Penang Khaw:I will refocus on MRT engineering by appointing my fellow Matlander

who knows nothing about railways, or trains, or mass rapid transit systems to focus on train reliability. Hahahahahaha. What a fucking clown.

New rail transformation advisor named amid 'serious refocus' on engineering
Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan ropes in PUB Chairman Tan Gee Paw - "one of my most respected Singapore engineers" - as Advisor on Rail Transformation.

SINGAPORE: "A serious refocus" is needed in the transport sector - that it is "in the engineering business, founded on strong engineering expertise and capabilities", said Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure Khaw Boon Wan.

To this end, Mr Tan Gee Paw - the Chairman of PUB, Singapore's water agency - has been named Advisor on Rail Transformation, the Transport Minister announced on his blog on Friday (Oct 9). Mr Tan's immediate priority will be to ramp up rail reliability.

It was a challenge Mr Tan - whose team first produced NEWater, helping reduce Singapore's water dependency - readily accepted, the Transport Minister said.

Wrote Mr Khaw: "As soon as I was told of my new posting, Mr Tan was the first individual whom I consulted for advice and suggestion. We discussed the problem of rail disruptions, its possible causes and how we can make rail service as reliable as PUB services. We also discussed the industry structure for bringing about better alignment of incentives.

"We wondered aloud on how we would structure our rail companies, if we were to start afresh."

To improve rail reliability - a subject which Mr Khaw wrote about in a separate blog post on Friday - would require "a serious re-focus on the part of every player that we are in the engineering business, founded on strong engineering expertise and capabilities", he said, citing the Transport Ministry and Land Transport Authority, as well as train operators SMRT and SBS Transit.

Mr Khaw also reiterated his and Mr Tan's belief - and also that of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew - that Singapore "should be for pedestrians", with a public transport system so convenient and reliable that there would be no need for most to own a car.

He added: "We are no miracle workers, but given political will, clarity of purpose, dogged determination, we are confident that we will arrive at where we want public transport to be. But we need time to bring about this rail (and real) transformation."

Tan Gee Paw

Master Architect of Singapore's Water Supply

After graduating with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from the University of Malaya in 1967 and a Masters in Systems Engineering from the then University of Singapore in 1971, Mr Tan Gee Paw went on to build a successful career in the area of environmental and water management.

He started his illustrious career as an Engineer in the then Public Works Department and joined the then Ministry of the Environment in 1974. During his time with the Ministry, he was involved in the clean-up of the Singapore River, and he was responsible for drawing up the master plan and chairing the inter-agency committee to clean up the river. This massive project was completed ten years later and its impact is still felt today as it brought about the redevelopment and modernisation of much of Singapore. It also paved the way for the development of the Marina Barrage. For his efforts, Mr Tan was conferred the Clean Rivers Commemorative Gold Medal in 1987.

Mr Tan’s contributions to Singapore’s environmental and water sector continued in his capacity as Permanent Secretary (Environment) from April 1995 to March 2001 and as Chairman of PUB since April 2001. Under his leadership, Mr Tan ensured the sustainability of Singapore’s water supply through the diversification of Singapore’s water sources to form the Four National Taps, a long-term water supply strategy to meet Singapore’s needs for generations to come.

Mr Tan was also instrumental in overseeing the development of NEWater, Singapore’s own brand of recycled water. He further guided PUB in introducing Singapore’s first desalination plant at Tuas in 2005, as well as increasing the water catchment area from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s land area, boosting the supply of local catchment water.

The development of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, a used water superhighway, was spearheaded by Mr Tan and this transformed the way used water is collected, treated and disposed of, making it more efficient and cost-effective.

Under his stewardship, he also led PUB to bag the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2007, one of the highest accolades for outstanding achievements in the global water arena.

Serving the Community

Mr Tan generously shares his expertise and experience in environmental and water management by serving on several advisory panels, including the Environment and Water Technologies International Advisory Panel (EWT-IAP), the Centre for Water Research and Institute of Water Policy at the National University of Singapore, the Clean Water Programme at Nanyang Technological University and many more. He is also an adjunct professor at the NUS Faculty of Engineering.

Beyond the environmental and water sector, Mr Tan has played a substantial role in his capacity as a member of the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony. He is also a member of the Advisory Panel of the Centre for Liveable Cities, among many others.

Recognising His Contributions

In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Mr Tan was conferred numerous awards and honours. He was bestowed the Distinguished Service Order (2010), the President’s Award for the Environment (2007), the Medal of Commendation at the NTUC May Day Awards in 2005, the Meritorious Service Medal (2001) a Special Award (Gold Medal) for Clean River Commemoration (1987) and the Public Administration Medal (Silver; 1978).

He was also honoured internationally with the University of Westminster (UK) and Sheffield University (UK) conferring him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science and Honorary Doctorate in Engineering, respectively.

Honouring An Exceptional Alumnus

Mr Tan is an inspiration to all NUS Engineering alumni. The Faculty is proud to have an alumnus of his stature and is pleased to confer the NUS Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award on Mr Tan Gee Paw.

He'll flood the tunnels with Newater?

HTOLAS said:

He'll flood the tunnels with Newater?

Click to expand...

Maybe he will use his water experience and move MRT passengers around the tunnels like he move water around the pipes?

HTOLAS said:

He'll flood the tunnels with Newater?

Click to expand...

Yes, and drown all the complaining ingrate passengers. Then no need to worry about outage.