗泥”).

A CRC staff disclosed to the media that during the 2nd quarter of 2015, a newly built CRH380A train from CSR Sifang’s factory had already encountered traction motor issues when it was en-route to be delivered to CRC. In the end it had to be towed back to the factory for repairs when it just came out of the line from the factory.

The most prominent problem of all happens on CRH1 trains from CSR Sifang. It has multiple problems with its bearings for years, which the staff said CSR Sifang did not fix. In 2015, 17 incidents were due to the bearing issues. In addition, problems like accessories breaking off, fire and break failures still occur frequently.

But CRC also acknowledged that its operating subsidiaries may have management irregularities too. For example, the operating units may not be strict in their supervision, hiding quality problems from top management and not meeting operating standards.

In the case of LTA buying C151A trains made by CSR Sifang, it’s not known how much time LTA spent on checking the quality of those trains. Rather than being defensive, perhaps LTA should send its CEO, RADM (NS) Chew Men Leong, to liase with CRC management so as to understand the kind of problems CRC is facing with CSR Sifang everyday.

10 Worst MRT Breakdowns in Singapore

Here is the list of the 10 worst MRT breakdowns on record in Singapore. The number of people affected is the key to the position of each breakdown in the list. Let's hope this is the last video on MRT Breakdowns, and not another new top ten listing in Youtube anytime soon.

More troubles ahead if you look at the future plan for all the MRT stations when completed in 2030. With such a complicated network of train track in a tiny island, you can expect more giant breakdowns in the coming years.

Swiss Foreign Talent Vandalised MRT Trains

Yet another highly educated foreigner in our helm caught practising his twisted talents in the wrong place.
--------------------------------------------
SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Swiss business consultant was charged in court Saturday with breaking into a Singapore metro depot and spray-painting graffiti on a train, offences punishable by jail and caning.

SINGAPORE - He pleaded guilty but asked, through his lawyer, not to be given a "punitive custodial sentence". He claimed that he was "cajoled" into committing the offences of breaking into the SMRT Changi Deport and vandalising two train carriages.

But Swiss IT consultant Oliver Fricker (picture) - whom the court heard went on a three-day holiday with his alleged accomplice, Dane Alexander Lloyd, after committing the offences - failed to convince District Judge See Kee Oon that a deterrent sentence was not in order.

Finding that Fricker, 32, had displayed a "calculated criminal conduct", Judge See sentenced him to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane.

The sentence was handed down about six hours after Fricker pleaded guilty, around noon, to charges of vandalism and entering a protected place. A third charge stating that he had committed an act of vandalism by cutting the fence of the depot was taken into consideration.

Judge See agreed with Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Lim who said Fricker had committed "a very serious offence" - and that the whole incident had "alarmed the general public" and "shaken their confidence in the security of protected places".

DPP Lim told the court that Lloyd - who remains at large - used a wire cutter to cut a hole in a fence surrounding the depot.

He and Fricker then slipped into the protected area, each carrying a bag of spray paint. Fricker spray-painted the word "McKoy" on the left side of the train, while Lloyd spray-painted the word "Banos" next to it. McKoy Banos is believed to be the names of two persons who have vandalised trains elsewhere.

Lloyd then took photographs of the vandalised train carriages and both of them left the depot through the hole in the fence.

They flagged a taxi and went to Boat Quay before ending up at Fricker's apartment at Sail@Marina Bay. Lloyd showed Fricker the photographs he had taken, before they went to sleep.

The next day, the pair left for Hong Kong for a holiday, the court heard. Fricker returned three days later, while Lloyd, 29, decided to stay on in Hong Kong.

Fricker was arrested on May 25. Singapore police have issued a warrant for Lloyd's arrest.

On Friday, as the sentence was being read out, Fricker, brows furrowed, stood straight in the dock and looked at the judge, his expression unchanged throughout the proceedings.

In mitigation, Fricker's lawyer, Mr Derek Kang, told Judge See that there was no need for a punitive custodial sentence, and that Fricker was "cajoled" by Lloyd into committing the offence.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mr Kang said both he and Fricker felt the sentence was too "high" and would be appealing.

For vandalism, Fricker could have been sentenced to three years' jail, fined a maximum of $2,000 and given at least three strokes of the cane.

And for entering a protected place, he could have been sentenced to a maximum of two years' jail and fined up to $1,000.

Singaporeans interviewed by Media-Corp gave mixed reactions to Fricker's sentencing. Of the 10 people interviewed, about half felt that the sentence was too harsh, while the others felt it was appropriate.

Boutique assistant Joseph Wee, 25, who felt the sentence was fair, said: "This is Singapore, we must keep our reputation as a country which is clean and safe to live in."

However, bank officer Mark Sim thought a jail term and a fine would have been more appropriate.

Mr Christoph Oggenfuss, head of marketing and communications at Swiss company Comit AG, where Fricker is employed, noted that this is a "private matter", and "Mr Fricker will stay suspended until he returns to Switzerland".

In the Swiss city of Zurich, several people interviewed by Weekend Today felt that Fricker's sentence was harsh but agreed that one has to abide by the laws of a country one is in.

Economist Felix Kaufmann described caning as being "unusual" in Switzerland. "I think the punishment as a whole - the caning and imprisonment - is unacceptable," said Mr Kaufmann, 38.

While student Christina Frick, 21, believes that the punishment "is not correct", she added that Fricker knew "vandalism is against the law".

Teacher Mrs Verena Dutzi, 52, said: "If you go to another country, you have to be informed of the rules and accept the rules and customs of the country." Additional reporting by Venessa Lee in Zurich
----------------------------------------------
Oliver Fricker, 32, was charged with committing trespass and vandalism in mid-May, and a district judge who described him as a flight risk set bail at 100,000 Singapore dollars (71,000 US). His passport was also impounded.

A worried-looking Fricker told the judge he needed a lawyer and asked that his bail be lowered to 40,000 dollars.

But the judge cut him short and rejected the bail request, stressing the seriousness of the offence.

The official charge sheet said Fricker, who was arrested on May 25, was with a Briton identified as Lloyd Dane Alexander when he broke into the suburban depot, a restricted zone surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire.

It was unclear why Alexander was not charged along with Fricker, and police had no immediate information on the Briton's whereabouts.

The charge sheet said Fricker and Alexander vandalised public property when they cut through a fence and spray-painted two carriages.

A police spokesman described Fricker as a company consultant.

A man by that name is listed in the business networking website Xing as a senior consultant in Singapore in the information-technology field.

Vandalism is punishable by up to three years' jail or a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,424 US), plus three to eight strokes of a wooden cane, a punishment dating from British colonial rule in Singapore.

An American teenager, Michael Fay, garnered global headlines in 1994 when he was jailed and caned in Singapore after he was found guilty of vandalising several cars. Fay was caned despite a US appeal for clemency.

Prosecutors, arguing for the high bail amount, said Fricker had been due to leave for Switzerland two days after his arrest.

The Swiss embassy is providing consular support to Fricker but says it will not interfere in the trial.

The break-in, believed to have taken place before dawn on May 17, was not immediately detected and the train plied its route in full view of commuters, one of whom filmed it and posted a clip on video-sharing site Youtube.

The train has been scrubbed clean but the clip can still be viewed online.
-----------------------------------------------
What if it is not just Graffiti, but Bombs???
The MRT graffiti saga which rocked the entire nation took another twist yesterday when it was revealed that SMRT took more than 48 hours to lodge a police report.

A Swiss FT was hauled up to Court yesterday for trepassing into a MRT depot at Changi and vandalizing one of the trains by spraying graffiti on one side of the carriage.

It also transpired that he had an accomplice with him Briton McKoy Banos who has since left Singapore.

The security breach allegedly took place on 16 May 2010, but a police report was made only on 19 May 2010 which contradicts an official statement by SMRT that it “reported the breach to the police immediately when it was discovered.”

When queried by the Straits Times, SMRT Head of Security Mr Choy Kin Chong declined to comment on the time lapse, saying that “more security staff had been deployed to increase patrol at its depots.”

Singapore’s biggest security lapse since the dramatic escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri two years ago drew widespread concerns from both law-makers and Singaporeans who wondered what the consequences might be had the vandals been terrorists instead.

GPC chairman for Home Affairs and Law, Mr Alvin Yeo was quick to jump to the defence of the Swiss FT:

“MRT trains are potential soft targets. I dare say that the suspects probably did it in the spirit of fun and adventure and not for something more sinister. But this could have been something more harmful than just graffiti,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.

Netizens were equally flabbergasted at how SMRT could allow the security breach to go unnoticed for so long.

Eddie Chin commented:

“This is a real security concern. If someone can sneak into an MRT depot and spend a sizeable amount of time spraying the graffiti, he would have enough time to plant bombs on many different trains. I wonder what our Minister for Home Affairs going to say about this, that he’s doing a harmless prank so it’s ok?”

Salihin added:

“Worse of all is that SMRT actually deployed the vandalized train with the huge graffiti. Let’s not ask how they actually secure their depots when their staff cant even notice a huge graffiti on their train.”

There are no immediate comments from the Home Affairs Ministry or its Minister Wong Kan Seng yet.

Maybe they are keeping a distance as far as possible from the incident out of fears of re-igniting Singaporeans’ memories of Mas Selamat.
--------------------------------------------

Swiss national charged with vandalising SMRT train
By Lynda Hong
SINGAPORE: A 33-year-old Swiss national has been charged with trespassing into an MRT depot and vandalising a SMRT train.

Oliver Fricker appeared in Court Saturday morning to face the charges.

He is accused of trespassing into Changi depot on late night of May 16 and early hours of May 17 this year.

He also faces two charges on vandalising an MRT train by spraying paint, and damaging public property by cutting a wired fence belonging to LTA.

Fricker has been offered a bail of $100,000.

He said in Court that he cannot afford the amount and asked it to be lowered to $40,000. But the judge said that his is a serious offence, and therefore kept the $100,000 bail.

His case will be heard again in two weeks' time on June 21.

Another man, a Brit named Lloyd Dane Alexander, is also allegedly involved in the offence. It is not known if he is still in Singapore. Police are still investigating.

One MRT death every fortnightly?

TRAIN services on the North-South Line were disrupted on Vesak Day 28 May 2010 by a man who died on the tracks at Sembawang MRT station.According to a Stomp report, the disruption took place at around 11.40am. A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesperson confirmed that a man had died on the MRT tracks.

According to some readers who were present, train services were delayed for up to an hour at the Sembawang station. The area was cordoned off by the police as well, the readers told Stomp.

Reader subbx said: “SCDF personnel could be seen climbing onto the tracks.”

The initial confusion resulted in some readers thinking that a train had broke down.

Reports have yet to established whether the death was an accident or a suicide.

The SCDF spokesperson said: “A man was extricated from underneath the second carriage of the south-bound train. The victim was declared dead at the scene.”
-----------------------------------------------
MRT suicide videos:
http://mrt-videos.blogspot.com/search/label/Suicide
5,000 passengers affected by disruption in eastbound train services
Posted: 20 March 2010 1831 hrs

SINGAPORE : An SMRT spokesman has said that some 5,000 passengers were affected when an eastbound train service was disrupted on Saturday afternoon.

A passenger had jumped onto the track at Tanah Merah MRT Station and was hit by a train heading towards Pasir Ris.

SMRT said that to maintain services on the East-West line, eastbound trains were turned around at Eunos and Tanah Merah MRT stations, while the middle platform at Tanah Merah MRT Station was used for eastbound train services.

Announcements were made in all stations and on affected trains to inform passengers of the delay and to advise them that the trains may be more crowded.

Normal service resumed at around 3.40pm.

Passengers who were unable to complete their journeys due to the disruption can claim a full fare refund from the Passenger Service Centre in any of the 58 SMRT stations, within the next three working days.

SMRT is assisting the police in its investigation.

Half-height platform screen doors have not been installed at Tanah Merah Station.

So far, they have been installed at Pasir Ris MRT station, as well as Jurong East and Yishun stations.

By 2012, they will be installed in all 36 above-ground MRT stations in Singapore. - CNA/ms

MRT suicide videos:
http://mrt-videos.blogspot.com/search/label/Suicide
------------------------------------------------
Quick Snippets from the Editor, Sgpolitics.net
14 Aug 2009

Why is there such a large discrepancy between the value of contracts awarded to Singapore Technologies Electronics for installation of platform screen doors at SMRT train stations and at Taiwan’s Neihu Line?

It was reported in the Straits Times on 13 Aug that the first sets of platform screen doors had been erected at Pasir Ris MRT station.

Despite repeated calls for platform screen doors to be installed at all above-ground MRT stations to prevent the obvious tragedies, the Government chose to place the lives of commutes second to cost considerations, and agreed to this suggestion only when costs had come down due to the global downturn.

This pussyfooting by the Government resulted in 31 unnecessary deaths in 2007, or around one death every 12 days, as a result of accident or suicide on the MRT tracks.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a S$126 million contract to Singapore Technologies Electronics to install platform screen doors on all above-ground MRT stations by 2012. Let us hope accidents and suicides at MRT stations in the meantime can be kept to a minimum through vigilance by SMRT personnel.

Meanwhile however, netizens have discovered that Singapore Technologies Electronics had been awarded a contract of far lesser value to install platform screen doors for Taipei’s Mucha Extension (Neihu) Line in Taiwan. The information concerning this can be found at ST Electronics website, and was also posted at popular forums like Sammyboy.com.

In 2005, ST Electronics was awarded a S$10.5 million contract to design, supply and install platform screen doors for the 12-station Neihu Line, due to be completed by the 3rd quarter of 2009. This works out to be slightly under S$1 million per station.

Compare this cost to what LTA is paying ST Electronics to build platform screen doors at SMRT train stations — S$126 million for 36 stations, which come up to S$3.5 million per station.

Why is there such large discrepancy in the value of the contracts awarded to ST Electronics for installation of platform screen doors for train stations at two different countries? Is LTA grossly overpaying ST Electronics? Surely costs cannot have gone up over 250% over a period of only a few years!

ST Electronics is the electronics arm of ST Engineering Ltd, whose Board of Directors comprise of many establishment-related personalities like Lieutenant-General Desmond Kuek Bak Chye (Chief of Defence Force), Dr TAN Kim Siew (Permanent Secretary for Defence Development), and Mr Davinder Singh (former MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).

ST Engineering Ltd is a Government-linked Corporation that is 50.63% owned by Temasek Holdings as of 16 Feb 2009. Collectively, GLCs account for more than 60% of Singapore’s GDP.

There is a need for LTA to justify why it is paying so much to install platform screen doors and awarding such a large contract to a GLC, when a much smaller contract had been awarded to build screen doors in Taiwan.

There is a need for greater transparency and accountability in this matter.

Another MRT suicide - this time at Bedok station

Man jumped at Bedok MRT: Was suicide a result of losing $70K at casino?

A man committed suicide by jumping onto the track of an oncoming train at Bedok MRT station, causing eastbound trains from Eunos to Tanah Merah to be disrupted today (May 7).

According to the news report on The Straits Times website, the incident occurred at 1.42pm.

The track was blood stained, caused by the train wheels rolling over and crushing the man’s body against the metal track.

The man’s body was seen covered with blood and his flesh exposed on certain parts of his body.

One of the man’s arm was also severed and seen lying a few meters away from his body.

It is not known whether the victim is still alive or already dead (which most likely will be the case).

The cause of the incident is still being investigated.

SMRT said that is had deployed buses to assist stranded passengers at the two MRT stations.

It is believed that the man is an unemployed who was retrenched during the downturn and is unable to sustain his lifelihood due to the high cost of living in Singapore. With foreigners taking up jobs, this aged man stands no chance of getting another job.

Videos of MRT suicide (parental guidance required):
http://mrt-videos.blogspot.com/search/label/Suicide

Singapore "worldclass" MRT broke down 92 times

From: Zanzibar
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:16:34 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Jul 22 2009 12:16 am
Subject: Re: Singapore "worldclass" MRT broke down 92 times

On Jul 21, 1:56 pm, "truth" wrote:

The claim they made that their breakdown rate is consistent with
industry standard. But they did not say which industry standard they
used, and what was their ranking from it.

They should have showed to the public in a transparent way as to how
their standard of maintainance was carried out in comparson to other
countries like, say, Japan.

Japan has a very reliable train system. It is not the reliable train
system per se, but the reliable maintenance system per se. Japan has a
very good set of maintenance system in place.

Although a good operating systeml of the maintenance is important, but
the key to everything is not just academic knowledge of the train
system, but a set of high-trained people from engineer to technicians
with the set skils to ensure the work is maintained and repaired
correctly and accurately.

Singapore unfortunately has failed in developing its people on this.
This was caused by "importing of cheaper labour" held by them. This is
systemic failure can be seen now already. 15 years ago this problem
began to show up. But no leader heed it.

Fined $30 for eating sweet in MRT

A woman was fined $30 for having a piece of sweet in her mouth by an MRT
officer. She broke the rule that disallows eating and drinking on the MRT.

But let me ask you why is eating and drinking not permitted on the MRT
train? It is disallowed in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei but permitted in
Japan. The reason for not allowing people to eat and drink on trains is they
might drop or spill what ever they are consuming and dirty the train - it is
not eating or drinking itself that is the problem but intentional or
unintentional littering. The woman in the video has technically violated the
no eating rule but the chance of a piece of sweet falling from out of a
person's mouth onto the the train is zero. The officer enforced the law
rigidly without any regard to the spirit of the law. I wonder if breast
feeding is allowed on the MRT or they will go ahead fine the 3 month old
baby.

This reminds me of the story about a family that was detained at the Changi
Airport for saying word "bomb" twice. They were on their way to Australia
for a holiday. The child asked the mom why people were made to take off
their shoes at the security checkpoint. The mom explained that they had to
check for bombs. The security officers who were trained to detain people
using the word "bomb" twice heard that and the family had to miss their
holiday in Darwin. [Story in detail here].

What is more important than rules are the reasons behind the rules. We will
have better citizens and smarter workers if they are brought up to question
the logic behind the rules they are asked to follow.