TRS Editorial team questions SBS Transit’s ‘fair’ practice

[makapaaa]

[h=2]TRS Editorial team questions SBS Transit’s ‘fair’ practice[/h]

August 31st, 2012 |

Author: Editorial

The editorial team of The Real Singapore (TRS) has written to SBS Transit (SBS), asking if it had been ‘fair’ to Mr Alex Tan ZhiXiang, a co-founder and one of the editors of TRS, who has just resigned.
SBS had filed a Magistrate’s Complaint against Alex Tan for a complain letter peppered with the F* word, addressed to SBS, reflecting on its buses overcrowding and infrequent services [LINK].
Alex Tan subsequently resigned from TRS yesterday (30th August) and announced that he would also be quitting the blogosphere, saying that Singapore is not worth the time spent as the establishments are not interested in listening. He also said that he would be spending more time on working towards emigrating to Australia or United States [LINK].
On the same day, Alex Tan also made an official apology via email and a posting on TRS – demanded by SBS.
Writing on behalf of TRS editorial team, Ai Takagi, also a co-founder of TRS asked SBS “what’s wrong with Alex complaining about SBS bus service” since “everyone is entitled to their own opinion”.
In the email addressed to Ms Tammy Tan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at SBS, Ai Takagi went on to compare the recent Alex Tan’s incident with one that happened about two years ago, whereby a family of five from the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) had ‘hijacked’ SBS’s service 138 for about six hours.
Ai Takagi asked, “What about the group of PRC that held the entire SBS Bus as hostage…? You guys even called a cab to send the PRC family home.”
In the incident which Ai Takagi highlighed, a PRC family of five was trying to bring a wheelchair aboard the bus, but was stopped by the bus captain. A heated argument subsequently broke out and the family refused to alight the bus. The bus captain had no choice but to stop the bus along the road and after informing the SBS’s headquarter. The rest of the passengers were later transferred to another bus but the PRC family still refused to get down. This prompted the SBS to call the police for assistance. When the police came, the five continued to cry, wail and scream on the bus that they wanted to go home.
The fiasco was eventually settled when SBS specially arranged for a Maxi-Cab to send the PRC family home, free-of-charge. No arrests were made although the family could have been arrested for being a “public nuisance” (Public Order and Nuisance Act). Neither did SBS file a Magistrate’s Complaint against the PRC family for “intentional harassment” to its driver or to the company SBS.
Ai Takagi asked, “Is this double standard? Did you sue the PRC family for Intentional Harassment?”
While the use of expletives on SBS by Alex Tan is uncalled for even though he may be angry with SBS, still, netizens in various forums are lambasting SBS for its high-handedness and for making a mountain out of molehill – over such a trivial incident.
.
* TRS’ email was copied to Transport Minister Lui, TRE and several government agencies.
Related:
[1] PRC family refused to alight from bus; SBS paid for a cab to send them home
[2] Singapore police escorted PRC “hijackers” of SBS bus to cab instead of arresting them
[3] Netizens slammed PRC family for “hijacking” SBS bus and Singapore police for its inaction

 

[HorGauGan]

wat do u expect from PAP Dogs and their linked cronies?

 

[seesuatah]

see the difference between sinkaporeans and prc?

sinkaporeans easily give up after kena one obstacle.

prc can tahan 6 hours just to talk cock with sbs transit.

but anyway anti FTs is not worth the fight.

 

[makapaaa]

Alex Tan, please don’t quit because of SBS

August 31st, 2012 |

Author: Contributions

Alex Tan ZhiXiang

A TRE reader wrote this:

John: August 30, 2012 at 12:30 am

When Alex Tan ZhiXiang contested in GE2011 against PM Lee in AMK GRC, 
he became part of Singapore history. I admire this 24 years old hot headed Hero for the guts to take on Lee and the establishments.

During the GE2011, he was one man show – luckily he had fantastic volunteers. The Ang Mo Kio GRC Team nearly couldn’t be formed due to a lack of funding, volunteers and electoral deposits (amounting to 96K). He signed numerous IOUs to raise $80,000 electoral deposit, with the most significant and amazing $32,000 raised in less than 12 hours on the Eve of Nomination Day with the assistance of the then TRE. People just surge forward through bank transfers, personal meet up and there was even someone who offered to loan him whatever was outstanding.

He focused the team solely on walkabouts, getting one vote at a time…. Kebun Bahru, Cheng San, Ang Mo Kio Central and Teck Ghee, where eventually most of the votes came from, with one counting station reaching as high as 37% to pull up the overall average. He left out a lot of areas “untouched” – Jalan Kayu, Seletar Hills Estates, Hougang St 91, Buangkok, Yio Chu Kang, Lentor Avenue Estates, Sin Ming and etc. Nonetheless, the effort paid off with a 30.8% result, especially with such an extremely weak campaigning effort. He retained the deposits.

Singapore can change only when PAP is dismantled. 
Vote for Regime Change in the next GE2016 or earlier!
​

Thank you John, for writing and enlightening TRE readers. My memory of Alex Tan is somewhat scant after GE2011. I only remembered sending him some money for his campaign and quite honestly, little else.

Yes, I now recall who Alex is and what he did. Alex must remain a Singaporean and not migrate. He mustn’t lose heart for in him we see a young man who has the courage to change and to see through changes. We need principled, fearless people like him even more so now and to do what is right. 37% of the votes are not something to be shameful about. We are talking about a 24-year-old taking on the incumbent and the Prime Minister at that! In the past, people who took on the Prime Minister would just lose their deposits.

It would surely be a travesty of the unkindest kind if Alex were now charged and fined despite his apology and the withdrawal of the complaint by SBS. As it is, this episode is absolute nonsense; almost tyrannical. Not so long ago I wrote an email to SBS tearing them to shreds. They failed to respond; typical of these GLCs, Government civil servants and police types – they are but bullies.

So what had Alex really committed? ‘Intentional harassment’?

By writing a letter and peppering it with the “f—-“ word does not constitute intentional harassment. Did his letter cause alarm or distress? I am not a lawyer but it would be difficult to sell the fact to any right-minded judge that the SBS personnel were threatened, alarmed or distressed in any manner by Alex’s letter. Yes, they may have been belittled, embarrassed and shamed but no more beyond that. It is hardly the stuff to use the Public Order Act on.

Alex can also argue that his conduct was reasonable given the fact that he was peeved by the service he received and that his letter was meant as a joke and nothing more. There is nothing wrong with sprouting a few vulgarities at the right time like we sometimes do. The Australian Government MPs sometimes ‘augment’ their speeches in Parliament with four and seven letter vulgarities but mate; has it hurt or harm them in any way?

Four and seven letter vulgarities only serve to bring their points across succinctly and cut short the rhetorical BS. Just imagine – if Alex had not written in the manner he did, would SBS have gotten his attention? It takes two hands to clap and SBS stuck theirs so far out it is simply impossible to ignore. Good on you Alex, you are all right!

The ‘lim kopi” session at the Tanglin Police Station must have rattled Alex.

Alex, don’t quit. For if you do then they would say that you have fallen over a small stone and not able to get up again. Think of the bankruptcies of Chee Soon Juan and JB Jeyaratnam; think of those having to flee like Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong and Tan Wah Piow; the incarceration of Teo Soh Lung, Dr Lim Hock Siew and Poh Soo Kai, Chia Thye Poh and others…… They all went thru’ hell.

Alex’s apology to SBS is in order. The SBS must be running out of ideas and solutions and now they cannot handle criticisms and complaints too. And so too is the Government. Very seriously Singaporeans must vote the PAP out before the doing any more f—ing damage.
.
Richard Lu
Related:
[1] TRS Editorial team questions SBS Transit’s ‘fair’ practice
[2] Founding editor of The Real Singapore to quit blogosphere for good
[3] Founding editor of The Real Singapore apologises to SBS
[4] Founding editor of The Real Singapore investigated for ‘intentional haressment’