Cooked Deal

Good for them. They came, they listened, and they changed. Well, not the policy. It is still pickup-stop-at-taxi-stands-only in the CBD. But now the Authorities, the LTA, is allowing additional stop and pickup at 'side roads', i.e. roads that do not have public buses plying them. And the LTA is probably stepping on the accelerator putting up taxi stands so that more stops can be made by taxi drivers in the CBD. And I heard that buildings can put up their own taxi stands too? I am not sure that last bit is a good thing, but we can trust the LTA to put things right if it goes awry, right?

While all these go a long way to addressing the grouses of taxi drivers and commuters alike, it still leaves certain things unresolved - like handling the handicapped. But we can't have the cake and eat it too, apparently. So the word on everyone's mouth is, "Why didn't the LTA think through the issues properly before hastily implementing the policy?". You wouldn't have expected this from Singapore's reputed efficiency, but there you have it. By being efficient and quick to implement a policy, it leaves all the stakeholders behind. On the other hand, I do not wish to see a government paralysed into inaction because it is afraid it may not have considered all angles of a policy before being caught out in its implementation.

Just think how it will affect people's rice bowl next time. That's where the loudest noise comes from, like how some people, through their negligence at the Whitley Road Detention Centre, must now be feeling awfully miserable for allowing Mas Selamat to escape, causing a lot of people to lose business at the Causeway. Less business means less tax receipts mean less bonus from the government next year, get it? Yeah, whoever it is should feel even more guilty now.