Driverless taxis going to roll out in Japan 5 years later

last SG · 2015-10-09T11:53:34+00:00

I don't think remote controls is the cause of the drop in TV sales. It is very likely due to the fact that streamed movies are easily available on mobile pho...

Neutral-Thinker SG

50000 Australia Jobs will also be created to manufacture Driveless vehicle and enhancing it technologies. So in a nutshell, does not mean, car go driveless, drivers no job, it mean that lower jobs like driving will be out, and newer higher skill job will be here, that is why our govt also invested in Skillfuture for All Singaporeans.

If you cannot get employed due to you unable to take up the more skill needed job, you are consider as structural unemployed, meaning, there are jobs, but you cannot fit in.

I dare bet with you there would not be 50,000 Australian jobs created to manufacture driverless cars. When those drivers go jobless, the country have to support them giving them unemployment benefits every month as they are a welfare country. Crimes rates also would go up since the whole family is short of money.

When robots were introduced in factories in the 1980s, the push for it was it would enable companies in expensive countries to be competitive in manufacturing and thereby preserving jobs.

Driving is not low end job. There would not be any replacement jobs once these are taken over by driverless cars. And we could keep the driverless cars out and preserve jobs. It is not structural unemployment that we cannot fit in....it is something we do not need to eliminate ourselves since there is no real benefits using driverless cars as they take away jobs from a lot more ordinary people and create a lot less jobs for another group of people who are pushing for driverless cars. It is like making 50,000 people suffer for 500 people and claiming the 50000 people cannot fit in when the other 500 people are not needed.

Can you imagine in Singapore if driverless cars are introduced? Lorries, buses, taxis, crane heavy vehicles, cement trucks are taken over by driverless cars? How many people would lose their jobs and how many new jobs could be created for them once the jobs are lost? Yes the countries that manufacture driverless cars gets a lot more jobs but people in other countries suffer. Skillfuture for All Singaporeans

does not generate jobs.... it only cause you to spend more time going for training with no assurance of any job. Even incentives for companies to employ Singaporean PMETs only last for one year. We have seen recently very automated Coca-Cola declaring that they would shift away to cheaper Malaysia. We can only foresee more manufacturing companies shifting away and more Singaporeans finding it harder to find new jobs. Now, even cash rich Temasek is selling off NOL after selling off Chartered Semiconductors years ago.

For the same reasons I have been refusing to use GPS to navigate as it would mean relying on companies that push for driverless cars to eliminate drivers job. Once you depend on them, you would be vulnerable. If too many people depend on GPS to navigate, it would give people the excuse to eliminate traditional drivers and claim we cannot keep up with time when it really is they cannot generate same number of jobs for people that they plan to eliminate.

Can you visualize what jobs Singaporeans could do if manufacturing-related and driving jobs are lost?

Neutral-Thinker SG

Henn Tan and Sim Wong Woo from the electronics field. I got nothing against them. If you asksd for their views, it probably wont differ too much from mine. This country has many restrictions and limitations when it comes to encouraging innovation. I speak from experience. Singapore will never be known for innovation. It cannot even make good copies and improve on them like china. It also cannot add innovations to existing tech and make them into beautiful n functional products loved by everyone around the world – like apple. Its all to do with having tight governance over a tiny nation. I can tell you china does innovation better than singapore.

This is a safe n comfy country at the end of the day. So what i say is meaningless to most. So nothing will change when it comes to cultivating innovative minds.

There are more innovators in Singapore....just that they are not as famous...Founders of Osim and BFR Combat boots are two examples.

Could you please enlighten me what are some of the restrictions and limitations? Thanks.

f1taxidriver SG

Osim and combat boots are not ground breaking innovations. This is too boring. You got to think bigger and more complicated than this. Modern technology is extremely complex. Osim and the rest of the mechanical massage companies are still unable to come up with a massage robot that can replace a human being. The technology is not trivial and the R&D costs are formidable. I do not believe they got such a product on the pipeline.

Science is always limited by funding. Here in Singapore, research grants are mostly from the government, who have never believe in supporting local talent. Their basic idea of importing senior scientists and so called whales here is only good for elevating Singapore onto the world map. It does not inspire confidence in local scientists and in fact has quite the opposite effect on encouraging youths to pursue a scientific career. This is the biggest flaw of their policies. Granted it does achieve fast short term results. A-star got many things to boast, although none of it is really ground-breaking, or can be directly translated and applied in a real product for international consumption.

My conclusion after observing them for the last 20 years is that it was never in their interest to foster local scientific talent, which is a basic ingredient for innovation. Innovation takes alot of time and money. Nobody will want to share their ideas if a senior figure head within a-star, such as a executive director or renowed principal investigator can just take their ideas away and call it their own. This pilfering of ideas is a basic problem in many singapore government agencies, such as WDA and MINDEF. It is not just an a-star issue.

All these issues pertaining to ‘restrictions and limitations to fostering innovation in singapore’ are very political in nature, and I do not expect anything to change.

It is also linked to the fact that our ministers choose to sending their best and brightest overseas. As long as this continues, it directly implies singapore is not good enough, our local universities are not the best, and the top scientific jobs will always be mostly filled by foreigners.

f1taxidriver SG

There is a saying, it is not who is the best. It is whether you believe in yourself that you are the best. If the family and country is firmly behind you, I would say the sky is the limit. But here in Singapore, one should consider themselves lucky if even their parents have such conviction in their own children.

Look at the Singapore’s sports scene. Look at our table tennis players and how they came on board. Isn’t it the same old formula passed down by LKY?

So it was never about squeezing the best out of the locals. It was always about finding the best around the world and shipping them here. With such a policy, how could you expect many people to invest the prime of their lives doing science and innovating?

The only place this is feasible is really in California. Singapore does not have the time for you.

The Code SG

If our local fellows are ready innovate, instead of worrying about the impact of driverless vehicle, maybe they can invent their own flying 'vehicle' just like what this chap did http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhNIF9sRDu1IEZfjRS , too bad that we don't heard anything about S'pore companies or research organization working in this area!

Keepthechange666 SG

Cum in here, head started to spin......

Go write a book la.....

bowah SG

Bo bian mah, now many old uncles like me, drive less, childrens give allowances, somemore can buy high tech tabs for us to go toilet and post, slowly type and post lor.

Let them said what they want to say lah, afterall, mostly shit talking only aka kopitiam talk, can talk until 2 old uncles want to fight one hor..lau hero lor.

All TCSS only lah, you think govt listen ar?? lanjiao lah, 70% vote for them liao, they listen to you for fark, LTA answer to the public, not taxi driver, taxi companies answer to shareholders, not taxi driver, and then, paxs like you answer to their bosses, not taxi drivers, so in the end, no bother care about taxis drivers, you are on your own…got pay rental, call you Uncle, kiam rental that time..Hello..Mister

f1taxidriver SG

Got people want to talk tak chek stuff, bo bian mah. I actually quite tired to write so much. Should sideline and becum reporter tio bo?

bowah SG

Then I should become a comedy liao…or joker. Life is alway like that one lah, “I should had ” ...”If I had know…” are common regrettable phrases, try not to use it often, can make you either sad or angry.

Keepthechange666 SG

Bo bian mah, now many old uncles like me, drive less, childrens give allowances, somemore can buy high tech tabs for us to go toilet and post, slowly type and post lor.

Let them said what they want to say lah, afterall, mostly shit talking only aka kopitiam talk, can talk until 2 old uncles want to fight one hor..lau hero lor.

Wu la, our ex-chief time, many cum here look see, look see......

Today taxi industry becum like that, he play a big part hor......

Neutral-Thinker SG

Bo bian mah, now many old uncles like me, drive less, childrens give allowances, somemore can buy high tech tabs for us to go toilet and post, slowly type and post lor.

Let them said what they want to say lah, afterall, mostly shit talking only aka kopitiam talk, can talk until 2 old uncles want to fight one hor..lau hero lor.

55,000 taxi drivers plus their wife and 2 kids = 220,000 people affected... this is almost 10% of voters. If add those affected when more manufacturing jobs shift to 3rd world countries, it would be around 15%. So 70% can drop to 55%.

Government job is to ensure more Singaporeans got jobs....otherwise their would be more crimes and political instability.

Minister salary : Singapore higher than other developed countries

Ordinary job salary: Singapore among the lowest by developed countries' standard

Hotel rates: Singapore same as other developed countries

Housing rate: Singapore comparable with other developed countries

Taxi fare: Singapore 1/4 to 1/2 of other developed countries.

Big Mac price: Singapore average among developed countries.

Beer prices: Singapore among the highest in the world.

Car prices: Singapore highest in the world

Ordinary non-resturant meal: Singapore about lowest by developed countries' standard

So lowering which item would make voters really happy?

f1taxidriver SG

Japan got aging society. More people dying and not enough babies to replace. So having driverless taxi helps them.

Singapore like to import ft, if driverless taxi comes, i also happy because pap will lose many votes.

The Code SG

Japan got aging society. More people dying and not enough babies to replace. So having driverless taxi helps them.

Singapore like to import ft, if driverless taxi comes, i also happy because pap will lose many votes.

You mean in the past the gahment or the automobile companies got 'lose out' when steam cars was replaced by petrol-run vehicle or trishaw replaced by scooter/motorcycle? And vehicle like above will definitely stay when oil run out in 50 years as some scientist claimed? :laugh:

bowah SG

Wu la, our ex-chief time, many cum here look see, look see......

Today taxi industry becum like that, he play a big part hor......

He got play meh..he was the director at that time leh

bowah SG

Government job is to ensure more Singaporeans got jobs....otherwise their would be more crimes and political instability.

Minister salary : Singapore higher than other developed countries

Ordinary job salary: Singapore among the lowest by developed countries' standard

Hotel rates: Singapore same as other developed countries

Housing rate: Singapore comparable with other developed countries

Taxi fare: Singapore 1/4 to 1/2 of other developed countries.

Big Mac price: Singapore average among developed countries.

Beer prices: Singapore among the highest in the world.

Car prices: Singapore highest in the world

Ordinary non-resturant meal: Singapore about lowest by developed countries' standard

So lowering which item would make voters really happy?

<br / Like it or not, we must evolve and not rely on those cheap manufacturing anymore, third world countries already can do all these already, we will not be able to survive by still doing all these stuffs like electronics or bata shoes, or even addidas shorts.

bowah SG

Therefore, in a resouceless state, we need to innovate fast and attract high technology industrial, from biochemical to pharmaceutical to multi media to services like MBS, hotels, and a more automate and advance system in airports and our sea ports.

Singapore unemployment rate is among the lowest in the world, in fact, we hv many vacancies in services and engineering today. The technology we embrace will be more for productivity, which is lacking in recent years, so the do it yourself will soon become more and more realistic thru innovation and creativity.

Driverless cars will also create many job, road will hv to be readjust, redesign, cars parts will need to be manufacture, supply and maintainence will be needed, so are the regulations and so on,...it will create jobs, but a higher value job.

If you keep driving taxis, and eveyone also can drive and will drive leading to higher competition from all angles, apps to sharing to private to other taxi drivers to even pte car on the road (as more buy, less pax). Then how you expect yr income to go up, same skill, nothing change, only inflation rate will make your flag down fare go up, but never the real income.

Therefore, you need to innovate, dun keep depending on govt or mp to guide you, like me, I go for Casket driving.

Neutral-Thinker SG

Therefore, you need to innovate, dun keep depending on govt or mp to guide you, like me, I go for Casket driving.

Driverless cars also means casket driving would be replaced...only need to program to drive slower. What I am saying is we only go driverless if can really generate equal no of same or better jobs and not eliminate jobs which we could preserve.

You see Coke factory also automated but must shift away.. Many years ago Western Digital already shifted away. Seagate maintain some plants in Singapore only because government stepped in to lower their operating cost.

We can don't have driverless taxis as our taxi fare is relatively cheap compared to other developed countries and we can keep foreigners (only those with Singapore citizenship by birth or converted can drive) out and driverless cars out. We don't have to downgrade to non-developed world standards . However if our new drivers depend on GPS, someone would say even taxi drivers depend on Googlemap GPS and use it as an excuse to eliminate us.

I really cannot foresee how additional 55000 jobs could be generated with introduction of driverless taxis.

f1taxidriver SG

It can be impossible to plan for the future. How bright the future seems is all up in your head and how you choose to perceive it.

Neutral-Thinker SG

Japan got aging society. More people dying and not enough babies to replace. So having driverless taxi helps them.

Singapore like to import ft, if driverless taxi comes, i also happy because pap will lose many votes.

My understanding is people have been saying Japanese taxi fare is too high..... and they have more taxis than needed ( http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/yen-for-living/pity-the-driver-cabbie-salaries-much-lower-than-average/ ). Their taxi fare is 4 times ours but their cabbies make less money than us (especially after tax. 3 million yen per year is S$34675.57 per year). This is despite us having the highest cost of puting vechiles on roads due to high vechile tax and COE. Something is not right with their system.

Also if driverless cars replace human drivers, then 375600 Japanese taxi drivers (not including their family members) would end up like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaxgmmjNrpA

bowah SG

I really cannot foresee how additional 55000 jobs could be generated with introduction of driverless taxis.

First and foremost, things are dead, we are alive with a brain, why we are embarking on labourless stuff is because we wanted to reduce foreign manpower.

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