NTA speak up for the taxi driver also wrong?

Wrong for Mr Ang Hin Kee, who is the advisor for the National Taxi Association to speak up to protect the drivers? Whenever the companies play the fare slashing game, the drivers’ income will be affected the most!

Let the market decide. I say uber has really shaken the market. The fat cats r not the taxi Drivers but rather the taxi companies who charge high daily rentals. Uber changed the way the game is played via technology and of course they cry foul.

Ang Hin Kee is the most interesting PAP MP. Nobody has any idea what he has done, what he is doing and where he came from. He has been a long time PAP member and comes from Jurong Junior College and has not be able to retain a decent job his entire working life. The mystery becomes deeper when you realise that he is with PM's AMC GRC. Even his CV is scant basically not even a CV. And he representing citizens in parliament. No colour, no form and no presence. His absence seems to be his defining personality trait. And we pay these people for state funds. Even people with the party can solve this particular mystery. Did his father save Old Man when he was pushed into a longkang when the latter was campaigning in the early days? Even Steven Lim has more presence than this guy.

The battle with Uber, Grab has been going for some years now. It is a golden opportunity for any politician to use it as platform and make himself known. To show that he is worth the pay that he is given. Guy did nothing and now making meek sounds.

scroobal said:

Ang Hin Kee is the most interesting PAP MP. Nobody has any idea what he has done, what he is doing and where he came from. He has been a long time PAP member and comes from Jurong Junior College and has not be able to retain a decent job his entire working life. The mystery becomes deeper when you realise that he is with PM's AMC GRC. Even his CV is scant basically not even a CV. And he representing citizens in parliament. No colour, no form and no presence. His absence seems to be his defining personality trait. And we pay these people for state funds. Even people with the party can solve this particular mystery. Did his father save Old Man when he was pushed into a longkang when the latter was campaigning in the early days? Even Steven Lim has more presence than this guy.

The battle with Uber, Grab has been going for some years now. It is a golden opportunity for any politician to use it as platform and make himself known. To show that he is worth the pay that he is given. Guy did nothing and now making meek sounds.

Click to expand...

Well, the highest Apple polishing skills one can attain are those that the one being polished do not even know he is being polished. Therefore, I am not surprised no one knew who this guy is before election, before LHL suddenly realized his balls were very shiny and found the polisher to reward him. I am sure there are many such people throughout the PAP, RC and PA system. These people perfected the art of polishing anything that gets them somewhere they want to be.

Re competition, SG is the only city state that competition means suppliers to compete to see who can squeeze consumer most, while being protected by big-papa. Instead of innovating to beat competitions, these cartels kpkb to their backers to shackle the competition, unless these new entrance play by the incumbents' rule. A classic case are the petrol cartels being even protected by The anti-competition watchdogs (hope the real dogs not get offended, but 'watchdogs' label coined by themselves hor!).

Seriously, I don't even recognise more than half who are the PAP MPs if I only see the name or photo.

Amazing SG! Amazing sheep population!

This PAP MP Ang Hin Kee is speaking for the GLC taxi companies cartel, not the taxi drivers. Uber and Grab have exposed that the taxi rentals and fees from GLC taxi companies are too high, if the taxi companies slash their taxi rentals and fees by 50%, the taxi drivers earnings would not be hit and better able to compete with lower fares.

Ang Hin Kee is Asst Sec Gen of NTUC. He will be the last person to ask NTUC Comfort to cut rentals. So not sure why he is looking after an association of taxi driver. The gamekeeper and poacher are one and the same.


http://www.todayonline.com/singapor...m-over-price-cuts-says-competition-good-thing
Taxi drivers TODAY spoke to said they have not felt any impact from the Uber and Grab price cuts. TODAY file photo

PUBLISHED: 4:05 AM, APRIL 26, 2016
SINGAPORE — Rebutting criticism by the National Taxi Association (NTA) that recent price cuts by private car-sharing apps would hurt drivers and the industry, an Uber top executive yesterday pointed out that competition is “always a good thing”. And contrary to what the taxi group claimed, commuters would ultimately benefit from a contested market, Uber general manager Warren Tseng added.

“What we also see when there’s competition is that it makes competitors innovate more and tighten up their operations as well … pushing the envelope and making others innovate as well,” Mr Tseng said at a media session.

The cuts, which were initiated by Uber on April 13, with Grab following suit days later, saw average fares falling by around 15 per cent. To compensate drivers for the revenue loss, Uber has upped the monetary incentives given to their drivers.

The NTA called such cuts “unhealthy and unsustainable”, saying they could hurt drivers’ earnings as well as the taxi industry as a whole.

Mr Tseng said based on Uber’s observations, as well as findings from other cities, such cuts could stabilise drivers’ earnings, and in some cases, help them earn more.

Uber’s cut might not be permanent, with Mr Tseng calling it an “experiment”, noting it will take three to four weeks for any meaningful data to be generated. “(The) price cuts are 95 per cent determined by the data, so we look at the data behind the drivers’ earnings, downtime, demand dynamics of the marketplace, and will make adjustments based on that,” he added.

As for concerns over aggressive bidding for Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) by Uber and Grab crowding out private-car owners, Mr Tseng pointed out that 96 per cent of the time, private cars are left idle. “If more (private) cars are servicing the community, maybe using (them) as a ride-sharing platform, ultimately that’s good for public transportation,” he said.

Uber driver Jay Lim, 55, said demand has gone up since the price cut, from less than two trips per hour to around three trips per hour, over a period of six hours last Sunday.

Speaking at the media session, Mr Lim also pointed out that Uber increased incentives for drivers to top up the difference after the cut.

Another Uber driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said it became easier to find riders after the price cuts, but he was worried that Uber may eventually pass the cost of the lower fares to drivers. “We won’t be incentivised to drive if they did so,” he said.

Taxi drivers TODAY spoke to said they have not felt any impact from the Uber and Grab price cuts. “I don’t think Uber and Grab will be able to sustain their discounts. Right now, it hasn’t affected us taxi drivers much,” said cabbie Lai Seng Lim, 63.

Mr Poh Guan Han, 58, who has been a Comfort taxi driver for over 10 years, concurred. “I have given my customers similar discounts as well out of my own pocket,” he added. CLIFFORD LEE

yahoo55 said:

This PAP MP Ang Hin Kee is speaking for the GLC taxi companies cartel, not the taxi drivers. Uber and Grab have exposed that the taxi rentals and fees from GLC taxi companies are too high, if the taxi companies slash their taxi rentals and fees by 50%, the taxi drivers earnings would not be hit and better able to compete with lower fares.

Click to expand...