Wednesday, September 13, 2006Since the server is down, so im back to blog again. Top story: Public Transport Council approves 1.7% fare increase for bus, trains From October, adult EZ-link fares for buses and trains will increase by 1 to 3 cents, which amounts to an overall fare hike of 1.7 percent. Senior citizen off-peak EZ-link fares will correspondingly increase by 1 cent. There are no increases in case fares for buses, single trip tickets for trains, child and student fares and monthly student and NS concession passes. In August, public transport operators SMRT Corp and SBS Transit applied to the Public Transport Council for these increases. The Council says that given the positive economic outlook, it assessed that there were no "extenuating circumstances" to vary or reject the proposal. It has approved a "tiered increase," depending on the distance travelled so that those who make short trips or transfers will pay less. The Council added that of all the bus and train trips, six in ten will see either no increase, or an increase of 1 cent. This also works out to be a quarter of all commuters who will not see any increase at all. The government has pledged to help needy families adjust to the increase. In a news release, the government said it has lined up the schemes that are available, including the Citizens' Consultative Committees ComCare Fund. This is part of the ComCare Fund launched last July to ensure that needy Singaporeans are not left behind. Since then, $1.95m have been disbursed, which helped about 12,500 cases. The two public transport operators have also contributed $1m for Public Transport Vouchers, which will also be available through the CCCs. Each voucher is worth $20 and can be used to buy or top up EZ-link cards, or to buy monthly concession passes. The National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) has also come up with $1.6m in "NTUC Care and Share Vouchers" to help union members from low-income families to cope with increases in utilities and transport costs.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006Time really flies and 3 months has passed. Now im enjoying my leave while waiting for my posting. Let me recall wat i did recently... Went clubbing with annie and her fren and my platoon mates on last wednesday, it was awesome and enjoying. But some ugly action took place which makes me almost wanna hammer someone, luckily nothing happened. Overall it was amazing to see the other side of my mates. Then the rest of the days until now, i have been gaming - day and night. Hmm... kinda no life, juz like the gd old days. But seriously, i really got nothing to do. Most of my buddies and friends are busy with their life - from working to serving their liability. Another thing is i wanna save up too, spent more than my allowance ever since im enlisted. A couple of things that i wanna do but i think i cant fulfill them for the time being.
