If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to
avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real
disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really
mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they
squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old
buses that still have a considerable number of years within their
statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why
- if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning
to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up
with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses,
and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus
models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus
fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is
taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about
herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and
no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of
explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the
carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
生人请生脑袋。。。 Bus fans grieve over the loss? Better phrase
please...
And I am sure SPH does not buy the buses herself, she does not
make the decision herself either. I am sure she is only informed of
the purchase, not given the decision over it.
SMRT made a well informed decision to buy a Euro 5 bus
straightaway, coupled with a bodywork design that changes outlook
of public transport in Singapore. A powerful combination in fact.
We will never know if they had information of SBS Transit's
purchase of the K230UB, but they took a notch higher in an
all-rounded aspect of the vehicle over its competitor, based on
practical performance and asthetics. By saying 'Southeast Asia's
First Euro 5 Bus' actually sound nicer to the public than
'Singapore's First Euro 4 Bus'. Never mind if people here says that
the OC here does not look nice; the general public opinion say it
does.
If you say that SPH makes the decision to buy the buses, then I
am sure you have not worked in a company of the scale of SMRT
before. Maybe in a 'mama' shop, the boss will decide what racks to
buy and what aircon temperature there is to be set, but in a large
company, try buying buses on the whimp of fancy and the CEO
position will be up to the next contender.
