SMRT hiring from SAF shows it cannot attract talent, does not inspire good people

As if there aren't enough capable men (and women) from the private sector to fill the posts. Why do they keep getting people from their own flock? Won't this stagnate the corporation?

We already have too many SAF yes men around. Not just in cabinet but in so many parts of our govt machinery, including the GLCs. These guys think alike and work alike. So all the same problems will remain and all the same problems won't be solved. That's because if one of them cannot think out of the box, the rest won't either. After all, they all have been minted from the same factory - the SAF.

So all the problems related to SMRT, including the crammed trains, the unhappy China national workers etc, will be around for quite some time. In the meantime, public commuters will have to bear the rubbish from SMRT for quite some time too.

Below is another article I wrote about how SAF men (scholars included) always think and do things alike. It is about a thesis from an SAF scholar who thinks just like any other SAF scholar, ie we are surrounded by millions of hostiles who are out to usurp poor Singapore, never mind that we have no landspace, seaspace, airspace, anyspace to be worth to be invaded or attacked. Why can't these SAF scholars use their cow sense to realise what they have been thinking and repeating does not make sense?

- http://wherebearsroamfree.blogspot.sg/2012/12/smrt-hiring-from-saf-shows-it-cannot.html

There is an old saying "Good people don't want to be soldier".

好男不当兵，好铁不打丁。

The previous SMRT management had lost it's command and control over event management(frequent breakdown, poor maintenance and poor staff morale). The fastest way to gain control over command and control is to get personnel Desmond Quek is familiar with. When the opportunity for a revamp of the SMRT management arise after the bus drivers' strike, he lost no time to clear the various directors and managers. Any CEO would perform similarly.

SAF scholars aka Paper Tigers are good at forcing teenage national serfs to be cheap labour during National Day Parades.....run a company, will follow No Porn Lui's example, 'got problem fare hikes!'

You don't need talent to get things done in Singapore.

All you need are yes-men (or yes-women).

some of the colonels are being retired and jobless outside, relying on jobs like SMRT, and such,,,,

they cannot be employed elsewhere,,,,

anyway, 官官相卫，it happens with the father and son, uncle and nephew, long and short distant relatives in PAP,,,,

the government is now scrapping the base of the barrel,,,, and it is not 好料沉低

commoner said:

some of the colonels are being retired and jobless outside, relying on jobs like SMRT, and such,,,,

they cannot be employed elsewhere,,,,

anyway, 官官相卫，it happens with the father and son, uncle and nephew, long and short distant relatives in PAP,,,,

the government is now scrapping the base of the barrel,,,, and it is not 好料沉低

Click to expand...

This just means that these useless army clowns who couldnt get another better job elsewhere will be the best and most totally obedient servants of the PAP.....

definitely won't get any funny sparks about having any independent or clever ideas....

if the PAP says jump, these doggies will just ask how high.....

If they pull their court-martial rubbish and gilat shit, they will get or bak kak by civilians who are better fighters and real generals in life and war than our toilet paper back door awarded gang.

batman1 said:

There is an old saying "Good people don't want to be soldier".

Click to expand...

They neutralised that negative perception by introducing scholars into the SAF. Products that left turned out a huge disappointment at the nation's expense - LHL, TCH, LTY, CCS, TCJ etc.

Smart alec SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek no longer surprises Singaporeans with his antics, the latest of which he springs on the public as a Christmas present by bringing in four former high-ranking SAF officers. They were among eight key managers hired by Kuek "to steer the beleagured transport operator back on track".

The first impression that comes smack on the public's mind is where Desmond Kuek, a former SAF lieutenant-general, is trying to lead the SMRT. Is he trying to turn SMRT into another entity of the SAF? Surely to run the SMRT efficiently, you do not depend on former army officers whose expertise is alien to running a bus or underground train service. One cannot but view with cynicism when Kuek indicated that more would be coming soon.

There is hardly any precedent in the commercial world that army men were brought in to run the business, so this gambit by Desmond Kuek is quite mind-boggling. Is he trying to show skeptical Singaporeans that he could run the SMRT in the same way that he was running the SAF as the chief of defence force? Kuek could run the SAF strictly in enforcing military discipline but if he tries to do that to the civilian staff of SMRT he is likely to get a rude shock.

As for non-technical staff, has Desmond Kuek explored the extensive employment market before resorting to recruiting ex-army personnel? He will be surprised with the quantity and quality of suitable talents who abound in the open market. As for technical staff, does Kuek think that ex-army engineers possess more superior expertise than the abounding talents available in the open market? Has he explored this invaluable source before falling back on ex-army engineers? When talented personnel are abounding in the open market, it does not seem logical that one has to fall back on cronies in the SAF as a first preference.

It is not uncommon that cronyism plays a part when a politician becomes a head of government and appoints his cronies to important positions in government or associated concerns.This may not be the case in Singapore but there is no shortage of such examples in some developing countries. This not a reflection on Desmond Kuek but could cronyism be a factor in the recruitment of the ex-SAF officers? Hopefully not, but this does not preclude the public from the possibility of entertaining such an idea.

To be fair to Desmond Kuek, his desire to restore the standard and efficiency of SMRT cannot but be genuine and sincere. Only his methods appear to come under public scrutiny like the recruitment of the ex-army personnel. One illuminating quality of an eminent honcho is his ability to cut losses and improve on them at the first opportunity. Whether Desmond Kuek acquits himself well in this respect is something the public will watch closely. In this connection an appropriate Chinese saying is relevant: To repair the pen after the sheep have escaped is not too late (亡羊补牢，未为晚矣）。


Posted by Singapore Recalcitrant at 4:47 AM

capable people cannot tahan being a ''yes man'' for long one.........

just those ministers in PAP.............only ball-lickers need apply..........Lee Family don't want smart ministers, scared they ''rebel''

Let us suspend our cynicism about the cock-ups of SAF. If you want trains to run on time without breakdowns while maintaining a degree of security, the military is arguably one of the best place to look for talents since regimentation, procedures and safety are part and parcel of any respectable military force. Silly opposition lackeys don't know what is good for them can continue to masturbate each other in this forum, but you don't fool us smart, savvy and discerning 60.14%!

mojito said:

Let us suspend our cynicism about the cock-ups of SAF. If you want trains to run on time without breakdowns while maintaining a degree of security, the military is arguably one of the best place to look for talents since regimentation, procedures and safety are part and parcel of any respectable military force. Silly opposition lackeys don't know what is good for them can continue to masturbate each other in this forum, but you don't fool us smart, savvy and discerning 60.14%!

Click to expand...

You gotta be kidding me right bro?

Why dont we just look at the trains networks of Taipei, Hk or no need that big ...how's about the SZ metro.... how many military clowns do they have in there? They only need one main military yessir yessir 3 bags full clown maybe at the top to make sure policy gets compliance...other that that, operational efficiency is never about the military? Only a non combat army like the SAF where they had 45+ years of practice to do NDP over and over and over and over again where you get the "seeming" notion that they are damm efficient....

Try to do something else new like the YOG for eg, everything that can cock up actually does so... and what's best, they just think that by throwing money at the problem, it will go away .... such sheer wanton waste of resources....

I shudder for the day, the SAF is actually put to the test and its sheer uselessness is exposed.....

I would rather get a hands-on ITE graduate to be the SMRT CEO than a army general who only knows how to wayang.

mojito said:

Let us suspend our cynicism about the cock-ups of SAF. If you want trains to run on time without breakdowns while maintaining a degree of security, the military is arguably one of the best place to look for talents since regimentation, procedures and safety are part and parcel of any respectable military force.

Click to expand...

You obviously hadn't served in the SAF.