As I expected, the Public Transport Council [PTC] has rubber-stamped / approved the fare increment request again. From 8 October this year (in conjunction with the opening of the final 12 Circle Line train stations), adult commuters using the ezlink card will see an increase of 2 cents for each ride. Senior citizen fares with concessionary cards will see an increase by 1 cent for each ride. The fare hike is expected to affect nearly nine out of ten commuters.
Was anyone really expecting the PTC to completely reject the fare increments? Just remember that 60.1% of Singaporeans voted to maintain the status quo and stop dreaming! For those who voted along with that 60.1%, they shouldn’t even complain. You make your bed, you sleep in it!
Even though I am definitely unhappy that the fare will increase, I am glad senior citizen concessionary hours will be extended to a full-day throughout the week. On top of which (according to the main stream media [MSM]), “their fares on the North East Line and Circle Line will also be adjusted downwards”.
I personally would like to congratulate the Workers’ Party [WP] on this, since it is written in pg 44, pt 14 of the WP Manifesto – Concession passes on public transport for the elderly should be extended to all operating hours. It is clear that the support the WP received from the people is well deserved. Keep up the good work done. I can’t speak for everyone but I personally think it is clear which party has the well being of the people at heart.
Anyway, now that full day concession has been given to senior citizens, the remaining goals (at least for me) would be to raise the the height for children getting concession from 0.9m to 1.2m. It is clear that as children today have better nutrition and thus they will reach 0.9m earlier. In short, the height limit should be reviewed just as the HDB income cap for Build-To-Order [BTO] flats should be reviewed. MSM can even spin a story about the transport operators doing a part in raising the Total Fertility Rate [TFR] in Singapore. A positive public relations spin about the transport operator’s hitherto almost non-existent ‘corporate conscience’ might actually even make them look a little better. That’s not forgetting the government can also consider it an addition to the baby bonus given to new parents without the need to raise taxes.
Next, concession for polytechnic students should also be reviewed. Right now, polytechnics are considered tertiary institutions just like universities. Thus polytechnic students pay more than their peers in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and Junior Colleges (JCs). I have no idea how that classification is arrived at in the past but it is my considered opinion that it is not only inappropriate and outdated, but no longer relevant today. Does the PTC not consider it absurd that parents of polytechnic students are “penalised” for their children’s choice of post-secondary school education? I won’t go into arguing that a polytechnic diploma is hardly the equivalent of a university degree since that will definitely open another can of worms. However, I am certain how this change would ease the burden of and lower the cost of living for some parents. Last I checked the hybrid polytechnic concession pass (i.e. for both bus and train concessions) cost $97 a month, while that of a JC / ITE Student is $52.50. By giving polytechnic students the same concession as JC / ITE Students, there would be an annual savings of $534! That is even better than the 20% rebate on income tax this year! If the transport operators want to tell us that this means everyone else will have to pay more then they should tell us exactly what is the impact of that to their current multi-million annual profits.
Being a realist, I will not expect the PTC to deny any of the transport operators’ requests to raise fares especially when most of the people in the council consists of people who probably don’t use public transport exclusively. If I remember correctly, the operators are also represented in that council and thus I cannot help but consider all that deliberation on how much increments to approve is just for show.
Simply put, even though I still don’t like the fare increments a single bit, I’ll drudgingly accept it as an inevitable evil. But instead of making noise to demand no fare increments, I would prefer to channel my energies into getting some of the concessions which the public has always been asking for (like the examples above). At the very least, even if the improvements to service standards failed to materialise just like before, at least some people will be getting some benefits. Or to put it in a very negative way, at least we can still deceive ourselves into believing we have make some gains even though we know for a fact the fares will always increase to line the pockets of the major shareholders of SMRT and SBS Transit (namely Temasek Holdings and the Singapore Labour Foundation respectively).
And talking about improving service standards… a friend told me that someone said commuters should first allow the transport operators to increase fares first and then work on improving service standards. He joked that this is about as absurd as a young man telling an old man to allow him to sleep with the daughter first and then he’ll work out how to marry her later.
I am really amused by this jokes he thought of. Some where at the back of my mind, I seem to recall reading that humour is a human response to a dilemma without going crazy. Considering that this friend drives, perhaps his dilemma here is that neither getting a car or accepting the annual fare increments is acceptable to him. So, he made the best of his situation by simply cracking a joke about it.