How to punish errant taxi drivers

Did you know that taxi drivers are not allowed to pick their customers?
Or that they must use the most direct way to take you to your destination?
A little research on the LTA website revealed the following offenses and penalties in a PDF document:

* Soliciting for passengers:
12 demerit points, Fine : $500

* Overcharging (by less than $20):
12 demerit points, Fine : $500

* Refusing, without reasonable excuse, to hire out taxi or to convey passenger:
6 demerit points, Fine: $300

* Terminating hiring of taxi or requiring passenger to leave taxi, without reasonable excuse, before passenger is conveyed to destination:
5 demerit points, Fine: $200

* Verbally insulting, intimidating or harassing a passenger in a sexual manner:
5 demerit points, Fine: $200

* Failing, without reasonable cause, to proceed to destination named by a passenger by shortest and most direct route:
3 demerit points, Fine: $100

* Verbally insulting, intimidating or harassing a passenger (other than in a sexual manner):
3 demerit points, Fine: $100

Turns out that consumers have rights too. I suggest everyone with a smartphone sends the LTA pictures of the offending cabs which like to pick and choose among customers and destinations. It is about time they learnt their lesson.

How To Lodge A Complaint Against A Taxi Driver?

1) By Phone :
Call to LTA Hotline – 1800-Call LTA or 1800-225 5582

2) By Email :
Access to LTA Internet Website – http://www.lta.gov.sg

3) By Letter or Fax :
Bus & Taxi Regulation Dept
Land Transport Authority
10 Sin Ming Drive
Singapore 575701
Fax No.: 6553 5329

Information You Need To Provide When Lodging A Complaint

1) Vehicle registration number of the taxi (with prefix and suffix)
e.g. SHA1234Z
2) Date and time of the incident
3) Venue and/or origin-destination of the incident
4) A brief account of the incident
Additional information that will help in the investigation include:
1) Type and colour of taxi
2) Fare paid
3) Sign displayed
4) Brief description of the driver

Commuters may have to appear in court to support their complaint.

Claim your land Singaporeans, or someone else will

We were born free men and women of Singapore. We were educated, in a largely civilized society, and built a great land for ourselves and our children. Now the very things we have invested in are being taken away from us, cut into pieces and sold to the highest bidder, very often from foreign lands.

I firmly believe in the right to private property, but not when the acquisition of that property was made using state subsidies and statutes based on eminent domain. This is our land, our birth right, and we must send a clear message, that while we want to play ball with the world, we will not let our team be kicked around, bent over and spanked.

This is our land and we must fight for it, against all attackers, both foreign and domestic.

Singaporeans need to understand that while we need to be a part of a global economy, the foreigners must also learn how to be a part of us, especially when they are on our soil. A partnership is a two-way relationship. The proper name for a one-way relationship is slavery.

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.

Securing our future together after many good years

We must not develop a crutch mentality. Remember our track record. This is a footloose generation who need a good dose of bad government. Then your mother, sister and daughters will become maids in a third world country, and you will repent. Vote carefully. Securing our future together. Many more good years!

1. The crutch mentality

$130 a month vs $3,000,000 a year (250,000 a month)?

• Who is using the crutch?
• Who is really eating in the hotel, restaurant or food court?

2. Remember our track record. This is a footloose generation who need a good dose of bad government:

• Mas Selamat - it has happened, what to do?
• Flooding - twice in 50 years (adjusting for daylight savings, we arrive at two in one week in real time)
• Youth Olympic Games - three times over budget, but unable to cater proper food for volunteers
• Lehman Mini-Bonds - these are investor grade
• Overcrowded trains - we have sufficient resources to accommodate new arrivals
• Sovereign fund losses of 40 billion - a long term dis-investment
• Medical costs skyrocket - give us a strong mandate and we will keep medical costs low
• Public Housing skyrocket - housing is affordable
• More jobs for Singaporeans - 36% of population is now foreign

3. Then your mother, sister and daughters will become maids in a third world country, and you will repent:

• Shall we wait till we get to this point?

4. Vote carefully. Securing our future together. Many more good years!

We are here to make a choice

On May 7th, we will choose our representatives in Parliament. All the parties have asked us to choose carefully. We are surrounded by many choices; some clear whilst others confusing. At every rally, in the coffee shops, restaurants, on the streets, on Facebook, you see people gathered with one thing on their minds: the choice, or more precisely, the consequences of the choice.

How did we get here, in this place, considering this choice?

We are not gathered here because of the transgressions and pain of the past. We are not here because of the insufferable conditions of the present. Many are upset at the massive influx of foreign workers, the high price of public housing, inflation, the distance between the government and the people, among other reasons. But that is not why we are here.

Some may say we are here because we are afraid; afraid of the future; the uncertainty of it all. We fear for our children, our loved ones, the affordability of education and healthcare. We fear we may not be able to carry on. But that is not why we are here.

We are not here because we are afraid; we are here because we are not afraid. We are too angry to be afraid. We are not hungry; we are full from being fed lies. We are here because we know we do not need to be paid $3 million dollars a year to care about our country. We are here because we want leaders who want to share and prosper; not divide and conquer.

We have been warned that we will regret our decision. It is better to regret something we have done than regret something we haven’t done. Five years ago, most of Singapore did not vote, and now we regret what we could not do. You have convinced us that was a mistake; one we won’t repeat.

You ask for forgiveness. You shed your tears on TV. You ask us to give you a chance to listen to us, to work with us, to share in the prosperity of our great nation; you want five more years to make it right.

You HAD five years to listen to us. You HAD five years to do the right thing. You did not cry for us when you made your choices in Parliament; we will not shed a tear for you. You have shown us that you can make mistakes but refuse to face the consequences. We need idealism, not fatalism in our leaders; you have shown us that we do not need you in our future.

On May 7^th, we will do what we should have done five years ago. We will choose our future as a nation; all of us. We will choose leaders who want to serve, instead of demanding to be served. We will reject those who demand entitlement, and welcome those who deliver empowerment. This time we will choose wisely, because we actually have a choice, and our choice matters.

Is F**K a bad word? [WARNING: Mature, Adult Language]

This is inspired by Wayne Rooney's recent punishment by the English FA, and Lewis Black's stand up comedy routine: Red, White and Screwed.

FUCK is not a bad word. FUCK is used by grown-ups to express frustration, anger and break out of self-pity. FUCK is the start of new life, in and out of the bedroom. Denying yourself a FUCK is to deny yourself the right to be a mature human being; that's why only grown ups FUCK.

FUCK is blind to everything but age. Anyone can FUCK (except kids, that's just wrong). But racism, sexism, elitism, and other forms of discrimination are all powerless against FUCK. You may stand on either side of a debate between gays and straight people, but you won't stop adults who want their FUCK.

A new day, a new war

News Alert

from The Wall Street Journal

The Obama administration is seeking a United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorize a wide range of possible military strikes against the forces of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, aimed at preventing them from overrunning rebels and civilians in the country’s east, officials said.

In discussions with other Security Council members, the Obama administration is making the case that a no-fly zone alone would be "insufficient" to save the rebel capital of Benghazi, in eastern Libya.

The U.S. is seeking a broad U.N. authorization for strikes aimed at holding back Libyan ground and air forces with the aim of protecting Benghazi and avoiding a humanitarian crisis there. Military operations could include a no-fly zone but wouldn't be limited to that, officials said.