-
“Bottom line is: MRT tunnels should not be flooded, full stop. But on Oct. 7, 5.30pm, that stretch of North South Line between Bishan and Braddell did and MRT service had to be suspended.”
-
“The flooding problem is not excusable. Because it’s so simple. We learn it as engineering students. Engineering 101. I know how to design a pit how to calculate capacities, those are simple stuff. The students can do. You should not have failed there.”
-
“I think it is too embarrassing to even talk about it. It is so simple that it should not have happened. What’s the Chinese expression, 阴沟里翻船 — the Chinese saying I thought described this quite aptly: that you expect to meet… not that you expect, but if you capsize in an ocean, great turbulence, hurricane, you capsize, okay, people can understand. In a small little drain, calm and so on even then you go and capsize I think that is… meaning it’s totally unexpected, it should not have happened, it must not have happened. It may not have happened. And yet it happened. It is as embarrassing as that.”
-
Chief Corporate Officer;
-
Chief Executive Officer, Trains;
-
Chief Technology Officer;
-
Managing Director for SMRT Buses and Roads Services;
-
Managing Director, International;
-
Vice President, Legal & Corporate Secretariat;
-
Head, SMRT Safety & Inspectorate
- Managing Director, Singapore Rail Engineering
- Managing Director, Services and Vice President, Strategic Relations Office
- Head, Internal Audit
LTA-SMRT press con: 7 quotes from Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan too epic not to share
We saved the best one for last.
By Jeanette Tan | 10 hours
We all know that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan is a very colourful and quotable minister.
One of his best-known would undoubtedly be this, in the context of a parliamentary debate on the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council:
“In Japan, the CEO and board of directors will call a press conference and take a deep bow, and in the good old days, they may even commit hara-kiri.”
So we always look forward to hearing from him. And with the latest press conference he appeared at together with SMRT’s leadership on Monday afternoon, he certainly didn’t disappoint, pulling no punches and pretty much whacking SMRT quite decisively with respect to the MRT tunnel flooding incident.
Khaw, indeed, says things the way he sees them without mincing his words, in whichever ministerial portfolio he has taken, and in this arguably toughest one of all, it certainly looks like he’s largely speaking his mind, no-holds-barred.
Naturally, therefore, from his speech as well as the Q&A that followed, we gained a host of new gems, which we we thought would be worth sharing with you:
On how tremendously unforgivable the tunnel flooding incident was
The context: Khaw was making the crystal-clear point that the tunnel flooding incident is a simple thing that was completely preventable and should not have flooded the way it did, especially when its capacity is so much bigger than the amount of rain that entered it on the afternoon of Oct. 7.
continue reading here :
https://mothership.sg/2017/10/lta-sm...-not-to-share/
So you still want to vote for PAP ? By the way Happy Deepavali to all our Indian brothers and sistas . Hope today no mrt breakdown.
At least he is sincere but Mr Khaw and Kuek did not bow .
The 2 fellows behind him should be SACKED .
Citizens take issues with Transport Minister’s statement on maintenance lapses of SMRT
Published on 2017-10-18 by Neyla Zannia
In a Channel NewsAsia report dated 16 October (Monday), it is reported that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan made his first public address on the major North-South Line (NSL) tunnel flooding incident two weekends ago and stated that the SMRT maintenance team in charge of the anti-flood system at Bishan station had “failed us”.
On 7 October (Saturday), train services on the North-South line were affected by flooding in the tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations. SMRT had to cut off trackside power supply as a safety precaution, causing service on six stops across the NSL to be disabled for about 20 hours. More than a quarter of a million commuters were affected in the country’s first disruption due to flooding and making it one of SMRT’s worst breakdowns in recent history.
Mr Khaw stated that the incident was “sad and unnecessary”, however, preventable and should not have happened. He said, “We are all sorry it did. Whatever follow-up action which needs to be done, has already started. Nothing has been covered up. The incident has pushed back the recovery of public confidence in us.”
According to the Minister, Singapore’s MRT tunnels were designed to handle local weather and cope with “very extreme storms far more severe than the last few weeks”.
“The bottom line is they should not have been flooded. But on 7 October, the stretch at Bishan and Braddell stations did. There are standard anti-flooding systems with huge stormwater sump pits. Our findings show that the anti-flooding system there was poorly maintained,” he said.
“In simple terms, the stormwater pit can hold more than 5,000 cubic metres of rainfall. During that period over the catchment area, rainfall could not have exceeded 700 - let’s stretch it, 1,000 cubic metres,” he said.
The Minister stated that if it were well-maintained, the reservoir should be empty before rain starts to flow.
“But it overflowed. The pit had not been maintained properly,” he said.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...apses-of-smrt/
So do you still want to vote for him ? Still want to vote for PAP ?
Will SMRT management be held accountable by the authorities?
Protected October 18th, 2017 | Author: Contributions
I have been very disturbed by the continuing saga, the flooding tunnel as the most recent, with SMRT. I’m even more disturbed with the deafening silence from all those responsible, no less the Minister himself. What I fear is that eventually the blame game will repeat itself and some minion/s will be the scapegoat. Here I’m referring to how the Director of Control Operations had to be the fall guy for the two fatalities on 22 March 2016.
What I’m writing is hopefully my preemptive take to avert another poor minion casualty in SMRT. I declare that I have never worked nor have friends or relatives working in SMRT. Nor am I associated in any way with SMRT. What I’m writing is purely objective. But I must admit that my letter is somewhat “politically sensitive” as I cannot contain my disappointment any longer. Believe me, I tried to tone down as much as I could. I pray and hope that you will find in your heart a tad empathy for me and those affected to see it to print.
When Teo Wee Kiat as Director of Control Operations of SMRT, was fined $55,000 for the accident on 22 March 2016, I scratched my head. Was he solely responsible, just because he was/is in charge of operations? Shouldn’t the ascending pecking order be similarly held responsible? Ultimately the CEO, and others should be held accountable too. If the CEO had done his job well, no such negligence would have happened.
On the flip side if ever SMRT does well in any one area, who would be accorded the kudos? Possibly a section head would only be mentioned in passing, after the CEO has claimed all the honour. A leader should lead by examples and do the honourable. And I’m not even mentioning the examples in other countries what CEOs do in such circumstances. What’s worse in this case is that the Authorities seemed to agree with this unfair blame game, absolving the one who is most responsible – CEO, and many others. Does justice exist?
Now with the flooding tunnels, I guess the Director of Tunnel Control ( if there’s such a position, from a sudden & quick & convenient creation perhaps ) would be fined $55,000. Again the CEO, if ever he did his job well no such mishap would have come to pass – heaping the many occasions of continuing & unnecessary inconveniences to the many commuters who can ill afford to own & maintain a car. When will this scapegoating end? I urge the Authorities to do what is right and hold accountable all those responsible and show that justice can prevail in Singapore.
continue reading here :
http://www.tremeritus.com/2017/10/18...e-authorities/
So who is responsible for the disruption of services at the end of the day ?
Man arrested for leaving bag unattended at two MRT stations while running errands
By Kelly Ng
Published: 5:35 PM, October 18, 2017
Updated: 5:42 PM, October 18, 2017
SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old man has been arrested for leaving his bag unattended at an MRT station while he ran errands twice in a day, police said on Wednesday (Oct 18).
He is believed to have left a bag at an exit of Farrer Park MRT station at around 12.25pm on Monday. Before police officers arrived, the bag was removed.
Less than two hours later, the police were alerted to a similar incident at Outram Park MRT station, which is five stops away from Farrer Park on the North East Line.
While investigations were ongoing at the station, a 37-year-old man approached officers and said the bag belongs to him.
The bag was found to contain a laptop, mobile phones and computer-related paraphernalia.
Police said in a press release on Wednesday their preliminary investigations suggest the man had intentionally left his bag unattended inside the MRT stations while he attended to some errands.
The man is under investigation for an offence of causing public nuisance. Anyone convicted of the offence can be fined up to S$1,000.
“The police treat all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who intentionally causes public alarm,” the police added in its press release.
There have been several similar cases of public nuisance at MRT stations in recent months.
In April, construction worker Wang Jianpo was arrested for leaving a bag unattended at Hougang MRT station while boarding a train to Chinatown to run an errand. Wang was fined S$1,000 in June for his act, which sparked security fears and a brief closure of the station. More than 600 people were evacuated while the contents of the bag were being established.
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...unning-errands
I wonder why people never learn ???
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tikoface
Why SMRT still give such horrible service ???
I also don’t know why .
You must ask Ah Khaw and Ah Kuek .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ibanezjem555
Sack the buggers.. without SBF leading me to mothership, i still making heads or tails about which simi LJ tank n tunnel.. fucking cover-up by ST..
Then, these m-fkers prefer to stake-out MPs.. aiya.. journalistic standard so low.. sph no wonder sack.. but upper management never ownself sack ownself !
That is why so many kenna retrenched recently . The best part is I heard they hire 10 foreigners to replace some of them . That is why I always ask this same question . Do you still want to vote for PAP ?
How much time does SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek need to change the company’s culture?
Actually, SMRT is his company, because he has been the boss for more than 5 years.
By Sulaiman Daud |Martino Tan | 11 hours
During the press conference on Monday, Oct. 16, to address the flooding of the North-South Line, SMRT President and Group CEO Desmond Kuek referred to his ongoing quest to change the company culture at SMRT.
“There has been criticism about SMRT’s work culture. Indeed, many of our major disruptions in the past have been attributed, in some part, or all, to human error or failure. We regret that this is so.
Much progress has been made with the inculcation of a positive work culture, but there remain some deep-seated cultural issues within the company that has needed more time than anticipated to root out.”
Five minutes may seem a long time for an impatient Singaporean commuter to wait for his or her train.
But five years as a CEO is definitely a long enough time for one to be able to effect change, and a change in culture in the company.
To put things in context, five years is an election cycle, and more than one term as a US President.
All the SMRT president’s men (and women)
In his speech, Kuek said that staff strength increased from “3,500 in 2012 to 5,300 today, with nearly triple the number of engineers to nearly 500 now”.
In other words, more than one-third of SMRT staff was hired during Kuek’s CEO term.
Take his 15-member senior management team for example.
Among the 14 members of Kuek’s SMRT senior management team, a majority of them (10 out of 14) joined SMRT after he became the CEO.
2013
2014
2015
2016
Hence, it’s puzzling that Kuek highlighted that more improvement can be made with SMRT’s work culture and that there remain “some deep-seated cultural issues within the company” that needed more time than anticipated to root out.
continue reading here :
https://mothership.sg/2017/10/how-mu...panys-culture/
Despite taking full responsibility still blame on company culture . Other places and other countries when CEOs take full responsibility for their failures on the job they will
RESIGN
. Hello Mr Kuek we are not stupid you know .
Do you know what you are saying in the first place ? Company culture comes from the top you know . Don’t always blame your workers when ever things go wrong . Where was the supervision and accountability ?
Free, discounted off-peak MRT rides could be made ‘permanent’
By Kenneth Cheng
Published: 1:24 PM, October 19, 2017
Updated: 2:25 PM, October 19, 2017
SINGAPORE — An ongoing trial offering free or discounted rail travel to nudge more commuters to take public transport during off-peak hours could be made permanent.
Public Transport Council (PTC) chairman Richard Magnus wrote in a blog post on Thursday (Oct 19) that the council has been asked by the Ministry of Transport to assess if such “tiered fares” should be made permanent, on top of an earlier request in June to review the effectiveness of the trial.
The council is expected to announce its recommendations by the end of the year, alongside those for its yearly review of public transport fares.
The “free pre-peak travel” scheme was introduced in 2013, offering free or discounted rail travel for commuters going to selected stations in and around the Central Business District during morning pre-peak hours.
Another initiative, the monthly “off-peak pass” scheme, was rolled out in 2015, allowing unlimited travel on rail and basic bus services during designated off-peak hours.
Both schemes have been renewed several times — most recently in June to extend the trials until the end of this year. Last year, there were signs that the proportion of commuters changing their travel pattern had stagnated.
In his blog post, Mr Magnus noted that major cities like London and Sydney have introduced similar moves with “some success”.
“The council is, therefore, evaluating travel patterns to determine how a differential fare mechanism can best help smoothen travel demand,” he wrote, adding that concentrating travel within a few hours daily is “resource-intensive and inefficient”.
continue reading here :
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...d-be-permanent
I scare take the train lah . Every week sure got at least one major breakdown . I also scare that I will get injured or even be killed . It is even safer that I ride a bicycle to work . At least I won’t get stuck in the tunnel . How can you expect us to trust Ah Khaw ; LTA ; SMRT and SBS Transit to even give us a safe and efficient mrt system ? So you still want to vote for PAP ? So how Mr Khaw ? We will vote you out of office in the next general election .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
newton
3 Star General Kuek has been CEO for 5 years,
yet still can blame company culture,
his skin must be very thick!
Definitely his skin is very thick . His job is very safe . Got a strong backing. I wonder what would happen if someone got injured and or killed in the mrt ? Who would take responsibility ?