The concept of sharing is very laudable but the devil as they say is in the details. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew has commented that higher bus costs are to be shared, the problem is he didn't go into detail about the sharing formula. Is it going to be a case of one for you (the public) and three for me (the bus companies) type of sharing?
Minister Lui said that by relying more and more on government subsidies (for offsetting costs) would give the operators (transport companies) no incentive to be efficient or to provide good services to commuters. I find this comment troubling.
1: Nowhere has the public pushed the government to subsidise the operators. The $1.1 billion 'gift' the government gave to the operators for additional buses was on the initiative of the government in the aftermath of severe MRT breakdowns/disruptions for likely political reasons.
2. So, if this injection of public funds de-incentivises the operators to be more efficient, it is the government's or Minister Lui's fault for doing so without attaching ANY conditions to the gift.
3. Just what does Minister Lui mean by "good service". Please enumerate and do not give motherhood statements. Without knowing what comprises 'good service', how can Minister Lui's ministry and the public monitor and measure whether the operator's are providing said 'good service'?
Minister Lui also made clear that any fare increase must be accompanied by service improvements and not just boost the short term profits of the operators. I think Minister Lui is being too generous. If the fare increase it to cater for increases in driver salaries, then there should be at a minimum NO change in the profit at all.
Minister Lui further said that if the fares were increased, the government would do more to help commuters. What exactly does he mean by this? Again, no motherhood statements please. Elaborate and enumerate what comprises 'more to help commuters'. Is he talking about the famous one-off transport allowance gift to Singaporeans to offset a permanent increase in fares? If so, where is the money coming from? Our own taxes? Ie: paying ourselves with our own money to offset increased costs by a public listed company?
For all we know, when the drivers salaries are increased (by a pittance) as a result of this fare increase, the executives of the transport companies would concurrently award further pay increases for themselves too. After all if their drivers are getting a pay rise, they should be getting one as well!
Would the minister ensure that that will NOT be the case? Somehow I doubt it. After all, the minister's pay happens to be benchmarked to the salaries of just such executives. If the minister were to push for salary reductions for the executives, it could backfire and result in himself and his cabinet colleagues receiving smaller (but still generous) salaries themselves. Somehow, I doubt the minister's desire to serve the public is strong enough to overcome this conflict of interest.
Given that ALL past PTC fare reviews have resulted in recommendations in favour of the operators, it is time for the operators to do their part and finally fulfill a part of their responsibilities to the public. I mean, look at what past fare increases have achieved? The current crisis! I seriously doubt any further fare increases will change ANYTHING. Would Minister Lui like to stake his reputation (such little as there is) that this latest fare increase will finally do the trick?
Incidentally, in all the brouhaha over the foreign drivers strike, Minister Lui's absence from the fracas was surprising considering his unfailing appearance in the past whenever something happens like maybe a nut falling off from an MRT train. Not that I'm against having his lieutenants, Mr Tan Chuan Jin and Josephine Teo doing something to earn their salaries once in a while...
