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Another MP got "suan" by the public......
- Thread starter csi88
- Start date
These part timers MPs where got time to communicate with their constituents?
Ang got " Mountain" behind him . Guess Who ???
But feedback from Loong 's Camp is that Loong Not Happy at All .
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/06/05/labour-mp-unhappy-over-new-taxi-players-in-spore/
first was Intan. now got Ang . time to do a complete make over.
Pinky has a solid team with BBQ Seng and director champion Yeo.
notice the reform party all look like homeless guys and jobless uni grads while People's Action Party is a unity of meritocracy and racial harmony.
ang bugger always superglue to pinkie like gay couple... just like flies sticking to shit.
cant imagine the six yellow monkeys govern the whole town council
The problem with the Opposition is that they are being conned to fight the election the PAP way.
The Opposition can only win if it defines the issues and do battle using tested methods like negative ads. You can't play nice with the PAP; go for the kill. Right now, the opposition parties should be moulding the minds of the voters with facts on how the PAP has killed the sinkee way of life.
Life was good until the PAP decided to be greedy. Greed drove them to increase their own pay, to bring in more foreigners, to charge sky high rates for utilities ...the list goes on.
Attachments
Labour MP Unhappy Over New ‘Taxi’ Players in S’pore
Protected June 5th, 2015 | Author: Editorial
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/06/05/labour-mp-unhappy-over-new-taxi-players-in-spore/
Last week, National Taxi Association (NTA) adviser Ang Hin Kee reportedly accused transport app providers and rental car companies of “creaming off profits” by running their own fleet of “taxis”.
Mr Ang accused the new players of not having to meet the stringent requirements and standards of the taxi industry.
Transport app provider Uber, for example, recently set up its own car rental company, leasing cars to drivers at less than half the taxi rental rate.
Mr Ang, who is at the same time an MP of Ang Mo Kio GRC and the Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC, said, “We’ve voiced our concerns to the Land Transport Authority.
It says it is studying the issue. It’s an issue of a level playing field… Taxi companies are required to have a fleet that is well maintained… they make sure that things like brakes are working properly. In the end, this is cost, which is translated into rentals.”
Mr Ang poured scorn at the drivers participating in the “parallel” taxi services.
“But suddenly, we have a group of people who may be ex-cabbies, who may have been banned because of disciplinary action, who may have criminal records, who don’t have health checks – they’re now operating these ‘limo’ services,” he said.
He said LTA needs to recognise this is also about public safety. “Thank goodness we’ve not had any major incident,” he added.
But NUS transport researcher Lee Der-Horng said companies like Uber are merely being innovative, and “as long as they abide by the law and, given the essence of shared economy, why not?”
A cabby’s observations
James Lim, a cab driver who regularly contributes articles to TRE, completely disagrees with Mr Ang’s concerns. James told TRE that he became jobless at 55. Unable to find a suitable job and with a family to support, he became a cab driver. He writes regularly to make his “dull job” a bit more interesting.
James said that he was flabbergasted after reading Mr Ang’s comments in the media (‘Thank you Uber, GrabTaxi, Hailo and EasyTaxi‘). He noted that Mr Ang is not a cabby but merely an adviser to NTA.
“His views cannot be depictive of Singaporean cabbies in general. To me, he seems more like a spokesman of (NTUC) COMFORT which Temasek has an interest in than of Singaporean cabbies,” James said.
“I think Mr. Ang is essentially saying that COMFORT is the only taxi operator whose profits from taxi booking are now being ‘creamed off’ by these companies because other taxi operators like Premier, Transcab, SMRT or Prime are not affected as they inherently have very few taxi booking jobs.”
He then gave an estimate of how much COMFORT is earning from its taxi bookings.
“Assuming each COMFORT taxi driver does an average of 10 booking jobs a day (24 hours) and COMFORT deduct 30 cents per job from their driver.
Therefore, COMFORT earns $3 per taxi per day. COMFORT has the largest fleet of about 16,000 taxis. Assuming 80% of their taxis are active on the road, therefore, COMFORT earns $3 x 12,800 taxis = $38,400 per day. Multiply that by 365 days. Wow! $14 million annually,” he calculated.
James thinks COMFORT is now losing about 25% of booking jobs to these app providers or about $3.5 million per year.
“And this loss will surely increase when 3rd party booking apps become more popular with commuters.
This ‘threat’ is real as COMFORT is now occasionally absorbing the 30 cents surcharge that they previously charged their drivers.
In offering this minor incentive, they hope their drivers will concentrate on doing COMFORT call bookings instead of their rivals,” he reported.
But COMFORT cabbies welcome these app companies.
James explained, “The 3rd party taxi booking apps have turned out to be the best things that ever happened to Singaporean cabbies. Opportunities and options to earn more are open to all taxi drivers.
Many COMFORT cabbies are using the 3rd party apps to do more booking jobs and earn more especially when these companies entice them with incentives.”
And a cabby can earn a few hundred dollars extra a month from such incentives, James said.
“Tsunami” Hitting Taxi Industry
He said that there is an impending “tsunami” that will completely change the landscape of the taxi industry in Singapore. The “tsunami” is the new breed of Uber drivers who use their own or rented private cars to ferry paying passengers through call bookings.
“Soon, Grabtaxi and other transport app providers will also be joining the fray. These innovative apps companies are effectively running a parallel taxi operation, albeit strictly through call booking only,” he added.
“Like hotel and travel agents booking app or online purchases portals, they are not parasites which lives on the hospitality of others but modern technological companies that provide a convenience and useful service that consumers need.”
Presently, new rules and regulations are not in place yet to address safety and security issues of commuters using these alternative taxi services.
“However, once LTA’s all-embracing controls are fully implemented, taxi commuters’ confidence and trust in these companies will rocket. And like in a G.E., scare tactics to avoid Uber or others would not work,” James said.
“In this situation, Uber will creates a foothold in the taxi community after its popularity with customers grows.
Taxi operators like COMFORT are very worried because the Uber business model of getting a taxi or ride-matched car via an app is superior to having to call them for one on the phone and wait for it to show up, if it shows up at all.”
Because taxi drivers are hirers of taxis not owners, they can easily defect to Uber as their drivers or drives their own car using Uber app, if it makes economic sense to do so or for other reasons. The drivers can therefore, desert the taxi operators freely.
And like the saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them!”, James said.
Days of NTUC’s authoritarian, arrogant, uncaring and high-handed attitudes are over.
“This is a disaster scenario for taxi owners like COMFORT. It is an expensive operation to constantly keep a large fleet of taxis on the streets of Singapore. COMFORT’s main source of revenue is what they receive from the rental fees of drivers, so if too many cabs stand empty for too long, COMFORT will not only had their profits ‘creamed off’ but will face bankruptcy,” James happily explained further.
“What does this all mean for the Singaporean cabbies?. It means hallelujah, leverage has arrived at last. It has arrived not through feeble threats of strikes or work stoppages, but through competition for the services of drivers.”
James thinks the taxi operators now need to seriously consider how their actions affect the lives of their drivers. “If they are wise, they should think of how to improve the working conditions of their drivers – like reducing the 250 km minimum mileage, high rental, indiscriminate sacking, repair costs and so on,” he said.
And James’ last words to NTUC COMFORT:
“The days of your authoritarian, arrogant, uncaring and high-handed attitudes towards your drivers need to change. Remember, they are your partners not employees!”
What do you think Mr Ang should do now, other than complaining to LTA?
Sir , yes agreed "solid" team - provided PM Lee is there in the team .
if take away PM Lee and put the "Team " in Aljunied GRC then i worry .
Really, sinkies have a rosy future until LKY decided to bring in more foreigners and then, it tore the country apart.
When the pappies first came to power, it was the only party able to help sinkies out of poverty and the slums. Sinkies worshipped the pappies and none of the oppo parties had a chance.
The pappies succeeded but in his later years, LKY's vision faded, became blurred and he opted for policies that screwed the sinkies. He must have regretted it when he died but being a proud man, he would never ever admit his mistake.
So, the policies of the pappies in bringing foreign talents to sinkie land are really a cover to allow foreign trash to become taxi driver and compete with the sinkies in this profession reserved for only sinkies taxi driver.
Any SPR, a foreigner in reality, can become a taxi driver as long as he has a driving licence. What foreign talent? You do not need to be an academic or engineer to drive a taxi.
Why not? I voted for them.
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