Free Public Transport in Singapore.

Public transport should be free in Singapore, to all, without limit. Quite simply, this one simple measure would do much more to help the poor than many another initiative. This would mean a gift of freedom of movement, when and where one pleased, irrespective of ability to pay - and that would be liberating for many.

A government spokesman has said that if the public want free buses and MRTs that it would cost a 1.5% raise in GST. I presume this was said to convince people NOT to ask for such a thing...yet, pause for awhile. What does a 1.5% tax on spending mean for Singaporeans? Well, that depends if you are a big spender or not.

If you are relatively poor and your family spends 1000 dollars a month on GST liable items, your GST payment is 15 dollars. Yet, if one family member takes two journeys at 1.50 dollars each, that would amount to 3 dollars a day - or 90 dollars a month. Thus, this person of modest means would save 75 dollars a month, from this initiative. What if this consists of a typical Singaporean family (two parents, one child)...well, that would be a saving of 7.10 dollars a day or 213 dollars a month - minus 15 dollars, which would equal 198 dollars not spent. That is a HUGE increase in the effective income of this poor family.

Indeed, is notable that GST liable spending must reach 6,000 dollars per month before the extra GST paid equals the transport costs of one typical person making two 1.50 dollar journeys per day for the month. Clearly, most families in Singapore are BETTER off with a 1.5% increase in GST and free public transport in return. (Especially since this is the income per person who travels on public transport required before this measure becomes more expensive than actually paying for public transport.)

Only the very rich (ie. Government ministers and their equivalents) would be inconvenienced by this tax rise. So, only the rich need complain about it. If transport is free, those who are of low income and middle income, will benefit immensely. In other words, the VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN SINGAPORE ARE BETTER OFF with free transport and 1.5% extra GST.

Then again, those with working memories will recall that last year's tax surplus was 6.4 Billion dollars with 7 % GST. Given that situation, is there any real need for an increase of GST, at all? Singapore's coffers are more than full enough to pay for free public transport for all, without any difficulty. This is the kind of initiative that would actually make a difference to people's lives. The poor, the elderly and those with large families (for whom travel can add up quite quickly) would all find the increased mobility a great boon. This is a quality of life issue. If the Singaporean government is really concerned about the quality of life of its citizens then public transport should soon be free for all.

There would be another benefit of free public transport: the famously over-crowded Singaporean roads would become clearer, for fewer would see so much value in driving expensive cars on expensive ERP penalized roads. Indeed, free public transport would do a lot more to free up the roads than all the ERP in the world is capable of achieving. In fact, the government's response to this will tell us what their true values are: is it to make money (such as from ERP) or is it to make life better for its citizens?

Free public transport will free the roads - something ERP has singularly failed to do.

So, let all who value the quality of life in Singapore put their voice forward to support the proposition that public transport in Singapore should be free for all, without limit, as soon as possible.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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SMRT an unfair taxi fare

This is a post for Singaporeans or those who are to visit Singapore.

Like many who live in Singapore, I not infrequently take a taxi. They are often more convenient than other forms of transport and, because they don't stop at regular intervals throughout a journey, like buses or trains (the MRT), they tend to be quicker. Yet, sometimes they don't seem so good.

A few days ago, I booked a cab. My wife made the call and, seeing that there was just no way on Earth that the cab would arrive before 9.30 am, we thought that we would avoid the penal surcharges that are levied for a booking before 9.30 am. For those who are unaware, the standard starting rate for a taxi in Singapore is $2.50. However, if you book a taxi in the morning, there will be surcharges amounting to another $6.00 making the starting rate $8.50. This comprises a "peak rate" of $2 and a booking fee of $4.00. So, it is more than three times more expensive to take a taxi before 9.30 am, if you book, than if you wait until after 9.30 and don't book. At least the starting rate is that much more expensive.

We got into the cab at 9.39 am - well after the watershed of 9.30 am - and journeyed to our destination. I was rather surprised then, when we arrived, to see the "booking fee" of $4.00 added to my bill.

"Why are you charging me this when your cab didn't arrive until 9.39 am?" I read this time from the receipt.

"Ah, that one is the taxi company: they charge you from the time you book."

He pointed at the time on the booking record: 9.27 am.

Great. So, because my wife picked the phone up at 9.27 am we were charged as if we were travelling at that time.

So, in Singapore it is not the time you travel that determines the charges - it is the time you decide to travel that really counts!

Unless it doesn't bother you to be charged three times as much for the same journey, I would suggest waiting until after 9.30 am to make that call - unless you cannot help it. (Though there is a surcharge for calling after that time, too - though less).

I tried to point out the illogicality of charging a customer a rate for a time not travelled at to "customer service" - but they weren't having anything of it. He mumbled about having to charge that rate "otherwise we have no business...ah".

It is funny really - but the customer service rep justified the charge - and its timing - by saying that his company needed to make money out of the customers. He seemed to be supporting the idea that a company should do what it can to exploit its customers if it gets the chance. I nearly laughed - but instead I put the phone down. It was much more satisfying.

Now, I don't normally complain about poor service or exploitation of the customer, here, simply because there is just so much of it. So I generally "suffer in silence" - it is just that that morning I was so surprised to be charged a surcharge for a time I hadn't actually travelled, that I actually picked up the phone and complained: not, of course, that it did any good.

Yet, it was interesting to learn that, here at least, poor behaviour on the part of a company, is justifiable by its employees because of the desire to make as much money from the customer as possible. I wonder how many other companies around the world, providing a public service, like transportation, would publicly espouse that view?

I had this experience with an SMRT taxi. I don't know if the ruling applies to bookings with Comfort or Citicab or Premiere or any of the smaller firms - but I would not be surprised, since they don't really compete with each other, but tend to move in unison, in the market.

The conclusion from this is that you should not book a taxi in Singapore during the peak period - if you want to travel later than that period - because you will be treated as a peak period traveller, from the point of view of the booking surcharges, no matter what time you subsequently travel.

Happy journeying, all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)