Sales, Social and Tech

During my Army days, one of the unwritten rule we were told was that you could do what you want, but don't get caught. SMRT's response to the woman defecating publicly at their Holland Village station seems to support the unwritten rule above and this poses a danger to transport security. SMRT wrote , in a reply to Temasek Review's query, Please be assured that should any of our staff spot a member of the public committing such unlawful acts, they will most certainly approach the person and put a stop to it. He/ she is also likely to be issued with a Notice of Offence (NOO) and a summon from the National Environmental Agency (NEA). However, this incident had occurred away from our staff’s line of sight. Whilst our staff would endeavour to ensure that our stations are looked after properly, they would also need to attend to other duties and passengers as well. Hence, constantly focusing on CCTV would be counterproductive for them. On that note, we seek the pu...

A fire broke out at the Newton MRT on Wednesday, just as Singaporeans were reporting back to work. However, the online frenzy wasn't about the fire but about this Instagram photo below. (Image from NewNation Facebook Page ) In case of fire, what do you do? Take out your mobile camera, take an image and post it on Instagram or run for your life to the nearest exit. Many online said this Instagramer was silly to have done the later as the Instagramer valued photographing against her life. Let's give this Instagramer the benefit of doubt. Maybe the Instagramer judged that at the moment, while the smoke was getting thicker, there was no present danger which allowed this Instagramer to take the photo. Is it worth taking this photo? The answer would be best answered by the Instagramer, but to me, I would say yes it was worth it. A picture is worth a thousand words. If the mainstream media were to have reported this, without this photo, it would have been just another fir...

Thinking too much won't solve any problems. And if you let thinking over take you, you are only escaping in your own reasons for not doing anything. In the current COI on the train faults last year, one of the SMRT train driver thought if he went out of his driver cabin, the passengers will panic and rush into his cabin. This driver decided to play safe and stay in his cabin. On the other train, this other driver went out of his driver cabin and assured every passenger that all will be well. The difference was that in the train, where the driver thought it was best not do anything, there was a smashed window as one of the passenger was reacting to panic from a close one who complained about breathing problems. Being safe in your head doesn't mean it is safe in reality.

A blogging MRT train driver, who have gone by the name of Gintai, has been given a letter "advise" by his employers, SMRT, to stop commenting on company matters. Wrote  http://gintai.wordpress.com/ , When I told my No: 1 at TNM Crew station that I started a blog some time ago, he asked me if I could make money out of it? What’s the point of wasting my time writing blog posts? I retorted that at least I would have left something behind if I were gone tomorrow whereas he would have left nothing without any legacy. He smirked and snickered at my remark.  Alas! HR got wind of it. In no uncertain terms, I was “advised” to refrain from commenting on company matters. A letter of “advice” will be issued to me. My hands are now tied. No more blogging on my job or SMRT related matters. I do not wish to break my rice bowl. I hope the above will clarify my status quo. Henceforth, I shall still continue with blogging but on other interests or subjects leaving out my job aspect ...

Update - Hossan Leong has commented on this post to say " I'm not in trouble pls don't blow this out of proportion. Let it rest. It's getting silly. Thank you for your love and concern and I apologize for any misunderstanding." ~  Hossan Leong. Hossan Leong, a Singapore radio personality for The Gold Breakfast Show on Gold 90.5, was censured today for reporting on train delays on the Circle Line because he based the information on Tweets, rather than waiting for the official reports from the Circle Line operator, SMRT.  It is, however, unknown if the "warning" came from Mediacorp producers or SMRT. Tweeted Hossan Leong ,  OK...I reported it on air and now I'm getting into trouble for it?? The CC line is DOWN rite? I did nothing wrong rite? The SMRT Circle Line was reported to be down this morning during peak hours and started as early as 7am. However, local news only received official statement was received by the mainstream media at about 9...

If you have an infant crying for milk or water on the SMRT trains, you are wised to put down your parental instincts to immediately care for your infans’ needs of giving them their fluids. This is because eating and drinking in SMRT trains can result in a fine of SGD500. SMRT advise that you step out of the train at the nearest station, go to the control station and ask for permission to use their most comfy staff room to give your babies their much needed fluid. You have to do this even if the the next stop is a few minutes away and with your babies crying out loud. A wailing baby crying out of thirst and hunger is so much more accepted than spilled milk. If you find this ridiculous, so did Siew Kum Hong. Wrote Siew , The clip showed an SMRT inspector asking at least two different adults, each with a baby or toddler in a pram who was suckling from a milk bottle (although one of them appeared to be drinking water not milk), to essentially cease and desist. In fact, the ins...

A flash design to show that Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (or SMRT ) is green has become a big joke in Twitter-verse. Bloggers and Tweeters in Singapore have highlighted the similarity between the new SMRT design and the classic “Fail Whale” that appears on Twitter whenever the social networking site is overcapacity. One has to wonder how up-to-date are the folks at SMRT with the trends in social media. Otherwise, could it be SMRT’s attempt to poke fun at the social networks? The “failure” references do not bode well for SMRT in social media or the brand as the public transport provider was recently under fire for their lapse of security that resulted in the vandalism of their trains and increase complains about the over-capacity of SMRT public transports, especially the trains. Personally, I have been abroad and 3-5 minutes wait for the next train is a luxury. I recently took KL Transit and one often have to wait 15mins or more for the next train. But leaving the brand to jok...

I find it very strange that no one has pointed this out. The video of the vandalised SMRT appeared on Youtube on May 18, 2010 and the alarm was only raised on May 19, 2010 4pm. The title of the SMRT video read " [EXCLUSIVE VANDALIZED] SMRT C151 047-048 Graffiti Drawing - Departing Kembangan (Westbound)." A Google alert set up with the keywords "SMRT" and/or "Kembangan SMRT Station" would have delivered an email to the SMRT mail box of the the vandalised SMRT on May 18 itself. SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa said, “We deeply regret that a serious security lapse occurred in our depot. I would like to reiterate that every single individual at SMRT must take responsibility for the security and safety of every commuter as well as the entire system.” In reviewing their physical security measures, SMRT should also look at "listening" to the social media space, through free services or paid one, to maybe pickup what the social media ground is saying. You will ne...