Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Free MRT rides is on

I was on the road when I received an sms from my friend with the news that free travel on our MRT will begin on June 24.

Later I replied that I hope these measures work. Nobody knows until you try. I hope at worst it can be seen as a limited success. I also added if interest rates were that easy to predict. Of course that is impossible especially when it is priced moment by moment! But in layman speak I told him there are too many variables. You don't actually predict, you trade and help to make the rates.

Some pour cold water on these free rides that it isn't really solving the problem at the roots. They are right and I am glad there are people who feel this way. This will keep the government on their toes to bring fundamental solutions to our problems. A citizenry which do not tolerate kicking the can down the road is bullish for our long term future.

There are also those who rightly pointed out that we ought to be grateful. I wonder how many are cognizant that it took a lot out of this government to entertain such a solution. This tantamount to choking one of the sacred cows.

Politically we cannot behead our sacred cows and I think the government have chosen to suffocating some gradually to death. Didn't I read yesterday and today that childcare centres will no longer go to the highest bid? That's the right principle but very hard to implement in practice.

Update: 9:45am

Useful statistics I just saw.



Update: 4:15pm

Good to have some numbers to how commuters are responding to free travel. Quite balanced
between the welcoming 37% vs the disapproving 26%. The latter group is most important. They are the ones who demand high standards from the government. Today's solution of free travel is just band aid in a situation where any pain relief is welcomed. It is an unbecoming approach to problem that is not in the Singaporean spirit of yesterday.



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