Hello Everyone, today’s the first day of the Chinese New Year and here’s wishing all of you a Happy Prosperous Chinese New Year!
I just had an awesome reunion dinner with my family members and also with Baby’s family the day before. Truly, I would always look forward to Chinese New Year because more than just having wonderful food and goodies to eat, more than just receiving hongbaos [otherwise also known as red packets], it is also a time where the entire family can reunite. Now why does reunion dinner means so much to us and why does most businesses usually close for a week or two during this season? Well, you see, in the past and even till now, many Chinese have to travel miles [be it taking the train, bus, airplane, or ship] just to be home to reunite with family members for reunion dinner. This is especially a common thing especially for students whom are studying overseas, businessmen whom are frequently travelling around the world, and married couples whom are not staying near their parents.
So, enjoy yourselves during this long weekend and bask yourselves in the festivities of this season! Huat ah!
Hello Everyone,
Chinese New Year is coming soon and this Sunday itself, we will be having our traditional Chinese reunion dinner! In the last few days, I have been really busy with spring cleaning my room and thanks to my dearest mummy and baby, I was able to do my spring cleaning with much ease. So, my room is now finally all tidied up and organised, and I have donated two big bags of clothings to the Salvation Army.
To be honest, I am really excited about this coming Chinese New Year because more than just the significance of starting a new year, it is also a great time of celebration and family get-together. In fact, I am more excited about the Chinese New Year than the Normal New Year because the Chinese New Year celebrations brings with it many meaningful symbolisms and traditions.
Not just that, Baby and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last Saturday and we really look forward to a greater new year of blessings and breakthroughs. Here are just some pictures of what Baby bought for me for our 1 year anniversary so that I could use them during Chinese New Year!
It’s really kinda cool now that I only have to carry one item instead of two separate items.
And yes, I also bought an extremely expensive Polo Ralph Lauren Polo T-Shirt for the first time in my life. This cost me $180, eh, well, not exactly me but my parents. =X
Well, I feel really blessed this coming Chinese New Year and I want to thank God for all these wonderful blessings!
Also, I have put together some suggestions for you to start this Chinese New Year right.
1). Forgive Those Whom Have Hurt You and Let Bygones Be Bygones
To forgive someone whom have hurt you deeply is really tough. But the Bible says that we ought to forgive one another just as Christ have already forgiven us for our sins. Well, let those past hurts be put down and let bygones be bygones. No matter how tough it may be, seek God for His grace and let Him give you the peace in your heart to forgive those whom have hurt you.
Colossians 3:13 [New International Version (NIV)]
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
1 John 1:9 [New International Version (NIV)]
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2) Clear All Your Outstanding Bills
This is really important if you want to be financially free from debts. In fact, don’t procrastinate in paying your bills but pay them all in full! And once you have paid all your bills, try not to accumulate them anymore and spend within your means. This way, you won’t be burdened with outstanding bills to pay and you can then set aside some money for your personal savings.
Romans 13:8 [New International Version (NIV)]
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
3) Honour & Love Your Parents and Elders
No matter how our parents may have treated us in the past, they are still our parents and we should honour them and love them because it is God’s commandment! If you have been rebellious to your parents in the past, make a commitment this Chinese New Year to obey them and to honour them. Parents may sometimes be naggy but they always and yes, absolutely always, have our interests at heart.
Exodus 20:12 [New International Version (NIV)]
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Well, that is all for this blog entry and I hope you have been blessed! Stay tuned for more updates!
Oh, and here’s a video of the song, “My God Reigns” which was played by City Harvest Church. Hope it will bless you!
Hello Everyone,
I had the privilege to catch the preview screening of the movie, “Contraband” today all thanks to omy.sg for the tickets!
Synopsis of the Movie:
Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cut-throat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.
Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.
Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.
For the official movie site, check out http://www.contrabandmovie.net/
My Personal Review of the Movie:
Out of a rating of 5, I would give the movie a 2.5. The plot build-up was really draggy and boring and somehow, the plot is also very predictable, thus, it does not really offer an exciting heart-pounding experience. This movie is very much like the recent movie, “Tower Heist” or the well known Oceans 11/12/13 movie. If you ask me, the techniques used to smuggle illegal items in the movie were not as witty and intelligent than the Oceans movie series. And neither is this movie an action-packed kinda movie. To be honest, I will not recommend you to watch this movie unless you have some spare cash.
Hello Everyone,
today’s blog entry is specially dedicated to those who have received your GCE ‘O’ Levels results.
Ok, here goes, whether or not you fared well for the ‘O’ Levels, there are endless number of opportunities available for you because your future is still bright!
For those who have done well, congratulations! I always believe that the amount of effort and hardwork that you put into your studies will eventually yield results that would be closely correlated. As you embark on the next phase of your life, choose wisely what you intend to pursue because this decision will ultimately decide your future!
For those who have not done well, do not be discouraged! It is not the end of the world yet. There are still many opportunities available for you as the future is still bright.
To encourage you, let me share my experience with you. I am not academically inclined as an individual nor am I gifted in my IQ. I flunk my maths in primary school but thank God I finished my PSLE and was able to enrol into a neighbourhood secondary school. When I was in secondary school, my results were very much average and when I progressed to secondary 3, I flunk additional maths and had to drop the subject. My preliminary results in secondary 4 were not too bad but when I received my ‘O’ Levels results, I was one point short of getting admitted to a Junior College. And so, I went to Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to pursue a Diploma in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology. Well, when I was in NYP, my results were extremely horrendous [my parents can vouch for me on that]. I flunk many modules and I barely scraped through each semester. Well, I dropped out of NYP and I had nowhere to go. Fear griped me and I thought all the doors were closed for me but I thank God for placing friends in my life whom were able to motivate and encourage me.
It was one fine day when a really close friend of mine, Lien Hui Ying, talked to me about what I was going through and she shared with me that she saw me as a “business” person rather than a “science/math” person. During the talk, she shared with me what she saw in me and what my strengths were. Feeling self-motivated, I decided to take control of my life and turned my life around. I heeded her advise and went to search for courses that were business-related. The turning point was when I enrolled into Shatec Institutes to pursue a Diploma in Hotel Management. I completed my training attachment with the prestigious Fullerton Hotel and I graduated from Shatec Institutes. As I did academically well for my studies in Shatec Institutes, I was awarded the Singapore Conrad Hotel Silver Award for Excellence and a book prize sponsored by Barcardi-Marini Singapore Private Limited for Excellence in Business and General Studies. Honestly, the reason why I pushed myself to do well was because of four things:
1). I want to make my parents proud of me and not waste their money.
2). I want to be God’s living testimony to the people around me.
3). I had friends [Sarah, Aldaias, Alex, Joanna and etc] whom encouraged me through friendly competition and genuine motivation.
4). I do not want to be complacent and take my future for granted.
So what am I doing now that I have graduated from Shatec Institutes? Well, I am currently pursuing my degree in Marketing Management and because I did really well for my studies, I was granted two years of exemption and I enrolled straight into the final year for my degree programme!
Who would have thought that a poly drop-out like me would be able to top the cohort and pursue a degree now!
Well if you have not fared well and you’re unsure of what to do, ask yourself these questions:
1). What are you good at doing?
2). What are you passionate about doing?
3). What are your strengths?
You know, don’t be conformed by what the world tells you to do or not to do; rather, ask your family members and friends for their advise and with wisdom, make the best decision for your life! Remember, your future and destiny is in your hands and sometimes, we may feel fearful about what the world may throw at us, but fear not, because everything that happens, happen for a reason and God will turn every disappointment into a divine appointment.
I pray that through my sharing, you will be blessed and motivated to move on to a greater purpose and destiny that God has already intended for you. Should you need any help/advise/suggestion, do feel free to drop me an email at melvinlee@awinsomelife.org and I will do my utmost to help you.
Hello Everyone,
its 6 days after new year and my apologies for being away from the blogging scene for quite awhile as I had tons of things to do.
Nonetheless since its the new year and Chinese New Year is also coming soon, I do have 3 exciting announcements:
1). Blogger’s Collaboration
Just last month, I chanced upon Luke’s Blog and in one of his post, he mentioned about starting out a local Singapore blogger’s network/group where we can have monthly activities/gatherings and also where bloggers can gather to defend our blogging rights. Well, I got in touch with him and we are planning to meet up soon to discuss about the possibilities and opportunities to start up our very own local blogger’s network. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of groups which was setup for bloggers before but those which we had come across are either too serious in topic, or are inactive for our liking. What we are seeking here is to form a network/group where we can really be active in terms of having events and activities such as fieldtrips, outings, and etc and as a group, contribute to certain topics such as travel, politics, food and beverage and etc. which may be of interest to the public. Most of the time, being bloggers ourselves, we blog at the comforts of our home and more often than not, we sometimes may feel that we are alone in the world of blogging. As a result, Luke and I planned for this group to be one where we can really be united in our thoughts and be able to most importantly, share with one another and hangout with one another.
Although our plans are still in the pipeline and we are still cracking our brains to come up with an even firmer plans for the group, if you are a blogger who owns a blog and you are interested to be one of the founding pioneers of a potential revolutionary project that would perhaps change the local blogging scene, please do let me know by dropping me an email at melvinlee@awinsomelife.org
2). Contraband (2012) Movie Preview at Shaw Theatre (Lido) courtesy of omy.sg
Contraband the movie is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. The film is a remake of the Icelandic 2009 film Reykjavík-Rotterdam which Kormákur starred in. It is set to be released on January 13, 2012 in the United States by Universal Pictures.
I am really thankful and privileged to be given a pair of tickets to the movie screening of Contraband by omy.sg Stay tuned for the movie review next week. Meanwhile, here’s a trailer of the movie:
We are proud and happy to announce that awinsomelife.org is now affiliated with alldealsasia. By next week, our blog will be putting up and featuring awesome deals by AllDealsAsia and we hope that this additional feature will bring you great deals that you might want to consider purchasing.
Hello Everyone,
while we were dealing with the MRT Breakdown crisis yesterday, apparently this guy from New Jersey [also known as FadedHolySoldier] came up with videos and insulted us Asians and Singaporeans.
First and foremost, my stand is this, that people be treated with respect and equality, no racial discrimination or whatsoever. Singapore is a multi-racial country comprising of Chinese, Malay, Indians, Eurasians and etc. ;And Asians are people living in the continent of Asia [Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and etc.]
Well, in my culture [especially the Chinese culture], surnames are treated with utmost respect because it represents the family name. Toying around with our family names is equivalent to insulting our family. We respect and honour our elders, parents and etc.
Secondly, I believe that rude gestures and vulgar languages are not necessary because it kinda shows how uncivilised people are. There is no one size fits all kind of communication. When we communicate in Asia, we have different levels of communication because we treat people with respect, dignity, and sincerity. But when someone launched an attack on us personally, we will retaliate because we are humans and we have every right to define our pride.
Thirdly, while I do understand the pent-up frustrations we have with regards to the governance of Singapore. We appreciate the fact that Singapore is a really safe country. Our stand on drugs are rigid and firm because we strongly believe that it causes more harm than good to an individual or the society.
Lastly, I hope that this issue can be resolved diplomatically and with sensitivity. While I have to admit that some of the comments were childish and immature, I have to say that this was the result of an even immature video posted up by HolyFadedSoldier whom is no different from Aaron Tan. At the very least, I was hoping that he would be apologetic enough to say sorry. Is it really difficult to say sorry?
The videos can be viewed right from Youtube. Viewer’s discretion is strongly advised.
Part 1 [this video that started the whole fiery comments]
http://youtu.be/L-zBmITQZEE
Part 2 [this video which I guess pissed almost everyone off]
http://youtu.be/rinP4LMaqW0
Part 3 [this video that defended his stand]
http://youtu.be/NjXSNxrHTeQ
Part 4 [this video where he ropes in a friend to speak up for him]
http://youtu.be/AZVLPA4vgnQ
And one of the many video responses by Singaporeans
This is by Dee Kosh and one which I felt is really a balanced viewpoint, hence the reason why I’m putting it up
http://youtu.be/buY7xD9VmhE
Hello Everyone,
I honestly feel that its time SMRT really look into the matters of the frequent train breakdowns; especially when two major breakdowns occur just over two days. To make things worst, the breakdowns occur during extremely peak periods [one in the morning rush hour, and the other one in the evening rush hour]. This I feel is totally unacceptable especially when SMRT has time and time again proclaimed that our train system is world-class.
Some major highlights which I feel are a cause for concern are:
1). Security breaches at the SMRT depots [remember the two vandalism cases?]. SMRT got away with only a fine! What if some terrorist managed to slip a bomb package into the train cabins? Who should be held accountable? Who will be responsible? To think that we have been drilled to be vigilant at all times but what about SMRT?
2). When SMRT wants to fine us for eating/drinking in the train, they do so readily without exercising proper judgement. Yes, I agree that eating/drinking should be prohibited on the train, but seriously, they should have some consideration for those who are feeling unwell. Take for example, if someone is going to throw up because he/she feels really giddy and nauseous, then I think its more acceptable for them to eat some sweets on the train than to throw up in the train. If one is thirsty, plain water should also be allowed for consumption.
3). The way SMRT handles the breakdown is totally unacceptable. This is where I am really utterly upset. There isn’t any genuine care and concern displayed for commuters here. Lack of professionalism I must say!
Look at the following photo. This was an announcement by SMRT to the SMRT Cabbies during the breakdown and the heading of the announcement is Income Opportunity~! I mean, wow, look at that; since when have we become so profit-minded that we neglect the plight of fellow commuters whom were stranded in the stations and trains? Seriously, this is utterly disgusting~! If I could drive [which of course I am not able to do so because of my injury], I would have called my parents/girlfriend/friends and asked them if any of them needed a lift. Yes, the city may be jammed-pack with traffic but who cares, I rather pay the ERP to get those stranded a lift than for them to take a cab which is so freaking expensive~!
This notice was put up at Braddell MRT at 7:30PM and it stated clearly that train service was to resume in an hour time. But you know what, it is only at 8.56PM when SMRT said that North-Bound train service between Marina Bay and Bishan stations will be closed and will not be up for the night. The time difference for them to provide proper updates is more than 1 hour! Do you know how much people can do in an hour?
Yes, what you are seeing in the photos below are true accounts. Lights on the train were partially off and there was no air-conditioning nor ventilation. With the train cabins being packed like sardines, you can imagine the heat build-up and the lack of oxygen. A lady was reported to have fainted on the train and as a result, a passenger used the fire extinguisher to smash the window so as to allow air to come in. The intercom button was also pressed to alert the train driver of a medical condition but there was no reply. In such a condition, who is responsible for the lady’s medical expenses? Why did the train driver not reply through the intercom? Do they know that the passengers stranded haven’t had their dinner? Do they know that some of the passengers could very well be rushing off to see a dying loved one? Do they know that some passengers could very well be meeting a client for the signing of a million dollar contract? Who will be responsible for the lost time/opportunity cost of the passenger’s time?
Alright, I know I am being extreme here but seriously, the way SMRT handled the breakdown was a very big let-down because even though shuttle bus services were activated, it was of no apparent use as they were all crammed with passengers and there weren’t sufficient shuttle buses. Even if one is able to get a refund for the trip made, seriously, is a refund sufficient for the loss of time? I daresay a refund cost less than $3 per passenger. But how many professionals and executives were stranded? Time is precious and perhaps maybe for them, an hour of their time could be worth $50 or even more~!
I always believe in this, that everything rises and falls on leadership. And that being said, we should point our fingers on the management of SMRT and let them address the issues regarding the breakdown themselves~! Just for your information, I have ploughed through 3 annual reports of SMRT and here are some interesting facts that many of you may not be aware about.
The CEO of SMRT earned an astounding amount of $1,310,298 in 2008, $1,560,344 in 2009, and $1,668,747 in 2010. That’s an increase of $358449 over a period of 3 years which is an average of $119483 a year!
The Revenue of SMRT was 436.9 million dollars in 2008, 474.3 million dollars in 2009, and 480.7 million dollars in 2010. So when SMRT are earning so much revenue, have they put into consideration how to better improve their train services?
Temasek Holdings is the largest shareholder of SMRT [at 54%], no need for me to elaborate any further.
And go look at their operating expenses in the following figure. Staff costs account for almost 40% of their total operating expenses whereas repair and maintenance only accounts for only 11% of their operating costs~! Can’t they reduce the staff costs and allocate more resources for repair and maintenance or at least do some research and development to improve train service efficiency?
The following figure is the most interesting one. The CEO’s pay is the highest and even when you combine the rest of the directors’ pay [total is only $592920], it can’t match up to the CEO’s pay of $1,310,298~! Whoa!
Well, needless to say, SMRT = fail! World class transport system my ass!
Hello Everyone,
being a marketing Student, I have to take a module known as, “Direct and Online Marketing”. And in this module, we learn about the various tools [especially social media] we can use to reach out to our prospective clients and to be creative when designing marketing campaigns. One very good example of a direct marketing tool is the Short Messaging System [commonly known as the SMS]. Frankly speaking, whenever I receive SMS-es now, I either choose one of the following two actions, I read and delete OR I don’t read and delete. This has become more of a habit for me because more often than not, I receive SMS-es from the telco, some educations institutions, and etc. to promote their services. Well, what happens if I receive SMS-es from a friend? Then it all depends oh how close I am with that person because everyone has varying social circles [those whom are more important and those whom requires urgent attention]. But if day in day out I receive similar SMS-es to go for a particular activitity/event, I call it SPAM because it makes no difference whether or not they are sent by companies or friends.
Not just SMS-es but the same goes for phone calls with private numbers. How many of you often receive phone calls from insurance companies, banks, and etc. only to hear the tele-marketer go on and on about the new products and services they are inviting you to be a part of? Seriously, whenever I receive a missed call [private number] on my phone, the only people whom I would call back and check who left the miss call would be my parents and relatives. If businesses are really sincere about reaching out to prospective clients, their numbers shouldn’t be made private. In fact, their numbers should be made public so that people could give them a call back to find out what they have been missing out on.
If you’re seeking to improve your relational skills, the following might be useful:
To connect with people, you need to be sincere and when it boils down to sincerity, you first need to know what the person really needs or what he/she is thinking about. Don’t go on and on about what you can provide and offer when the person may in fact not require what you can offer! Only when you really know what he/she is thinking about can you then offer your most sincere thoughts and opinions. When a person tells you something, keep it personal unless you have sought permission to share it with someone whom is be able to help. Not only that, listen and remember well because you don’t want to be caught in a situation where the person have to repeat him/her self again [this shows whether you are really genuine about wanting to connect with the person]. Follow up with a phone call to find out how he/she is coping and whether any additional assistance be required [a phone call is more personal than emails or SMS-es].
Easy as it seems but really, connecting with people takes time and it is important that this be done genuinely else there won’t be room for trust to exist [which is essential in the long-term].
Hello Everyone,
its 10 more days to Christmas and I can feel the excitement in the air already. After Christmas, everyone would be looking forward to the New Year Countdown and following which, Chinese New Year~!
A few days back, I chanced upon Pete’s Blog and he posted an exclusive video made by Santa Claus specially for his son, Jaime and it was really amazing. Thanks to Pete, I managed to get Santa Claus’ contact and I convinced Santa to say a few words to Baby too.
I believe Santa’s really generous and would not mind saying a few words to your loved ones [sons/daughters/boyfriend/girlfriend/dad/mum/brothers and etc.] too. So do contact Santa if you want to do something personlised for your loved ones this year!
Hello Everyone,
I have been asked to share my thoughts about the recent Taxi Fares Revision and well, I am going to rant here and I hope you will probably understand why I feel so upset about the fare revisions!
Frankly speaking, there are quite a few Taxi companies in Singapore, namely Comfort Delgro [both Comfort and City Cab], SMRT, Premier, Prime, and Smart Cab. Out of all these Taxi companies, Comfort Delgro is the largest of it all. So, my guess is this, if Comfort Delgro revises its fares [being the largest market shareholder], the rest of the taxi companies will follow suit.
The cost of diesel is $1.51 per litre [most expensive being Shell as of 13 December 2012].
Assuming 1 litre of diesel can travel on average 13KM and assuming we use the new fare revisions from Comfort Delgro:
Flag Down [1st KM]: $3.20 for the Hyundai Sonata [especially when these are the more common ones we flag on the road]
1KM to 10KM: $0.22 for every 400m
Above 10KM: $0.22 for every 350m
Waiting Time: $0.22 for every 45 seconds
For a journey from Serangoon NeX Shopping Mall to Orchard MRT Station [approximately 9KM and travel time about 13 minutes]: the Taxi Fare would cost you [$3.20+$4.40] = $7.60 [theoretically speaking]
But how many of us know that traffic circumstances on the road are sometimes unpredictable especially when there are encounters with sudden traffic jams, ERP, waiting for traffic light to change colour and so on? And this means that the fare could most probably be higher than usual.
Now for the taxi driver, how much profits does he gain from this single trip? [$7.60-$1.51] = $6.09
Besides earning from meter fares, taxi drivers also earn from booking fees, peak surcharge, midnight surcharge, city area surcharge and etc. Assuming the average rental rate of a Taxi is $69, all it takes is 12 trips of [Serangoon NeX to Orchard MRT] for the taxi drivers to earn back their profit. And assuming each trip takes about 13minutes, it only takes 2.6 hours for the taxi driver to start earning his profits.
Now let’s take this a little bit further. Assuming an average Singaporean works from 8am-5pm with 1 hour lunch time included, that would be exactly 8 hours. We take [8-2.6] and that would be 5.4 hours for a taxi driver to earn his keep. Working backwards, 5.4 hours = 324 minutes and 324/13 = 25 trips from Serangoon NeX to Orchard MRT and 25 trips of such X $6.09 = $152.25
So in a day, a taxi driver earns maybe about $152.25 if we use Serangoon NeX to Orchard MRT as an illustration. Assuming the taxi driver works 23 days, his monthly income would be an astounding $3501.75!
Not forgetting the fact that taxi drivers are probably entitled to the below mentioned benefits as taken from Comfort Delgro’s website!
1.
Personal Accident Insurance In the event of death or permanent disablement within 12 calendar months of the accident, the Hirer or his/her beneficiary will receive a sum ranging from $30,000 to $100,000 depending on years of service.
2.
Hospital and Surgical Insurance Coverage of ward charges of up to B2 Ward and expenses incurred during hospitalisation are claimable up to the limit of $10,000 per disability.
3.
Daily Hospital Income Insurance Daily hospital income of $30 can be claimed for a hospital confinement period of up to a maximum of 52 weeks.Note: Please be reminded that all Insurance Claims must be submitted within 60 days following the date of discharge from the Hospital, Day Surgery of Accident.
4.
No Claim Bonus
A No Claim Bonus of $200 per year will be given to Hirers who maintain an accident-free record.
5.
Vehicle Incentive
An annual $100 to $500 cash incentive, depending on the age of the cab, will be given to all Hirers.
6.
Loyalty Incentive
All Hirers will receive an annual $200 to $400 loyalty incentive, depending on the length of their service.
7.
Performance Incentive
Hirers with good performance are entitled to an annual $500 Performance Incentive.
8.
Three Rental-Free Days
A rental-free day will be given to all Hirers once every four months.
9.
Subsidised Diesel Rate
All cabbies enjoy subsidised diesel rate when they pump diesel at any of the ComfortDelGro Engineering diesel kiosks.
10.
Compassionate Leave
Hirers will be granted a 3-day rental waiver in the event of the demise of any member of their immediate family (spouse, children, parents and parent-in-laws).
11.
Courtesy Taxi Scheme
A temporary replacement taxi will be arranged for cabbies whose taxis are involved in accident repair.
12.
Study Achievement Awards for Hirers’ Children
Children of Hirers with more than one month of service are eligible for study achievement awards.
13.
Easy Renewal of Taxi Vocational Licence
Taxi vocational licence can be easily renewed at the General Service Counters and Enhanced Administrative Centres.
Now, how many of us can earn that kind of income [$3501.75] a month? A poly graduate earns about $1,800 a month while a university graduate probably earns about $2,200 a month. Even a delivery/cargo drive don’t earn so much~! If I could, I might consider becoming a taxi driver but you know what? You can only be a taxi driver if you’re only 30 years old and above! What kind of rubbish policy is that?
And to make matters worst, I have experiences where the taxis are empty and the taxi driver just would not want to pick me up [and no, they are not changing shifts]. Have you also noticed? Taxis seem to be immune to traffic rules and regulations. I have been driving on the road for 3 years now and I have many near-miss encounters with errant drivers. So, is the taxi fare revisions justified? The answer is a big NO~! While our incomes are still stagnating, why should taxi drivers earn even more than us when they are already earning more than us?
mypaper [13 December 2011, Revised Fares Hit Cabbies’ Takings by Daryll Nanayakara] reported that cabbies expect the situation to stabilise within the next two weeks, once passengers get used to the changes. Will we? I really wonder especially when peak surcharges are now taking place from Monday to Sundays, including Public Holidays from 6pm to midnight!
I say, we boycott the taxi companies, plan and prioritise our time wisely, and make full use of public buses and MRTs for now!
