No, technically, you do have a choice, just like what our ministers have said before. If you think that the price is too high, or service standard is not up to your expectations, move on to the next better players. In our transport context, you can choose to take public bus, cab, cycling or even buy a car. You do have choices. It is whether you want to go for other alternatives based on your circumstances.
For example, a friend who cannot stand the MRT system, has decided to buy a car even though the COE is high and high maintenance costs, etc.
There is a danger with this sort of thinking. It is as if to say if you not happy, go elsewhere. Then the problem will not get solved and it can be an easy excuse for authorities to not carry out their duties well.
Give you an eg: We all know HDB flats have become very expensive today. You know what Khaw Boon Wan once said? At one point not too long ago, they didn't build enough BTO flats for a few years and naturally, resale flat prices shot up literally by hundreds of thousands. People were asking for $120,000 COV. This Khaw minister said: If you feel HDB flats are expensive, you can walk away; you don't have to buy. Walk away? To go where? If HDB flats are not affordable, then buy what that is affordable?
I thought that was quite irresponsible. Of course, his supporters will argue, Yes, nobody is forcing you to pay that kind of price. But my question is: Are you solving the problem? What the minister did was to only transfer the problem back to the HDB seller. Are you asking buyers to wait indefinitely till they can finally own a flat? I've a Singaporean friend who failed balloting as many as 6 times spread out over 2 years.
So it's not fair to say, if you don't like the MRT, you can go take taxi, buy a car or even walk. You are not solving the problem. These other modes of transportation may be alternatives but they are not good solutions. Do you expect people to pay a lot of money every day to take cabs? Even the roads are jammed at certain timings anyway. And cabs may not be easy to come by even if you make a phone call. As for buying a car, it is obvious not many people can afford the high COE. Just because a handful buy cars because they don't like to take MRT doesn't prove anything. These people may be rich, or their cars are partially sponsored, or they are not making wise financial decisions, etc. But you can't generalize and expect everyone to buy a car just because the problem of over-congestion is not solved well. As for walking, this suggestion is clearly absurd in most cases as people take train because they live at least a few km from work. Cycling is an option but not the cup of tea for everyone and there are reservations such as safety, familiarity of roads, skills in cycling, etc.
The authorities must understand, not every Singaporean whines. We are not expecting life here to be so nice like in the '80s or '90s where we can walk leisurely without having the risk of bumping into someone. We can stand on the train without feeling the very tight squeeze. As a country progresses, we do expect the population to increase. But overall, if any responsible government want to boost the economy, then they jolly well have to ensure there is a systematic infrastructure in place. You don't go into the battlefield bringing all your weapons but don't know how to use them and think you can deal with it only then. So I was very surprised when the PM, LEE Hsien Loong himself openly admitted in his speech a few weeks ago that when he decided to improve the economy here, he didn't have time to think about putting the infrastructure in place first. He basically "chiong and pia" by admitting lots of foreigners to attract businesses. Only after that did he try to deal with the problem.
Because of that, that's why we have resale HDB flat prices shooting up by a few hundred thousands $$ in just a few years which should not have happened at all. Damn it, it's public housing ok, not private properties where people try to make profits from! That's why we have over-crowded and often faulty MRT trains not too long ago. By their own admission, the government wasn't prepared to deal with these issues, cos they chiong first, worry later.
Only after they realized the problems after the citizens had cried out for so long that they finally decided to say, Ok, let's build A LOT more BTO flats. Let's deal with the MRT issue. But too bad, the harm has already been done. Now they try to act heroes -- Khaw Boon Wan: "We have cleared the backlog of HDB flat shortages." The transport minister Lui Tuck Yew had his picture taken with his ka-gia riding on the seemingly empty MRT trains and said: “I am satisfied with the trains now.” (But somehow, my experiences on the MRT trains on usual days tell of a totally different story!)
So we are not exactly complaining why the trains are so crowded. We can have crowded trains, but not TOO crowded. We can squeeze, but not TOO squeezed. We are not complaining why we can no longer afford to buy bigger HDB flats. Flat prices surely will increase over the years due to rising cost of living. It's the same everywhere in the world. But we are saying, How could you allow PUBLIC housing, which is meant for the common citizen, to increase to disproportional amounts and tell people “if it's too expensive, you can walk away”?
That's irresponsible. Then what and why are you paid so highly for? Who are you looking after in the country?
