Problems that the million-dollar ministers are not solving

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Stamp out collusion between motorists and repair workshops​

JUL 22, 2023

I applaud the Monetary Authority of Singapore for taking action against a former insurance agent for cheating offences (MAS issues prohibition orders against former Prudential representative for cheating offences, July 19).
In this case, the ex-agent submitted false invoices to facilitate her clients’ accident injury claims, but there are also non-injurious cases that need attention.
Unsuspecting motorists have been involved in minor accidents with those who refuse to accept monetary settlements with the ultimate aim of inflating the claim amount. Their dishonest schemes include changing the damaged part completely when minor local touch-ups or dent flattening should suffice, adding fabricated repair items, and lumping in repairs of wear and tear or other damage unrelated to the accident. This is tantamount to collusion between the claimant motorist and the repair workshop.
I know of two such cases among my close family members and heard anecdotal reports from some friends in recent years. I believe this malpractice is still rampant despite the absence of official substantiating statistics because there is no formal reporting process.
What is the recourse for such motorists? Would the insurance watchdog bodies please comment and offer advice? Would the relevant authorities please look into this perennial problem and put in place some instructive guidelines for motorists? Ultimately, the aim should be to preclude unnecessary payouts for dubious repairs and to mitigate the consequential rise in motor insurance premiums.

Teoh Woi Khon

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Unpleasant consequences of supermarkets’ plastic bag charge​

AUG 18, 2023


The move by supermarkets to charge for plastic bags is leading to more unsanitary and unhygienic Housing Board estates and rubbish chutes.
In the Toa Payoh HDB estate where I live, unbagged waste is being thrown into rubbish chutes, leading to foul smells. Relatives who live in other estates have the same problem.
Supermarkets and their customers are also impacted by the plastic bag rule. Customers without their own bags and who do not want to pay for the bags can be seen walking home carrying bulky food items. Others resort to stuffing their pockets with the plastic bags meant for packing fresh produce.
At self-service checkout counters, other customers and cashiers have at times given me long, hard stares whenever I carry five to 10 plastic bags during my grocery shopping trips. Once at a supermarket, three cashiers in five minutes accused me of stealing eight plastic shopping bags that I had paid for. They apologised after I showed them my receipt.
Instead of making the world greener, the new plastic move is creating new problems. People are helping themselves to the bags meant for produce, while those who buy the bags are looked on with suspicion.
There is a better solution. Disposable, biodegradable bags made from corn starch and lactic acid have been available since the 1990s. They have much smaller carbon footprints than either plastic or even fabric bags.

Eric J. Brooks

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Blame for lorry accidents cannot be pinned on drivers alone​

AUG 25, 2023

We refer to the letter, “Key to safety of ferried workers not mode of transport” (Aug 21). It suggests that the issue with worker safety on the roads is the reckless behaviour of drivers, including lorry drivers, many of whom are migrant workers.
While we agree with the need to strengthen accident prevention efforts, we disagree that the blame for lorry accidents can be placed on drivers alone.
First, the rear of a lorry in itself is an unsafe means of transport for its passengers, regardless of any accident prevention efforts. In an accident, the lack of seat belts on a lorry can result in bad injuries for its passengers.
If the use of seat belts is irrelevant to passengers’ safety, why is it mandated for other vehicles? Against international practice, we could then consider seat belts optional and call for every car and school bus driver to just drive safely instead. It is not tenable to retain inherently unsafe and undignified forms of transport, and then expect road safety to magically happen.
Second, the circumstances in which drivers operate need to be considered. Lorry drivers are expected to arrive at their destinations at specified times by their employers, and such time pressures put undue stress on them. The drivers are often reluctant to speak up on such issues for fear of repercussions from their employers. Putting the burden of this persistent problem on these migrant workers and expecting them to be responsible for road safety is unfair.
No matter how safely a person drives, there will always be unexpected situations on the road. Such situations could result in a driver having to brake suddenly or swerve, which could be potentially fatal for passengers in the rear of the lorry.
Hence, we reiterate our previous calls for the following:

• A clear timeline towards removing the Road Traffic Act exception that allows workers to be transported in lorries.
• A collaborative dialogue with stakeholders to explore new ways to solve these business challenges together.
• Employers to, in the interim, take all possible safety measures to retrofit lorries to standards that apply to other vehicles.

Jack Sim
Member
No Lorries for Workers Collective

 

[k1976]

LittleRedDots ah LittleRedDots

All these problems that u mention is act cheerie all low ses sinki problem lai De

Our Honourable Maharaj has more important pressing task to do eg to think of ways to save planet earth thru all sort of taxes and how to save millions dollar reserve for your great grand kids.....

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Have community-centric approach to stamping out illegal smoking​

SEP 15, 2023

The Straits Times has carried articles recently on the rise in the use of e-cigarettes, and the relationship between education, legislation and enforcement as tools to combat this trend (Student residents claim vaping culture persists at NUS, NTU and SMU hostels; and Education on vaping harms important but enforcement is key: MPs, both Sept 10).
As a mother of two toddlers, I am glad that as a society we recognise the harms of e-cigarettes, and are collectively working to thwart their growing popularity.
However, I feel that in recent times we have neglected having similar conversations about illegal smoking.
While legislation has increased the number of places where smoking is prohibited, it seems that enforcement is significantly lacking.
In my HDB estate, I encounter smokers blatantly flouting the rules daily, smoking in void decks, sheltered walkways and multi-storey carparks.
The transient nature of these smokers means it is not always easy for enforcement action to be taken against them. Yet the effects of their second-hand smoke last long after they are gone, especially in sheltered areas where smoke residue sticks to walls and ceilings as third-hand smoke.
My daily trips to the supermarket almost always involve passing by smokers, and navigating around them is not always the easiest with a pram. I especially dread rainy days, where my grocery runs then involve going through networks of interconnected void decks and sheltered pathways, all filled with lingering second-hand smoke from smokers who unapologetically defend their right to smoke indoors during the rain.

I do not, however, think enforcement is necessarily the solution, nor is education, which focuses on the detrimental health effects on smokers themselves.
Instead, we can learn from the Alliance for Action on Norms for Joss Paper Burning, and adapt a more community-centric approach to engage smokers (Ground-up efforts by Chinese groups to show the way on burning joss paper responsibly, July 16, 2022).
For instance, get cigarette smokers to smoke with consideration, even in situations where it might be legal to do so. Or to think twice before lighting up when at a traffic light, or to even put out their cigarettes when walking by a playground filled with children and pregnant women.
This could take the form of campaigns that showcase considerate smokers in the above situations. Similar to the campaign posters used by the Alliance for Action on Norms for Joss Paper Burning, the key message would focus on being considerate to neighbours and the environment.
What makes such campaigns different from the current approaches is that they seek to engage smokers with respect and appeals to their sense of community, rather than their sense of fear (whether fear of the law, or fear of suffering health problems).

Vanessa Ann Menon

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Car COE premiums hit new highs, Open category rises to $144,640​

The COE premium for smaller cars set a new record of $105,000, while the COE premium for larger cars climbed to $140,889. PHOTO: ST FILE

Lee Nian Tjoe
Senior Transport Correspondent

SEP 20, 2023

SINGAPORE - The certificate of entitlement (COE) prices for cars and the Open category hit record highs on Wednesday, spurred by motor dealers rushing to meet year-end targets and take advantage of current tax rebates for electric cars.
The COE premium for cars with engines up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, as well as electric vehicles (EVs) up to 110 kilowatts, was 3.96 per cent higher at $105,000, up from $101,000 at the last tender exercise.
The previous high for smaller-car COE premiums was $103,721, set in the second tender exercise in April this year.
COE premiums for larger and more powerful cars as well as for the Open category set records for the fourth consecutive tender, both breaching the $140,000 mark for the first time.
At $140,889, the large-car COE premium was 4.45 per cent above the previous high of $134,889 set two weeks ago.
The premium for the Open category COE – which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but ends up being used mostly for bigger cars – also set an all-time high, at $144,640.
This was 5.58 per cent higher than the $137,000 record from the last tender exercise.

The commercial vehicle COE premium nudged up by 1.1 per cent to finish at $83,801, up from $82,889 before.
The COE premium for motorcycles was the only one that dipped. At $10,700, the price was 1.84 per cent lower than the $10,901 posted two weeks ago.
New highs have been set in all categories of COE in 2023, with the exception of motorcycles.

Some car brands had hosted road shows and dangled generous discounts to get more orders since the last tender.
There were 470 unsuccessful bids in total over the two car COE categories, slightly more than the 457 unsuccessful bids seen in the previous round.
A sizeable proportion of these bidders would return for the next tender to secure the needed COEs, suggesting that the upward pressure on prices is not expected to ease.
Mr Ng Choon Wee, group commercial director at Komoco Motors, attributed the high COE premiums to dealers who may be chasing after their year-end sales targets to qualify for incentives.
Calling the record COE premiums “absurd”, Mr Nicholas Wong, who is the general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, said the surge is also driven by a sense of uncertainty for the new year.
Cars are expected to cost more in the new year. The EV Early Adoption Incentive, which gives rebates of up to $20,000 off vehicle taxes for EVs, ends on Dec 31 this year, and it is unclear what will happen to the scheme.
From Jan 1, 2024, the pollutant thresholds for private cars under the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) will be tightened, though details of the revised VES have yet to be announced.
Motor traders say they are assuming that cars with pure internal combustion engines, as opposed to petrol-hybrids or EVs, will be downgraded to a less favourable band under the updated VES. This is expected to make such vehicles harder to sell in the new year as they would likely come with reduced rebates, or even incur higher penalties under the VES.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, noted that the big swings in COE premiums, because of how the COE supply moves in 10-year cycles, is not ideal.
“A stable price would be better for the economy and better reflect the actual demand for car travel,” he said.
“Why should rental-fleet owners get a windfall just because they procured their fleet a few years ago?” he added, referring to how vehicles bought earlier when COE premiums were lower would be worth more at today’s COE prices.
Goldbell Corp board adviser Ng Lee Kwang said: “This COE situation is getting out of hand. This is not good for anybody.”
Mr Ng Lee Kwang, who also teaches transport topics as an adjunct lecturer at Nanyang Institute of Management, warns that cars registered with such expensive COEs would be difficult to sell in the used market when COE premiums eventually come down.
Mr Mohammad Iskandar Tobari, 51, is in no hurry to replace his five-year-old Subaru Forester, which he bought brand new.
The technician, whose 19-year-old daughter has just started taking driving lessons, said: “With car prices so high, I don’t know why she even wants to get a licence.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Open category COE hits $152,000, large car COE reaches another high​

This is the fifth consecutive time that the COE premium for the Open category has broken records. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Lee Nian Tjoe
Senior Transport Correspondent

OCT 4, 2023

SINGAPORE – The certificate of entitlement (COE) premium for the Open category breached the $150,000 mark at the latest tender exercise on Wednesday to close at a new all-time high of $152,000.
Industry observers said dealers may be trying to accumulate more Open category COEs to register cars in the remaining two months of the year before rebates are cut from 2024, as such certificates are valid for three months and transferrable.
In addition, dealers are racing to meet their year-end sales targets.
The premium for the Open Category – which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but ends up being used mostly for bigger cars – surged by 5.09 per cent over the $144,640 record set at the previous tender.
This is the fifth consecutive time this COE category has broken its record.
The COE premium for larger cars with engines above 1,600cc and 130bhp, or more powerful electric vehicles (EVs) above 110 kilowatts, climbed to $146,002, 3.63 per cent above the previous high of $140,889 set two weeks ago.
Smaller car COE ended at $104,000, which was 0.95 per cent lower than the $105,000 record posted at the previous tender.

The commercial vehicle COE premium also edged upwards by 2.5 per cent to finish at $85,900, from $83,801 before.
The COE premium for motorcycles closed at $10,856, 1.46 per cent above the $10,700 before.
The latest result seems to have startled even the motor dealers. When the tender closed at 4pm on Wednesday, the general manager at a dealership wondered out loud: “How is this possible?”

There were 1,039 bids in the COE category for smaller cars and less powerful EVs, compared to an average of less than 900 bids seen in the past four exercises.
Of that number, nearly 200 bids were entered in the final five minutes before the tender closed.

This is the first time since October 2021 that the number of bids broke into four-digits for any type of COE.
It follows an announcement by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Sept 29 that an additional 300 COEs for such cars will be reallocated equally between the two tender exercises in October.
The LTA said it was reallocating the COEs to help “meet anticipated demand from car buyers following the September announcement of changes to the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES)”.
With the revision, most hybrids and some of the more powerful EVs will receive $10,000 less in incentives from 2024.
Besides the reduced incentives, VES will also be made stricter with tightened pollutant thresholds.

At the same time, a new testing protocol to qualify cars for sale will kick in from Jan 1, 2024, and it is expected to give a less favourable rating than existing test standards.
Some cars that are currently in the neutral band and receive no incentives will be subjected to a penalty of $15,000 under the new regime.
Motor dealers said this is a significant enough reason to rush to sell affected cars within 2023.
If there was any surge in demand for hybrid cars to get the higher VES rebates before the new year, there was little sign of it at many showrooms, which have been quiet since the last tender exercise.

Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, attributed the high number of bids recorded to fleet vehicle owners, adding that it would be “quite impossible” for dealers to collect so many orders since the last tender.
Wednesday’s tender is the second last exercise under the current three-month period. The LTA is expected to announce the COE supply for November to January in the coming weeks.
Motor dealers said that even if there would be more COEs available in the coming tenders, the combined pressure of revised VES incentives and the need to meet annual sales targets means it is unlikely that premiums will come down this year.
Ms Corinne Chua, Wearnes Automotive’s managing director for Volvo Cars, said that if motor dealers are anticipating a rush to get the higher incentives before the new year, the COE premium may hit “$160,000 or more.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Our Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan does not want to deal with Indonesia on the haze problem, prefers to use his time to sue Lee Hsien Yang.

Cooperation between all countries critical to combat haze: Indonesian ambassador​

Firefighters trying to extinguish a peatland fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra. on Sept 12. PHOTO: AFP

Hariz Baharudin
Indonesia Correspondent

SEP 14, 2023, 9:32 PM SGT


JAKARTA – Cooperation between all affected countries, including Singapore, is critical in combating the haze problem, said Indonesia’s Ambassador to Singapore Suryo Pratomo.
“What we should do is find a way out together,” he told The Straits Times in response to queries regarding the current haze situation.
Mr Suryo said on Tuesday that all relevant authorities in Indonesia, including the regional government in Sumatra, are working together to overcome the haze situation.
“Everyone is working hard to deal with the hot spots in Indonesia,” he said.
Singapore’s National Environment Agency in early September said it had noted a rise in activity at hot spots in Sumatra, with some producing plumes of smoke. It said that the prevailing dry weather was expected to continue over the southern and central parts of the Indonesian island.
This has the potential to escalate the hot spot and haze situation there, leading to hazy conditions affecting Singapore, the agency said, noting that 28 hot spots were detected on Sept 2.
ST reported on Tuesday that the increased number of hot spots in Kalimantan and Sumatra this week has raised the risk of transboundary haze returning to Singapore, but severe haze is not forecast for now.

According to the Weather and Climate Services for Asean, the number of hot spots spiked to 93 in Kalimantan and 62 in Sumatra on Monday, the highest in the last seven days.
Asean last faced serious transboundary haze in 2019 and 2015.
Mr Suryo said haze is a challenge not only for Indonesia but for other parts of the region as well, and encouraged all parties to work together to address this issue.

He noted that Malaysia’s air quality has also been affected, and pointed out that flashpoints have occurred in places like Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
Mr Suryo held up as a positive development regional efforts to tackle the haze, like the meeting of Asean’s Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution on June 8.

The meeting, attended by ministers and officials from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Asean Secretariat, was chaired by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
“The meeting noted that the dry season this year could be more prolonged and intense compared to the past three years when La Nina conditions were present, and that the risk of elevated hot spot activities and transboundary smoke haze occurrence was the highest since 2019,” said a release about the meeting.
“The MSC countries pledged to stay vigilant and intensify their fires monitoring and haze preventive efforts to minimise the occurrence of transboundary smoke haze during drier periods.”
Responding to ST queries on this meeting, a spokesman for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said on Thursday that this meeting was hosted and chaired by Singapore. It is one of two meetings Asean has had, with the other being the 18th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Laos on Aug 23.
The MSE spokesman said that at both meetings, the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre, which is based in Singapore, presented its latest findings and assessments on the region’s weather and smoke haze situation, as well as the regional outlook for the rest of the year.
“The haze meetings also took stock of national and regional preparations to prevent an outbreak of land and forest fires,” he added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Consequences of having sky-high COE prices​

Oct 11, 2023

Surely, the Government must be watching with concern the sharp rise in certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums in the past few months.
No doubt it is the Government’s policy to limit the number of COEs to control the vehicle population. The high COE premiums are unavoidable due to the limited number of COEs available for bidding each month.
The consequences of higher COE premiums are:
- The cost of living will rise, causing a ripple effect on the economy and affecting everyone;
- Push factors are created for those in the middle-income groups to leave Singapore for good. This will cause a brain drain in our workforce at the professional, managerial, executive and technical (PMET) levels.
Some Singaporeans will want the Government to have a new COE category for 3,000cc cars for the rich to compete among themselves and not for them to compete against the middle-income groups in the 2,000cc COE category.
Others may argue that higher COE premiums could serve a common social good when the Government is seen to give higher public transport rebates to the lower-income groups.

The hidden trade-offs cannot be ascertained or determined easily in a dynamic economy with no capital gains tax or estate duty tax for the distribution of wealth, as it could cause the income gap between the rich and the poor to widen further.

Tan Kok Tim

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Time to reconsider pay-as-you-bid COE system​

Oct 11, 2023

The idea of paying what you bid in certificate of entitlement (COE) tenders has been raised from time to time ever since the COE system was instituted. The Government has consistently refused to entertain the idea on the grounds that it believes the change would not make a difference.
It is true that theoretical models tend to predict insignificant differences in outcome between a pay-as-you-bid scheme and a pay-the-cutoff-bid system.
However, given the current stratospheric COE prices and the fact that such theoretical predictions are counter-intuitive to most laypersons, this is a good time to put the pay-as-you-bid idea to the test.
Why not try it out for, say, four or five bidding exercises? If there is no impact on COE prices, the idea can be put to rest.
The sole objective of the COE system, as Singaporeans understand it, is to execute the vehicle zero-growth policy.
If a pay-as-you-bid system is at least as equally effective as the current one in executing this policy, there is really no good reason to dismiss it.

Cheng Shoong Tat

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Records set in three COE categories, Open category COE soars to $158,004​

The COE for larger cars with engines above 1,600cc or 130bhp, and electric vehicles above 110kW, ended at $150,001. ST PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG

Lee Nian Tjoe
Senior Transport Correspondent

Oct 18, 2023

SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums reached new highs for the two car categories and the Open category at the latest tender exercise on Wednesday.
The COE for larger cars with engines above 1,600cc or 130bhp, and electric vehicles (EVs) above 110kW, ended at $150,001. This marks a 2.74 per cent increase over $146,002 posted at the previous tender.
The premium for the Open Category – which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but ends up being used mostly for bigger cars – ended at $158,004, up 3.95 per cent over the $152,000 record set at the previous tender.
This is the sixth consecutive time that records were broken for both the large car and Open COE categories.
The COE premium for smaller cars and EVs climbed 1.92 per cent to $106,000 from $104,000 set two weeks ago. The previous record of $105,000 was set just two tender exercises ago, in September.
Commercial vehicle COE premium ended at $84,790, 1.29 per cent below the $85,900 from two weeks ago. This was the only COE category that did not increase.
Motorcycle COE premium was up 3.18 per cent to end at $11,201 from $10,856.

This was the last tender exercise before the next three-month quota period from November to January, where the COE supply will increase by 12.9 per cent.

 

[True Believer]

when a hdb pigeon hole flat cost a million, who dares to have a baby?

Even after paying a million dollars for that pigeon hole, that HDB flat still doesn't belong to you since the HDB is still your landlord and you are merely a tenant.

 

[True Believer]

SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums reached new highs for the two car categories and the Open category at the latest tender exercise on Wednesday.​

The COE for larger cars with engines above 1,600cc or 130bhp, and electric vehicles (EVs) above 110kW, ended at $150,001. This marks a 2.74 per cent increase over $146,002 posted at the previous tender. The premium for the Open Category – which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but ends up being used mostly for bigger cars – ended at $158,004, up 3.95 per cent over the $152,000 record set at the previous tender. This is the sixth consecutive time that records were broken for both the large car and Open COE categories.

This is the reason why so many couples refuse to have children; they simply cannot afford to have them and buy a car at the same time. Without a car, many couples would simply decide not to have children as public transport is too inconvenient with babies and toddlers in tow.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: High cost of living creates a dent in dream of pursuing one’s passions​

Oct 23, 2023

In Singapore, prosperity and progress have long been lauded and are key tenets of our society.
Once obsessed with the 5Cs _ cash, car, credit card, condominium, and country club membership _ have we now moved away from the era of unbridled materialism? A growing minority champion a departure from this consumer-driven dream, yet the majority still find themselves tethered to the pursuit of high-paying mainstream careers.
The relentless surge in the cost of living is a key disincentive to Singaporeans exploring their passions and interests outside of convention when deciding on life choices. I’ve seen friends opting for gap years or venturing into entrepreneurship, seeking to fulfil their passions. However, the harsh reality is that these non-mainstream career choices often involve arduous work and may come with lower salaries than those of white-collar professions.
More often than not, reality comes knocking, and the high cost of living in Singapore emerges as a formidable adversary. The dream of pursuing one’s passions frequently loses out to the necessity of securing a stable pay cheque. Singaporeans who choose alternative career paths are justified in harbouring some materialistic aspirations. There should not be a dilemma about making trade-offs between enjoying a comfortable quality of life and pursuing other career paths that may align with their passions and interests. Those opting for alternative careers simply desire to live comfortably, indulge in the occasional treat, and not have to worry about financial stability.
The Government’s emphasis on hard work yielding the fruits of our labour was a truism in past generations. I have older family members who, despite lacking a university degree, were able to purchase a three-bedroom condominium in their early 30s. Can the same be said for non-graduate Singaporeans today? The economic landscape has changed drastically, and even graduates today find themselves grappling with the challenge of acquiring a resale HDB flat.
While it’s true that salaries are on the rise, particularly in high-end jobs, the growth is sluggish for blue-collar workers and non-graduates. The economic pie must be more evenly distributed, allowing every segment of society to enjoy the prosperity that Singapore has worked so hard to achieve.
The Government must take measures to alleviate the burden of the high cost of living, ensuring that the dreams and aspirations of every Singaporean, regardless of their passions, interests or educational background, have room to flourish.

Ryan Ang

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Lorries still travelling above 60kmh despite speed-limiter requirement​

NOV 8, 2023

According to the law, all lorries in Singapore with a maximum laden weight (MLW) exceeding 12,000kg are required to have onboard speed limiters to ensure that their drivers do not exceed 60kmh on the roads.
Until recently, I did not know about this law because I routinely come across large lorries that are clearly exceeding the 60kmh limit on highways.
I can tell because when I drive my car at 70kmh to 80kmh on the adjacent lane, these heavy vehicles are keeping pace with me, and, quite often, are going faster than me.
I therefore wonder how effective the speed limiters are. Is it possible for a lorry driver to install a speed limiter, pass whatever qualifying test is needed and then remove the device so that he can speed to his heart’s content?
Recently, the Traffic Police announced that owners of smaller lorries with an MLW of between 3,501kg and 12,000kg will have to start installing speed limiters from January 2024, with drivers being given until the end of December 2027 to install the devices (Speed limiters will soon be required for lorries in lower weight category, Nov 3).
How will extending the rule on speed limiters to smaller goods vehicles help?
I have been driving for over three decades now and know that in the past commercial vehicles with labels stating 60kmh on their rear panels generally kept to the left-most lane on highways.

But not any more. Today, it is common to find commercial vehicles of all shapes and sizes hogging the middle lane of highways.
These include heavy vehicles that keep to their speed limit, but still hold up traffic on this lane.
As a result, the overall traffic flow on our highways has slowed considerably.
Motorists who usually drive on the middle lane and use the right outermost lane only for overtaking are now forced to hog the right lane.
What is worse is that I have, on several occasions, encountered drivers of large lorries blatantly speeding on the right outermost lane, often refusing to get out of the lane until some infuriated motorist behind flashes the car headlights or sounds the horn.
All this does not augur well for road safety and courtesy. I rarely see Traffic Police officers patrolling the highways to enforce the rules, and, as a result, the situation seems to be getting worse.
Also, even if speed limiters work efficiently, the installation process for smaller goods vehicles will not be completed until December 2027.
How will the situation on the highways be managed in the meantime?

Francis Dorai

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Days of $150k COEs ‘are over’, but system needs thorough relook, say dealers, experts​

Car prices have been lowered following the drop in certificate of entitlement premiums at the latest tender in November. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Lee Nian Tjoe
Senior Transport Correspondent

NOV 14, 2023


SINGAPORE – The sharp drop in certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums on Nov 8 is likely to be the start of a downward trend in 2024, barring a surge in demand from private-hire fleet owners, said motor dealers.
This is even if prices rebound in the final tender exercise in November, they added.
But dealers and experts believe the system needs to be reviewed to better reflect market conditions and avoid wild swings in the premiums.
Motor traders expect the increased car COE supply between November and January – 9,313, compared with 6,901 in the previous quarter – to continue keeping prices in check in 2024. This marks a 35 per cent increase over what it was for the August to October period.
COE prices fell across all five categories at the tender exercise that closed on Nov 8.
The premium for Category B, for larger, more powerful cars and electric vehicles (EVs), tumbled $40,000 to $110,001. That for the Open category, which ends up largely for bigger cars, fell nearly $33,000 to $125,011.
This came after six successive tender exercises that saw record-breaking premiums for both categories.

On Nov 6, Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat told Parliament that the Government will bring forward COEs guaranteed to expire in the future to fill the present supply trough until supply peaks in 2026 and 2027.
This means “the days when COEs cost $150,000 are over”, said Mr Neo Nam Heng, adviser to the Automobile Importer and Exporter Association. “We will not see it again in the next two to three years.”
COE premiums will trend downwards in the next quota period of February to April, and remain suppressed for the rest of 2024, given the Government’s assurance that the COE quota will continue climbing, added Mr Neo, chairman of diversified motor group Prime.

The rolling average number of vehicles deregistered in the last four quarters is the main determinant of COE supply in a given period.
For their part, motor dealers track the number of vehicle deregistrations in earlier periods to make projections on the COE quota. This, in turn, influences their decisions on the number of vehicles they will need in stock.
Mr Neo said moves to draw on future COE supply effectively severs the link with deregistrations.
This exacerbates the challenge for motor dealers in ensuring they have the right number of cars in stock when they are already contending with long delays from suppliers in shipping vehicles to Singapore.
Should COE prices continue falling, cars bought when prices were high will see their values plummet. This becomes an issue if owners want to sell them because the used values may be lower than the loans they owe, he added.

Mr Ron Lim, head of sales at Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor, cited the bidding appetite from private-hire car fleet companies and the level of pent-up demand from private car buyers as factors that will determine how quickly COE premiums fall in the next few months.
Following the COE tender on Nov 8, The Straits Times found 23 authorised dealerships that had revised their prices downwards by the next day.
Published price lists show the steepest drops were for Category B COE cars – most were down by $25,000 to $35,000.
Audi dealer Premium Automobiles advertised on social media “massive COE savings of up to $50,000” for its Category B cars off prices set in October.
The price cuts for cars in Category A ranged from $3,000 to $10,000.
These prices include COEs. Motor dealers said they do not cut prices by the full extent of the drop in COE premiums as they need to buffer for a price rebound they expect in subsequent tenders, driven by increased sales from the lower premiums.
Eurokars Auto BMW managing director Jason Lim, for one, expects premiums to rebound at the next tender exercise that ends on Nov 22, given the fairly strong order intake over the weekend.
Mr Ng Choon Wee, commercial director at Komoco Motors, said that unless new regulations are in place for private-hire cars, the increased COE supply will not have a sustained impact on suppressing premiums.

Fundamental review of system needed​

Transport economist Walter Theseira said the supply measures rolled out thus far deal with “a symptom, which is a serious symptom, but not the issue itself”.
“I see the sharp drop in COE prices as obviously a policy problem; it might be nice for lucky buyers, but there is no way that the value of using a vehicle in Singapore over 10 years suddenly falls by $40,000.”
Associate Professor Theseira, who is from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, believes the COE system needs a review, along with a look at how other tools including the Electronic Road Pricing scheme can be better used in tandem to manage Singapore’s vehicle population.
The aim, he says, is not to have low COE prices, but for premiums to be stable and reflect the underlying long-term demand for vehicles as well as the mix of vehicles on the road.
One consideration is whether COEs should continue to be fixed at 10 years or to have an alternative system that entails prepayment for car use.
Prof Theseira said a fixed lifespan will always be susceptible to “cycle-based distortion”, where a period of low supply will be repeated a decade later.

Dr Zafar Momin, an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore Business School, also believes a thorough review is due as part of the system may have outlived its usefulness.
The former automotive expert at Boston Consulting Group said measures to boost COE supply are a short-term “Band-Aid” to keep prices low. Unless it is part of regular or ongoing policy, the ad-hoc reallocation of COEs from the future can add volatility and bring wild swings to COE premiums, he added.
After studying the system over the past 20 years, he believes private-hire vehicles have a definite impact on COE prices.
“Basically, these companies bring in additional demand to the system, which otherwise would not be there,” he said.
However, Mr Chee told Parliament last week that car-leasing firms are unlikely to be a main factor for COE price increases of late, as demand from car-leasing companies has dropped.
Dr Momin said it is also a concern that private-hire cars are treated as private cars in the current system when they are dual-purpose vehicles that also generate revenue for their owners.
He added that Singapore’s sustainability goals should also be factored in, such as setting aside a separate COE category for EVs.
EVs now fall under the car COE categories, but buyers get tax incentives over conventional internal combustion engine and hybrid cars.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Ensure proper use of personal mobility aids​

NOV 17, 2023


The proliferation of personal mobility aid (PMA) scooters, accompanied by their increased abuse, has led to public annoyance.
I have seen PMAs on the road, where they are not allowed.
The issue extends further to the haphazard parking of PMAs in public spaces, including shopping malls (Man calls for parking zone for mobility scooters after elderly parents get ‘advisory’ at AMK Hub, Nov 15).
It’s crucial to emphasise that PMAs are for those unable to walk or who have walking difficulties, and they help the elderly and handicapped to achieve independent mobility.
I wonder if their use is being abused by those who don’t need to use them.
The Government was studying the need for PMA users to get a doctor’s certificate to certify that the users are disabled or have a mobility issue (‘Pseudo-motorcycle without COE’: Panel considering new rules for devices like PMAs, cargo bikes, March 15, 2022).
Will these guidelines for PMA usage be implemented?

Chen Wei Yi

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Do more to stop taxi drivers from touting​

Nov 28, 2023

It is infuriating to learn that some taxi drivers are quoting high arbitrary prices for short journeys from Marina Bay Sands to other parts of town.
It was reported that the drivers allegedly wanted to charge a flat fee of about $60 for a journey to Orchard Road, which is less than 5km away.
The refusal to use the meter and especially the targeting of tourists are giving Singapore a bad image.
Many countries are trying their best to attract more tourists to their shores. If such touting persists or worsens, foreigners will avoid travelling to Singapore.
Taxi companies must constantly remind their drivers of the severe penalty if caught touting.
Local residents who witness such touting must step up to assist the tourists. We can perhaps guide them to take other forms of public transport instead of just relying on taxis.

While the touts are a minority among the many taxi drivers who earn an honest living, the bad publicity may mean less business for the drivers as tourists and locals will use other means of transport instead.

It is good that more manpower has been deployed to monitor the situation on the ground, and signboards have been set up to remind passengers to avoid drivers who tout and charge exorbitant fees. Perhaps signboards showing the contact numbers to report such practices should be put up prominently too.
I hope these unfair and disgraceful practices will be stopped completely.

Foo Sing Kheng

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Make it illegal to make or sell small licence plates​

Nov 28, 2023

It should be an offence for car and motorcycle licence plate makers to make or sell unapproved plates (To ‘look nice’ or avoid detection? Why some motorists risk flouting the law with small licence plates, Nov 25).
This will be similar to the requirement for shops to sell only personal mobility devices with approved batteries due to fire hazards.
Makers should stop feeding the demand for such plates.
Small licence plates, chosen for aesthetic purposes or as a means to avoid detection by speed and red light cameras, also endanger the lives of pedestrians and other motorists.
Those with such plates are emboldened to flout traffic laws because they dangerously believe they won’t be caught.
It may also be difficult for Housing Board carparks with barrier-free gantries to detect these motorists and motorcyclists who go quickly through the barriers and thus enjoy free parking.

Lau Wai Kwok

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

PMAs being used for food deliveries​

Dec 1, 2023

I agree with the points raised in the letter “Ensure proper use of personal mobility aids” (Nov 17) that more people are abusing the use of personal mobility aids (PMAs).

I live in the Sembawang area and have noticed PMAs being used by young, able-bodied riders. They ride on the pavements to deliver food or as a means of transportation. Recently, I have also noticed them in malls such as Sembawang Shopping Centre, Northpoint City, Sun Plaza and Causeway Point.

The authorities should clamp down on these riders.

Jason Lai