Where is Raymond Lim????

Yesterday I was at Paya Lebar (PL) station at about 6.30pm. I was on my way to Ang Mo Kio, so I had to transit at City Hall.

At Paya Lebar, the station was really full with people. I rarely take trains from this station, so I was quite surprised that even in PL, it was so jam-packed. I managed to get on the train – going shoulder to shoulder with my fellow passengers.

When we got to City Hall, as usual, the station was also jam-packed with people. When the train came, everyone had to squeezed in to the carriages. I experience this almost everyday but yesterday was different. I have never had to squeeze so tightly before. It was quite an atrocious experience – especially for the women who I noticed were not very happy.

And in the middle of all of this was this Chinese woman with a baby in a pram. She had a real hard time trying to negotiate the pram with her kid in it.

The situation was like this all the way to Ang Mo Kio – packed like sardines with no room to move at all. Passengers getting off at their stations had to push and shove their way out.

I think the PTC needs to wake up. And the bus companies should be publicly chastised for not doing anything to improve the situation.

But the person who should be held accountable is the Minister for Transport, Raymond Lim. This situation has been going on since last year, for goodness’ sake!!

What the hell is the minister doing?

I would be aghast if the PTC allows the transport companies to raise fares this August!!

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Protected

The long road ahead

I attended the Internet Regulatory Reform Seminar this afternoon at the URA Centre at Maxwell Road.

It was quite a lively forum, with many faces from academia, media and the blogs. The most notable was Cheong Yip Seng, ex-Editor In Chief of SPH and currently head of AIMS – Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society- convened by MICA. He’s been appointed to come up with recommendations to the govt on the regulation of New Media.

You can view the full list of the members of AIMs here: http://www.nrf.gov.sg/nrf/strategic.aspx?id=156

Mr Cheong is an affable and friendly character, to be sure and he was quite supportive of the bloggers’ initiative. This is good to see and know.

Also present were Arun Mahizhnan, deputy director at the Institute of Policy Studies, Cherian George, Tan Tarn How, Alex Au, Martyn See, Bernard Leong, Choo Zheng Xi, Ng Ejay, etc.

Online Citizen: David vs Goliath in S’pore

This is a report from Malaysiakini. (You have to be a subscriber to access their reports.)

Tarani Palani | Jun 11, 08 7:50pm

A fledgling website in Singapore hopes to emulate its counterparts across the Causeway in bringing democracy to the island state.

The Online Citizen, which often considered as the closest thing to Malaysiakini in

Singapore, was set up two years ago by a group of volunteers.

Editor-in-chief Choo Zheng Xi said that his site, launched in December 2006, provides independent writers a platform to express their views on burning political issues.

Its contributing writers, all of whom are volunteers, include students, professionals and retirees.

Choo, who despite his important title in Online Citizen, is himself a full-time university student.

One of its most notable contributors is Tan Kin Lian, the ex-chief executive of insurance cooperative NTUC Income.

Choo did not minced his words when describing the state of press freedom in his country.

A noose around the WP’s neck

In the recent saga of the WP’s Organising Secretary revealing that he voted for the PAP, I did a report for The Online Citizen titled, “Political suicide or political maturity?”. I believe that I was fair and balanced in that report, including as many of the comments and responses I received from WP members as space permitted.

Here, I’d like to thank them for taking the time to answer my queries.

What do I personally think of the episode?

I have had the pleasure to work with Shin Leong during the General Elections in 2006. I was part of the supporting team for the WP’s GRC team. Shin Leong is a passionate person. You can see it in his tirelessness during the elections (and outside of the election period as well). The words that come to my mind if asked to describe him would be: honest, sincere and attentive.

He is one of the WP members I know who tries to push for things to happen within the party.