Should MRT and other public essentials be run by the Govt?

kilua SG

Should MRT and other public essentials be run by the Govt?

Countries like Taiwan and South Korea have public transportation that are
govt owned.

e.g. Taiwan

They have a good MRT system that is just as good as Singapore, but they do not raise prices regularly like Singapore because its govt owned.

Taiwan's public Utilities board have not raised electricity rates for 26 years and the cost of eletricity per KWH is half of Singapore's.

Privatization may not make the operators better as they are usually monopolies and have little incentives to improve.

In Korea, the transport system is run by the govt. Korea has a more advanced Transport system than Singapore, where the arrival times are downloadable with a PDA or phone, whereas Singapore is only playing catch up with their trial project Iris.

Being govt owned also means that Koreans enjoy cheaper public transport than Singaporeans despite the fact that Seoul on average has a higher cost of living than Singapore.

Their MRT fare is integrated with the bus fare system

For example, it cost only 800 won ($1.30) to for the First 10 km, Regardless of how many times one changes from MRT to bus to another feeder bus

robertteh SG

One thing is for sure : by keeping essential government services within the government like Taiwan, our government will have no opportunity to make a huge capital gains from corporatizations and sale of assets and infrastructure to the GLCs that take over the services.

Certainly the govenrment will then not be able to pay their civil servants and themselves the highest CEO salaries for such dealing and wheeling and commercialisation of basic essential services.

By transferring the essential government services including lands owned and paid for previously by the people through taxation, the privatised GLCs will have to charge for such assets and infrastructure costs all over again by increasing fees and driving up costs of living.

People end up paying to the government once for assets and infrastructure through general taxation but will have to pay the new GLCs such costs all over again.

Can our scholar ministers and mps understand that this is profiteering and that this system of government is double taxation with all taxes going to the surpluses and people will have to struggle the whole life to pay the government.

If this is not double taxation, what is !!

sbst275 SG

Eh...

Ok, it should not ended up having to folk out extra money otherthan fare payers money to maintain the service

Ok, it should not be made for profiteering something which SMRT is now capable of..

foomwee88 SG

No point talking about this matter las!!!

If education and health ministry also treated as profit centres,wat can sillyporeans talk leh!!!

The only way out is 2 say bye Sinkapore!!!!

charlize SG

Come to think about it, almost all the ministries are like profit centres trying to make more and more money from the people. Laughing

kilua SG

yes.. makes us wonder if paying more money to civil servants is foolish

robertteh SG

I think some civil servants would be pleasantly surprised that they are being called talents who deserve millions of salaries for bill collections and passing and enforcements of laws and regulations.

Those who really know about their own performances would know full well that they indeed have lagged behind the civil service of Korea and Taiwan in promoting technology applications and start-ups during the past three recessions.

Suddenly because the world economy finally turns the corner and they become the talents again when actually during all the last three deep recessions when we took the longest to recover they kept very quiet about our losses of jobs and large scale retrenchments and blame the lack of economic restructuring success and all the problems on globalization phenomenon or on people themselves who pay their million dollar wages for lack of training or skills.

rane SG

yes, I agree. know what even drs from govt hospitals are pressurised to earn more $$$ from the patients. Thus, they are encouraged to "recruit" more and more private patients (Class A) whom govt don't subsidise at all. For this the doctors have headaches and so . . .

foomwee88 SG

Gov is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ our citizens r Mad Mad Mad

ShutterBug SG

The thread title itself is stupid question...

Our government is only interested in whatever makes the most money..

Whether its public essentials, transportation, medical, education, etc..

If all of a sudden, dying is popular and lucrative, they'll monopolize it immediately and help you to die as well...