[h=2]SMRT’s problems no longer the worry for Saw Phaik Hwa[/h]
February 15th, 2013 |
Author: Editorial
Former Malaysian CEO of SMRT, Saw Phaik Hwa
During a media interview yesterday (14 Feb), SMRT new chief, Desmond Kuek, revealed that he sent out a company-wide e-mail asking for internal feedback from his staff in his first weeks of work, after taking over from the former Malaysian CEO, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa.
More than 300 responses from the staff came in.
Mr Kuek said, “The common threads in the responses are that we needed to improve on our preventive maintenance regimen, that a lot of HR policies needed to be reviewed, that our processes needed to be made more efficient and streamlined.”
The question is, how come Ms Saw did not conduct such a useful exercise to get feedback from SMRT staff during her reign in SMRT?
In particular, from the feedback, the SMRT staff already knew that there is a dire need to improve SMRT’s maintenance regimen. From the public inquiry conducted by the COI, however, it appears that Ms Saw was completely oblivious to such needs. She even became defensive when questioned.
At the inquiry last year, AGC presented data showing SMRT did not raise its maintenance budgets in nearly 10 years since 2002, despite rising ridership, more frequent train runs and ageing assets.
Ms Saw stoutly defended the SMRT’s maintenance regime. She said SMRT had not only met, but exceeded, maintenance standards set out by rail manufacturers and the LTA. She claimed that money spent on mid-life upgrades for the trains had actually helped in saving maintenance cost.
When it was pointed out to her that the upgrades were mainly for the train cabins and air-conditioning units, Saw then said parts such as wheels and propulsion systems are “upgraded continuously” and are “changed on a regular basis.”
“If there is any need to upgrade, anything in the system, it would have been,” she added. Saw also blamed the new trains for the spike in train faults. The new trains were a source of bugs, she said.
One of the Inquiry panelists, Prof Lim of NTU, cited an SMRT internal report showing a 20% drop in maintenance cost per kilometer operated. Saw replied “that could be wrong numbers” or “errors in the parameters”.
She said the events that triggered the train breakdowns on Dec 15 and 17, 2011 were unprecedented. The trains stopped because a section of the electrical ‘third rail’ had dropped off after several support claws were dislodged. No power was being supplied to the trains. She said that nothing like that had happened before. Prof Lim then pointed out that the ‘third rail’ did sag in 2010 and before 2006. Saw said management was not aware of the seriousness of the events because the dropped claws were reinstated. To that, Prof Lim retorted, “You knew the risks, and you didn’t do enough. You implemented cable ties.”
As it is, Ms Saw has now happily resigned from SMRT and passed the problems to Desmond Kuek to carry.
Mr Kuek revealed that plans are already under way to renew the rail infrastructure and operating assets. Rail sleepers are being replaced progressively and the signalling system ‘ which determines train frequency ‘ will be upgraded from June. 35 new trains will be added to beef up capacity and 85 older trains in the current fleet will be upgraded to improve reliability. All these plans will take five to six years to complete, though. Mr Kuek conceded that until then, there will not be a ‘quantum leap’ in service improvement.
He said SMRT will do all that it can in the meantime to minimise service disruptions and delays. An analyst with CIMB, said, “To be fair, he’s been on the job for only four months. But I think it’s positive that he has identified the problems and crystallised his strategic thrusts.”
Meanwhile, Ms Saw is enjoying her millions in remuneration which she got while she was the CEO of SMRT. She is now currently the CEO of Auric Pacific which owns Delifrance, Sunshine bread, Topone and Food Junction. As CEO of SMRT, Saw was paid a salary of $1.85 million in 2010 and was said to own a Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz 500. In her resignation filing with SGX, she disclosed that she owned 1,084,100 ordinary shares in SMRT Corporation.
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During a media interview yesterday (14 Feb), SMRT new chief, Desmond Kuek, revealed that he sent out a company-wide e-mail asking for internal feedback from his staff in his first weeks of work, after taking over from the former Malaysian CEO, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa.
More than 300 responses from the staff came in.
Mr Kuek said, “The common threads in the responses are that we needed to improve on our preventive maintenance regimen, that a lot of HR policies needed to be reviewed, that our processes needed to be made more efficient and streamlined.”
The question is, how come Ms Saw did not conduct such a useful exercise to get feedback from SMRT staff during her reign in SMRT?
In particular, from the feedback, the SMRT staff already knew that there is a dire need to improve SMRT’s maintenance regimen. From the public inquiry conducted by the COI, however, it appears that Ms Saw was completely oblivious to such needs. She even became defensive when questioned.
At the inquiry last year, AGC presented data showing SMRT did not raise its maintenance budgets in nearly 10 years since 2002, despite rising ridership, more frequent train runs and ageing assets.
Ms Saw stoutly defended the SMRT’s maintenance regime. She said SMRT had not only met, but exceeded, maintenance standards set out by rail manufacturers and the LTA. She claimed that money spent on mid-life upgrades for the trains had actually helped in saving maintenance cost.
When it was pointed out to her that the upgrades were mainly for the train cabins and air-conditioning units, Saw then said parts such as wheels and propulsion systems are “upgraded continuously” and are “changed on a regular basis.”
“If there is any need to upgrade, anything in the system, it would have been,” she added. Saw also blamed the new trains for the spike in train faults. The new trains were a source of bugs, she said.
One of the Inquiry panelists, Prof Lim of NTU, cited an SMRT internal report showing a 20% drop in maintenance cost per kilometer operated. Saw replied “that could be wrong numbers” or “errors in the parameters”.
She said the events that triggered the train breakdowns on Dec 15 and 17, 2011 were unprecedented. The trains stopped because a section of the electrical ‘third rail’ had dropped off after several support claws were dislodged. No power was being supplied to the trains. She said that nothing like that had happened before. Prof Lim then pointed out that the ‘third rail’ did sag in 2010 and before 2006. Saw said management was not aware of the seriousness of the events because the dropped claws were reinstated. To that, Prof Lim retorted, “You knew the risks, and you didn’t do enough. You implemented cable ties.”
As it is, Ms Saw has now happily resigned from SMRT and passed the problems to Desmond Kuek to carry.
Mr Kuek revealed that plans are already under way to renew the rail infrastructure and operating assets. Rail sleepers are being replaced progressively and the signalling system ‘ which determines train frequency ‘ will be upgraded from June. 35 new trains will be added to beef up capacity and 85 older trains in the current fleet will be upgraded to improve reliability. All these plans will take five to six years to complete, though. Mr Kuek conceded that until then, there will not be a ‘quantum leap’ in service improvement.
He said SMRT will do all that it can in the meantime to minimise service disruptions and delays. An analyst with CIMB, said, “To be fair, he’s been on the job for only four months. But I think it’s positive that he has identified the problems and crystallised his strategic thrusts.”
Meanwhile, Ms Saw is enjoying her millions in remuneration which she got while she was the CEO of SMRT. She is now currently the CEO of Auric Pacific which owns Delifrance, Sunshine bread, Topone and Food Junction. As CEO of SMRT, Saw was paid a salary of $1.85 million in 2010 and was said to own a Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz 500. In her resignation filing with SGX, she disclosed that she owned 1,084,100 ordinary shares in SMRT Corporation.
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