Porting some old blog entries over 2

Come On... Is Singapore Transportation System So Daunting?

Before I go to sleep, I had to write about this article I read at the online version of the Straits Times at Asia1. How daunting is Singapore's transportation system and how big is Singapore?

Living in Thailand has made me appreciate what we do have in Singapore (like a proper transportation system) and what we don't have (corruption is one of them). But what I would like to highlight is about transportation. I have seen workers travelling 1-2 days to Samui to work for 2 weeks. One group even came just for a few days. Transportation in Thailand is not regulated and even the price for each trip can vary at any moment. Not to mention that the bus route also changes base on individual driver.

Travelling to Chumpong, I had to first take a truck to the ferry station (30 min wait, 10 min ride), hop on the ferry that leaves only every hour to mainland Thailand (1 hr 30 min ride), board a bus to main town of Surat Thani (45-60mins ride), find a mini bus that leaves for Chumpong (2 hr 30min), wait for another bus in Chumpong (about 1-2 hour wait and 45min ride) and then on motorcycle into the plantation. And I was travelling for leisure and some these people are actually taking the same route to return from work and the otherw way to travel to work.

A ride on the MRT from Bedok to Boon Lay only takes 45mins and there are maps readily available. Buses come regularly and the bus drivers go on a fixed route. So how daunting can this be for Singaporeans looking for job?

"In Parliament yesterday, South East CDC Mayor Matthias Yao explained that the reason for the no-shows is not a lack of motivation, but fear and lack of confidence.
'Some workers just don't know how to get to the place of work if they have never been there before... They don't know where to change buses, which bus stop to get down at. The thought of not being able to find the location... is so daunting to some that they don't even give it a try.

Mr Yao cited the pilot project, called the Bus-In Recruitment Exercise, as an example of how the new ComCare Fund can be used to create self-reliance among the needy by instilling basic survival skills, instead of just dishing out cash.

The fund for poor families, children and the elderly, was unveiled by the Government in January. To help these groups, said Mr Yao, 'we must understand their fears and constraints and give them the knowledge and resources to overcome them'.

In that spirit, the jobseekers' service was designed so that two officers escort jobseekers to the workplace, travelling along a public bus route from the CDC office in Eunos.
Along the way, they point out the MRT stations and bus stops to applicants - who range from O-level holders in their 20s to those without formal education in their 50s."