SMRT Ex-Employee: Msian FTrash CEO Wasted $40M on FAP-Style Wayang!

[makapaaa]

[h=2]An insider’s view of SMRT[/h]

February 19th, 2014 |

Author: Contributions

LG (NS) Desmond Kuek, SMRT President and CEO


LG DK, you have been given a bad deal that is for sure. Saw PH got off scot-free for all the damage she has done to SMRT. When she cabut [Ed. "cabut" is Malay for "leave" or "run away"] Ong Ye Kung wanted the CEO job badly. Pinky LHL did not agree as he wanted Ong YK to be in parliament.

However, Ong was in the losing GRC team together with George Yeo.

Because Ong was not appointed, Pinky and Ho Jinx ‘picked’ you.

In PAP terms you were chosen and you did not have a choice.

Sorry to say, Ong YK would have made a better CEO, as he was well liked and close to the ground staff and knew how SMRT worked, being in the BOD for many years.
Too bad, now the shit Saw PH left behind is on your helpless lap.

You mentioned that the first generation trains had their power units changed!

Now this begs the $40,000,000.00 question. In 2008/9 these same first gen train were given a MID-life Upgrade. The work was done by Rotem of Korea. After spending so much money these units were not changed, RIGHT?
Yes, bcos Saw PH and her incompetent Project Manager saw to it the $40,000,000.00 was used only to make the interior of the trains look good. Just like PAP all wayang. Not a cent was spent to change the traction motors, air-con compressors, and other running parts of the trains! For this the Project Manager was promoted. When the 15 Dec 2011 major incident happened, all hell broke loose. Where was the VP Operations?

Second, the third gen trains are relatively new, why do you need to upgrade them? Were they not properly commissioned when they were bought? Whose responsibility was it to test and commission them? SMRT or LTA? Why and how could this happen?

Third, the signal problems are still there. What do you mean by ongoing? Can solve or not?

Hope your boast is real that your engineers are getting to the root causes to solve problems effectively.

From my experience, the SMRT culture has always been “let’s not tell others the problem is due to our dept”! In other words “let’s nor share information, else everyone will know the real problem is with us” culture. With the close interfacing of the various systems, not sharing information is as good as not getting to the root of the problem.

It is a purely keep information to ourselves culture. Why has this happened? It’s bcos of the inhumane zero error regime – targeting scapegoats for any error! Just like what they did to the train technicians and train driver in the recent incidents! And they did this to Gintai as well.

Do you know whether VP Inspectorate looked for the root cause of the problem or just stopped at punishing the staff? If this is so, you are doomed.

Ex SMRT employee

* Comment appeared in: SMRT: We’re ranked 10th in the world

 

[Semaj2357]

dk has extended saf culture into smrt....don't ask, don't tell - only on a need to know basis!

 

[Papsmearer]

Must be DK who wrote this and try to shift the blame on Saw woman. LOL.

 

[Seee3]

Must be DK who wrote this and try to shift the blame on Saw woman. LOL.

This new chap is pretty hopeless. Doesn't understand ground problem just set std for subordinate to achieve. So instead of solving problem it becomes hiding problem and pushing blame. Like that cannot. Many good maintenance staff have left. I believe the writer is one of those who has left and is extremely frustrated with the rot.

 

[presby]

Pure Greed. Hired the lady to work on generating more rental income, she did not fulfill primary objective of MRT which is to provide convenient and reliable transport service. Still have to give this new chap some time and hope he can accomplish the task

 

[enterprise2]

[h=2]An insider’s view of SMRT[/h]

February 19th, 2014 |

Author: Contributions

LG (NS) Desmond Kuek, SMRT President and CEO


LG DK, you have been given a bad deal that is for sure. Saw PH got off scot-free for all the damage she has done to SMRT. When she cabut [Ed. "cabut" is Malay for "leave" or "run away"] Ong Ye Kung wanted the CEO job badly. Pinky LHL did not agree as he wanted Ong YK to be in parliament.

However, Ong was in the losing GRC team together with George Yeo.

Because Ong was not appointed, Pinky and Ho Jinx ‘picked’ you.

In PAP terms you were chosen and you did not have a choice.

Sorry to say, Ong YK would have made a better CEO, as he was well liked and close to the ground staff and knew how SMRT worked, being in the BOD for many years.
Too bad, now the shit Saw PH left behind is on your helpless lap.

You mentioned that the first generation trains had their power units changed!

Now this begs the $40,000,000.00 question. In 2008/9 these same first gen train were given a MID-life Upgrade. The work was done by Rotem of Korea. After spending so much money these units were not changed, RIGHT?
Yes, bcos Saw PH and her incompetent Project Manager saw to it the $40,000,000.00 was used only to make the interior of the trains look good. Just like PAP all wayang. Not a cent was spent to change the traction motors, air-con compressors, and other running parts of the trains! For this the Project Manager was promoted. When the 15 Dec 2011 major incident happened, all hell broke loose. Where was the VP Operations?

Second, the third gen trains are relatively new, why do you need to upgrade them? Were they not properly commissioned when they were bought? Whose responsibility was it to test and commission them? SMRT or LTA? Why and how could this happen?

Third, the signal problems are still there. What do you mean by ongoing? Can solve or not?

Hope your boast is real that your engineers are getting to the root causes to solve problems effectively.

From my experience, the SMRT culture has always been “let’s not tell others the problem is due to our dept”! In other words “let’s nor share information, else everyone will know the real problem is with us” culture. With the close interfacing of the various systems, not sharing information is as good as not getting to the root of the problem.

It is a purely keep information to ourselves culture. Why has this happened? It’s bcos of the inhumane zero error regime – targeting scapegoats for any error! Just like what they did to the train technicians and train driver in the recent incidents! And they did this to Gintai as well.

Do you know whether VP Inspectorate looked for the root cause of the problem or just stopped at punishing the staff? If this is so, you are doomed.

Ex SMRT employee

* Comment appeared in: SMRT: We’re ranked 10th in the world

Great insider info !!

 

[johnny333]

Pure Greed. Hired the lady to work on generating more rental income, she did not fulfill primary objective of MRT which is to provide convenient and reliable transport service. Still have to give this new chap some time and hope he can accomplish the task

I doubt he will succeed.
Many old timers who knew their jobs were probably seen as troublemakers & pushed out during during Ms. Saws time. What is left is the people Ms. Saws brought in.

I've seen many management changes in the companies I've worked in & the new management always bring in their own new team. What kind of management team has this ex-SAF scholar have They are probably ex-SAF & without any real world experience:(

Maybe that is why Spore Inc has been a failure. The people running it are isolated without any real world experience. They surround themselves with people who are just out of touch with reality.

 

[blindswordsman]

Maybe that is why Spore Inc has been a failure. The people running it are isolated without any real world experience. They surround themselves with people who are just out of touch with reality.

More like surrounding themselves with yes men; all rebels must be banished.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

Isnt MRT considered a 'critical' Industry and strikes etc are forbidden? Also if its in the gahmen interest, shouldnt Saw be charged for Treason? She has deliberately allowed the trains to fail and should that be deemed as Treason?

 

[winners]

I remembered at 1 time before, that Saw P H was so boastful and offered to take over the NEL (operated by SBS Transit) for half its original price. That was when the NEL was new and had many teething problems and breakdowns. Now it seems that the feng shui had changed course and the SMRT itself is facing the shit themselves.

 

[Papsmearer]

This new chap is pretty hopeless. Doesn't understand ground problem just set std for subordinate to achieve. So instead of solving problem it becomes hiding problem and pushing blame. Like that cannot. Many good maintenance staff have left. I believe the writer is one of those who has left and is extremely frustrated with the rot.

This is an issue with the corporate culture in SMRT. From what the ex employee has wrote, it seems like there is a toxic environment in there. Its very hard to solve the technical and maintenance issues in SMRT when the roles of the responsible departments are to either pass the buck, deny it, or hide the fact that they screwed up. People there are just running scared for their jobs and careers, and its an all out effort to protect their backsides and at the same time sell their own stock whether justified or not.

Someone like DK who has experienced only one corporate culture in his entire career (the SAF) is parachuted in to fix it, but he is woefully unprepared and untrained for it. He neither has the engineering background to understand the issues nor the broad wealth of different managerial styles to turn the direction of the culture. Basically, he is being paid a vast sum of money to learn on the job. Whether he can succeed or not, is really left to chance in my opinion more than his individual skills. But the if the corporate culture does not change, than no matter who is placed in charge will not succeed. Changing the corporate culture is a huge endeavour. It makes or breaks someone's career as a CEO. But you have to have a clear vision to do it, and you have to know how to do it, which buttons to push, etc. DK does not have this, he was simply installed by Gay Loong, on what basis I have no idea.

This problem with SMRT and DK is a microcosm of what is wrong with SIngapore. The PAP says that they are the not only the most qualified to run the country, they are the best in the world at what they do. Hence, they should get paid the most. This is just empty rhetoric. Time and again, we have seen them install totally unqualified people, with no prior experiences in their new jobs and have these people learn on the job as they went. Well, any other political party can do this too. The WP, SDP, etc could all do the same thing if they win the next elections. We know who really are the people who run these companies. The people that run these companies are the 2 or 3 VPs working directly under these appointments. The issues do not change, only one after another incompetent person gets put in. The really competent people will leave because they don't have to put up with the nonsense and their real and authenticated skill sets are in demand in other companies and even outside Singapore.

 

[Papsmearer]

Great insider info !!

I agree. More people like this chap should come out and write to an online site anonymously. We want to know what is the inside scoop with SIA, Temasek, HDB, etc. all those other govt. stat boards and GLCs.

 

[blackmondy]

dk has extended saf culture into smrt....don't ask, don't tell - only on a need to know basis!

Maybe he'll introduce guard duty with staff prowling MRT stations after closing time: 10:00pm staff parade, 6:00am flag raising ceremony and 6:00pm flag lowering ceremony.

 

[laksaboy]

The big problem with Singapore is that many clueless SAF scholar trash gets parachuted into positions of leadership. Consequently, they fuck up the country in varying degrees.

The SAF scholarship must be revamped. You take up the SAF scholarship, you stay bonded to the scholarship in uniform for the rest of your life. You are forbidden to enter politics or be a director or CEO in GLCs. No exceptions.

 

[Papsmearer]

The big problem with Singapore is that many clueless SAF scholar trash gets parachuted into positions of leadership. Consequently, they fuck up the country in varying degrees.

The SAF scholarship must be revamped. You take up the SAF scholarship, you stay bonded to the scholarship in uniform for the rest of your life. You are forbidden to enter politics or be a director or CEO in GLCs. No exceptions.

Not so easy. The SAF scholarship cum politician scheme was thought up by Old Goat to set a base of support for Gay Loong. The majority of the CEC and the rank and file PAP comrades were not impressed by the prospect of Gay Loong taking over. The base of support was for Wooden at that time. They had to quickly move people into positions that will support gay Loong, and this was the quickest way to get "qualified" people to do so.

 

[I_Hate_Pappies]

Monkey see monkey do. Those who have served NS will know what i m talking about. Wayang all the way!

 

[ChenHaoNan]

The big problem with Singapore is that many clueless SAF scholar trash gets parachuted into positions of leadership. Consequently, they fuck up the country in varying degrees.

The SAF scholarship must be revamped. You take up the SAF scholarship, you stay bonded to the scholarship in uniform for the rest of your life. You are forbidden to enter politics or be a director or CEO in GLCs. No exceptions.

The biggest scholar fuckup is Pinky himself!

 

[Seee3]

This is an issue with the corporate culture in SMRT. From what the ex employee has wrote, it seems like there is a toxic environment in there. Its very hard to solve the technical and maintenance issues in SMRT when the roles of the responsible departments are to either pass the buck, deny it, or hide the fact that they screwed up. People there are just running scared for their jobs and careers, and its an all out effort to protect their backsides and at the same time sell their own stock whether justified or not.

Someone like DK who has experienced only one corporate culture in his entire career (the SAF) is parachuted in to fix it, but he is woefully unprepared and untrained for it. He neither has the engineering background to understand the issues nor the broad wealth of different managerial styles to turn the direction of the culture. Basically, he is being paid a vast sum of money to learn on the job. Whether he can succeed or not, is really left to chance in my opinion more than his individual skills. But the if the corporate culture does not change, than no matter who is placed in charge will not succeed. Changing the corporate culture is a huge endeavour. It makes or breaks someone's career as a CEO. But you have to have a clear vision to do it, and you have to know how to do it, which buttons to push, etc. DK does not have this, he was simply installed by Gay Loong, on what basis I have no idea.

This problem with SMRT and DK is a microcosm of what is wrong with SIngapore. The PAP says that they are the not only the most qualified to run the country, they are the best in the world at what they do. Hence, they should get paid the most. This is just empty rhetoric. Time and again, we have seen them install totally unqualified people, with no prior experiences in their new jobs and have these people learn on the job as they went. Well, any other political party can do this too. The WP, SDP, etc could all do the same thing if they win the next elections. We know who really are the people who run these companies. The people that run these companies are the 2 or 3 VPs working directly under these appointments. The issues do not change, only one after another incompetent person gets put in. The really competent people will leave because they don't have to put up with the nonsense and their real and authenticated skill sets are in demand in other companies and even outside Singapore.

Fully agreed. DK got all the wrong guys on board. Besides the saf kakis, the only technical guy he brought in is a young chap from hk. I was doubtful of this guy's ability after reading his work experience. One year has past and I am no longer doubtful - he is simply shit. This chap appeared on TV only once; nice neat clean look and he can certainly speak well. But getting the job done is what we need, not good look or tcss. Unfortunately the current system seems to recognise only those who are good in tcss.

 

[makapaaa]

Pure Greed. Hired the lady to work on generating more rental income, she did not fulfill primary objective of MRT which is to provide convenient and reliable transport service. Still have to give this new chap some time and hope he can accomplish the task

Are you doubting my choice? Slap you then you know! *chey*​

 

[Gangster]

I saw a Lokang Diver badge. Chey!.