SINGAPORE - About 80 people gathered at Hong Lim Park yesterday, calling for the resignation of SMRT chief executive Saw Phaik Hwa, reported The Straits Times today.
The event at Speakers' Corner was organised by the blog The Online Citizen (TOC).
A photo published in The Straits Times showed a protestor holding a sign with the acronym SMRT, which read "Saw (Phaik Hwa) Must Resign Today".
Ms Saw, 57, has been in the hot seat because of the series of breakdowns on SMRT's train lines.
RELATED STORIES
SMRT CEO apologises, will consider resigning if necessary
Public inquiry to look into MRT breakdowns: PM Lee
Transport Minister disappointed with SMRT
Who is Saw Phaik Hwa?
Ms Saw was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1954, and came to Singapore after her O' levels. She graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1978.
She was the regional president of DFS Venture Singapore in charge of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for 19 years, up to 2002. She was retrenched from DFS in early 2002.
Later that same year, she joined SMRT as its president and chief executive, having applied for the position after seeing its advertisement in The Straits Times.
Under her leadership, SMRT's net profit grew from $56.8 million in 2002 to $161.1 million in 2011.
However, some are critical of her apparent focus on profits rather than the needs of commuters. The Straits Times reported that at yesterday's event, TOC interim editor-in-chief Ravi Philemon said that profits, rather than service and affordability, had became SMRT's priority.
On Friday, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew expressed his disappointment with how SMRT handled Thursday's disruption. On Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that there would be a public inquiry to look into the train breakdowns.