I'm single... I should spend as I wish: Ex SMRT CEO
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<!-- CAPTION DISPLAY HERE --><!-- CAPTION DISPLAY END --><!-- byline display here -->By Benita Aw Yeong
The New Paper
Tuesday, Mar 20, 2012
<!-- CONTENT NEWS: start -->She has been criticised for what she said, how she spent her money and that infamous photo of her seated on a sedan chair carried by young men. Ms Saw Phaik Hwa addresses them head-on: "People can board the train - it is whether they choose to."
It is a remark commuters refuse to forget.
In fact, the quote has been repeatedly raised in forum letters which slam the ex-CEO for her lack of empathy.
It was also circulated in online forums with a new vengeance after the series of train disruptions late last year.
Ms Saw says her words were taken out of context and they have now "taken on a life of its own".
The comment was made at a doorstop interview three years ago in response to a journalist who asked her about not being able to board a train at City Hall MRT station at about 9am in the morning, she explains.
"I said then: 'The peak ends at 8-something and at 9 o'clock, you should be able to board if you wish to because it's not crowded.'"
She explains at length that her answer was about a specific situation and time at a particular station three years ago, when the trains were not as crowded as they are now.
"But now that that has been turned (around) to say that I disagree that trains are crowded. Of course, the trains are crowded now."
"Why would I say it's not crowded? I'm not blind; I take the trains myself. So it's crazy."
And the outgoing SMRT CEO says she has done her part to ease the crunch.
"I have added a thousand over trips on trains per week so that I have more trains to take away the crowd.
"And I have put in people to man the platforms, to tell the customers to move in and go to the further ends of the trains, which are less crowded," she adds.
Ms Saw goes on to address another inaccurate perception of how she ran things.
"People feel that I am insensitive to the crowdedness and that customer service is not important us.
"And because I want to make money, I cut down on cost and maintenance, and that's why the breakdown happened.
"It's almost like I don't care about the consumer and nothing is further from the truth."
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<!-- CAPTION DISPLAY HERE --><!-- CAPTION DISPLAY END --><!-- byline display here -->By Benita Aw Yeong
The New Paper
Tuesday, Mar 20, 2012
<!-- CONTENT NEWS: start -->She has been criticised for what she said, how she spent her money and that infamous photo of her seated on a sedan chair carried by young men. Ms Saw Phaik Hwa addresses them head-on: "People can board the train - it is whether they choose to."
It is a remark commuters refuse to forget.
In fact, the quote has been repeatedly raised in forum letters which slam the ex-CEO for her lack of empathy.
It was also circulated in online forums with a new vengeance after the series of train disruptions late last year.
Ms Saw says her words were taken out of context and they have now "taken on a life of its own".
The comment was made at a doorstop interview three years ago in response to a journalist who asked her about not being able to board a train at City Hall MRT station at about 9am in the morning, she explains.
"I said then: 'The peak ends at 8-something and at 9 o'clock, you should be able to board if you wish to because it's not crowded.'"
She explains at length that her answer was about a specific situation and time at a particular station three years ago, when the trains were not as crowded as they are now.
"But now that that has been turned (around) to say that I disagree that trains are crowded. Of course, the trains are crowded now."
"Why would I say it's not crowded? I'm not blind; I take the trains myself. So it's crazy."
And the outgoing SMRT CEO says she has done her part to ease the crunch.
"I have added a thousand over trips on trains per week so that I have more trains to take away the crowd.
"And I have put in people to man the platforms, to tell the customers to move in and go to the further ends of the trains, which are less crowded," she adds.
Ms Saw goes on to address another inaccurate perception of how she ran things.
"People feel that I am insensitive to the crowdedness and that customer service is not important us.
"And because I want to make money, I cut down on cost and maintenance, and that's why the breakdown happened.
"It's almost like I don't care about the consumer and nothing is further from the truth."
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