Every time before I flag down a taxi, I have to consider the following (very important, must read) things:

• Where am I? Am I in CBD?
  • If I am in CBD, is it CBD peak hour? (+$1)
• Is it morning or evening peak hour ? (+$2)
• Is it 11:30pm to 11:44pm? (+10%)
• Is it 11:44pm to 11:59pm? (+20%)
• Is it 12:00am to 6:00am (+50%)
• Is it a major holiday? (+$1)
• Am I at “special locations”?
  • If yes, am I at Changi Airport or Changi Air Freight Center?
    • If yes, is it a Friday, Saturday or Sunday?
      • If yes, is it 5:00pm to 12:00am? (+$5)
      • If no (+$3)
    • If no (+$3)
  • If yes, am I at Seletar Airport? (+$3)
  • If yes, am I at Singapore Expo Center? (+$2)
• Would I like to make a booking?
  • If yes, is it an advanced booking? (+$5.20)
  • If yes, is it a current booking?
    • If yes, is it morning or evening peak hour? (+$4)
    • If no (+$2.50)
• Is it ERP timing?
  • If yes (+$???)
• Am I going to Fuji Xerox Tower drop-off?
  • If yes, is it ERP timing? (+$???)

Quite a headache, isn’t it?

To add to that, there’s a difference if you take a normal, eco-friendly or limousine cab, which has a flag-down rate of $2.50, $2.70 and $2.80 respectively.

For those who are interested on the running charges, it’s $0.10 for every 210 meters thereafter or less up to 10km (meaning, they charge you first before moving 210 meters) and $0.10 for every 175 meters thereafter or less after 10km.

In addition, for every 25 seconds of waiting or less, it’s $0.10. Travelling speeds of less than 40km/h (or somewhere around there) is considered into waiting time + travelling time.

Peak Hour Surcharge is based on the following timing of Monday to Friday from 7.00am to 9.30am and Monday to Saturday from 5.00pm to 8.00pm where the surcharge is $2.00. This is only applicable at the time when you board the cab and is not applicable on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Midnight Surcharge is calculated based on the timings 11:30pm to 11:44pm daily for an additional 10% of basic fare, 11:45pm to 11:59pm daily for an additional 20% of basic fare and 12:00am to 6:00am for an additional 50% of basic fare.

Central Business District (CBD) Surcharges are from Monday to Thursday from 5:00pm to 8:00pm and Friday to Saturday from 5:00pm to 11:30pm. This is charged at $1.00, and is only applicable for trips starting from CBD area and not applicable on Sundays and Public Holidays. Do note that the CBD surcharge is payable on top of the Peak Hour Surcharge.

The Public Holiday Surcharge starts from 6:00pm on the eve to 12:00am (the midnight after the holiday) of the public holidays: New Year’s Day, 1st and 2nd Day of Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas Day and is chargeable at $1.00. Do note that where the above holiday falls on a Sunday and the following Monday is a holiday, the Public Holiday Surcharge will be payable up to 12 midnight of Monday.

The Location Surcharges are based on 3 different places, namely Changi Airport & Changi Air Freight Centre, where a surcharge of $5.00 is applicable if it’s a Friday, Saturday or Sunday from 5:00pm to 12:00am or $3.00 at all other times; Seletar Airport where a surcharge of $3.00 is applicable and Singapore Expo Centre, where a surcharge of $2.00 is applicable.

If you intend to book a taxi, there are 2 types of bookings - current bookings and advanced booking. For current bookings, the booking fee is $4.00 for a normal/eco taxi on a Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 9:30am and 5:00pm to 11:00pm and $8.00 for a limousine taxi. For all other times including Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays, it’s $2.50 for a normal/eco taxi and $8.00 for the limousine.

For advanced bookings (at least half an hour in advance), it’s $5.20 for a normal/eco taxi and $16.00 for a limousine taxi. This is regardless of timing.

Lastly, there is the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) Charges, which you would have to reimburse the taxi driver if you travel under one (there are really many, maybe I’ll compile one soon) or if you alight at Fuji Xerox Tower drop-off because there’s a gantry when the taxi drives out, regardless of whether he managed to get a passenger from the drop-off.

And now, there is a Location Surcharge? What will be next? Diesel Surcharge (there actually already is, but is borne by the taxi company), Non-stopping at Taxi Stand Surcharge… what others can you think of? =)

WHILE travelling from Yio Chu Kang to Tanjong Pagar, a passenger in a taxi chalked up $6 in various surcharges.

When asked to pay for these ‘add-ons’, the expatriate man refused and stormed out of the taxi despite taxi driver Foo Say Hock’s explanations.

‘I followed him inside the office building, found the receptionist and asked her to explain it to him. In the end he paid,’ said the 60-year-old taxi driver who has been driving for eight years.

‘We explain most of the time or we hand them the receipt to clear up doubt. But a simple model might be better for both sides.’

Several taxi drivers The Straits Times spoke to said that the series of surcharges added on to fares can sometimes get them in scraps with their passengers.

Even with taxi drivers claiming they are honest and that these are legitimate charges, passengers still believe they are being taken for a ride.

What leads to these disagreements?

In most cases, it is because the main panel on the meter does not reflect all the surcharges.

During the journey, the panel generally reflects the flag down rate and the charges based on the distance travelled.

When a passenger reaches his destination and asks for the fare, he expects to pay what is on the screen, but instead the taxi driver presses a button on the meter which then gives the full fare.

These surcharges, however, are reflected in the receipts of majority of the taxis.

ComfortDelgro, the biggest taxi company here, for example, said that their receipts show clear breakdowns of the different surcharges which are in place.

Among the surcharges which are in place are the airport surcharge, peak hour surcharge, public holiday surcharge and the call booking charge.

There is also the Electronic Road Pricing charge which passengers must pay, and the staggered midnight charges for taking a taxi in the wee hours of the morning.

While experts agreed that these charges may seem complicated to commuters, most supported the view that these charges served specific purposes.

NUS Professor Lee Der-Hong, however, believes otherwise.

The professor with the faculty of civil engineering pointed out that removing the surcharges and raising the flag down rate would work because for example, there would be difficulty in getting drivers to ‘work the graveyard shift’.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 19th November 2007

Today reminded me of the first day going to STC - not being able to sleep the previous night, waking up very blur in the morning, getting dressed up and ready for work on the first day and not knowing what to expect. All these seemed to familiar. Not to mention having butterflies in the tummy and not being able to even eat 1/2 your breakfast.

Well, all’s so familiar except that I am not going to STC. Today’s my first day at NYP - where a whole beginning starts. I am supposed to report to the student’s office, but I guess I’m a tad too early. So, what’s the next best thing to do? Blog. =P It’s an occupational hazard - if blogging is considered an occupation in the first place.

The trip to the nearest convenient MRT station turned out to be faster than expected - a mere 10 minutes bus ride, but that’s considering that it is holiday period now and that the bus came rather quickly (not that it had anything to do with the duration of the trip but it does make the wait seem shorter).

The train came rather just 2 minutes after I alighted from the bus, and I eventually reach YCK Station in just about 13 minutes. Couple this with a brisk walk of about 10 minutes, I reached the school building. So the entire journey took me about 10+13+10 = 33 minutes of travelling time excluding bus and train waiting times, which added together should be about an hour.

Oops. I gotta go now.

I can’t believe myself when I read this article. What? Another surcharge? Goodness, is implementing surcharges the only thing that can be done to solve all problems? I’m sure when that happens some other problems are going to arise from it. Goodness knows what other things we might face. However, I think it’s as gloomy as it is now. Everything is. The MPs probably don’t take taxis, I suppose.

EVEN as the Land Transport Authority brings out the big stick in its bid to rein in errant cabbies starting today, a Member of Parliament has proposed a peak-hour carrot — a “location surcharge” — to improve taxi services in areas with greater demand.

MP Seng Han Thong has suggested an additional sum for busy places like clubs, pubs, hotels, shopping malls and Raffles Place.

The root cause of soliciting, refusing to pick up passengers and overcharging lay in the pricing mechanism, he said, and errant cabbies resorted to such behaviour because demand for taxis exceeded the supply at certain times and places.

The MP, who is adviser to the six-affiliate Taxi Operators’ Association, wrote in the latest edition of NTUC This Week: “Taxi companies need to impose surcharges at taxi stands in the CBD (central business district) and Orchard Road areas during peak hours, and at lobbies of hotels, major tourist attractions and nightspots.

He said: “Only location surcharges can address the problem of balancing the demand and supply of taxi services at specific places and time, while allowing taxis to charge a more affordable rate at other places such as HDB estates and neighbourhood shopping malls.”

Singapore’s approximately 45,000 taxi drivers have been getting a lot of bad press recently for soliciting, overcharging, meter-less rides, accepting advance bookings but not turning up, and refusing to pick passengers at taxi stands.

Effective today, the LTA will enforce harsher penalties on drivers for refusing to pick up passengers — a $300 fine, six demerit points and an immediate two-week suspension.

Those guilty of touting will be docked 12 demerit points, fined $500 and suspended for four weeks, while drivers caught overcharging by more than $20 will have their licences withdrawn.

A Today reader complained recently that a taxi driver had charged him and his friend $50 for a ride to Changi Airport from Boat Quay, while others said they were stood up by cabbies despite confirmed advance bookings.

But Mr Seng noted that the “silent majority” of taxi drivers were hardworking, making an honest living.

“We know that a very small group of errant taxi drives have given the Singapore taxi service a bad name whereas the silent majority is not as vocal as others in explaining the problems they have to face everyday,” he wrote.

He said taxi drivers’ biggest concern was the rapidly rising operating costs, which had increased to some $780 a month.

“The pressure on them is immense because they have to work hard to earn the extras in order to settle these increases in operating costs,” he said.

The parliamentarian’s proposal did not sit too well with bunker trader Lynn Chong, who said: “No, there’s enough surcharge. There’s already a peak-hour charge. It already costs up to $7 upfront if you take a cab in the CBD or town area during the peak hour.” It will cost even more if one makes a call booking.

Ms Carol Loo, a financial adviser who spends between $600 and $800 a month on cabs, agreed, laying the blame on errant drivers who just cruise around waiting for call bookings. A price change will not make a dramatic effect.

She suggested that the taxi companies re-look their business models: “Their practices are lousy in the first place. A price fix won’t be fair to people, they should be paying more for better service or quality.”

But marketing undergraduate Nur Iskandar Malik welcomed the proposed increase during peak hours: “I wouldn’t mind paying.”

It would be better than having to wait in vain for a cab. Like many other long-suffering commuters, he will find out tonight if the LTA stick will see the return of the “disappearing” taxis during peak hours.

Article obtained from todayonline.com on 19th November 2007

After Venerable Ming Yi’s qualifications had been publicised over last week, people have started checking up on Venerable Ming Yi’s qualifications and realised that his qualifications are not recognised in Singapore.

A check with the local offices also turned up a blank. Venerable Ming Yi apparently obtained his doctorate from a Mannin University in Ireland = however, when people started checking up on it, they realised that they could not find anything about it.

This caused people to question the credibility of his degree, to which, he replied that he was introduced the distance learning course when he was doing his masters and it never occurred to him to check the credibility of the university.

The thing about publicity is that it’s a 2-edged sword. It can help you and it can make you fall. I hope he’d be in the clear soon and whether the probe turns out anything is another story.

THE Buddhist monk mired in controversy over irregularities in the books of the Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre is now facing another set of questions - over his doctorate.

Venerable Ming Yi’s resume says he holds a PhD in philosophy from a ‘Mannin University’ in Ireland, but checks by The Straits Times with the British Council, the Irish Embassy here and the Irish education authorities showed that neither the university nor its qualifications were recognised there.

Through a spokesman, Venerable Ming Yi said at the weekend that he did his doctorate through distance learning, but never checked if the university awarding the degree was recognised.

Readers have been writing in to ask about his PhD after The Sunday Times ran a profile on the Ren Ci chief on Nov 11.

Netizens have also started questioning the credibility of his degree.

Like other readers, education consultant Larry Lim said he had never heard of Mannin University.

He said he had tried checking, but could not even find a website for it.

‘It is highly questionable when a university does not even have a website. Does the university even exist?’ he asked.

When The Straits Times asked the Irish Embassy here whether the university in question was real, the embassy said that the Irish Department of Education and Science did not recognise Mannin University or its qualifications.

Ireland’s Higher Education Authority, the statutory body for higher education and research there, said there were seven official universities in Ireland, and Mannin was not one of them.

Press officers for both the department and the University College Dublin, one of the seven recognised Irish universities, said they had never heard of Mannin University.

Recognised institutions aside, the Irish Department of Education and Science said that ‘it cannot give advice on other organisations purporting to offer higher education programmes or comment on the quality of courses offered by such institutions’.

While Venerable Ming Yi’s PhD qualifications are highlighted on several websites such as Wikipedia and Buddhist resource site Singapore Dharma Net, online searches for the university itself drew a blank.

But The Straits Times found on the Web two individuals who claimed to have graduated from Mannin University. One is the head of a group promoting human rights in the Maldives, and the other a man who runs a chain of gyms in Thailand.

Neither could be reached for comment.

Venerable Ming Yi broke an earlier silence on the subject on Saturday after repeated queries by The Straits Times.

Through a Ren Ci spokesman, he said that someone introduced him to the PhD programme at Mannin University while he was doing his master’s in health-care management at the University of Wales, an accredited institution.

The spokesman said Venerable Ming Yi, a former student of Raffles Institution, did a distance learning course with Mannin University, but had never visited its campus.

He would not give any more details on how the monk obtained the PhD.

‘Venerable Ming Yi did the PhD as he wanted to learn more, but he did not check if the university or its degrees are recognised,’ he said.

theresat@sph.com.sg

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 19th November 2007

There will be a new beginning when I wake up in the morning later. I’m not sure how things will turn out to be, but I am just hoping for the best. Hmm… the road of uncertainty is definitely not a favoured path because I can’t see what lies ahead and I won’t know if I’m going to fall.

Very cheem hor? Yup… I know. =) I am just wondering now… what does the OSA cover? Hmm… Ok. Better go sleep. Gotta wake up at 6am later. Sigh…

For those who had been following the news and looking over the counter of the money changer near your place, you would have realised that the US$ is dropping. Like mad.

Gone were the days where US$1 is worth about S$1.75 or more, and it was so bad that even people in Seoul refuse to accept the equivalence of 1000 won as US$1.

Now, it seems to be getting worse became even visitors to the Taj would have to pay in the native currency. US dollars are no longer preferred as their value keeps going down the slippery roads.

So what does this mean for all of us? It’s probably a good time to start shopping on Amazon.com or other US sites to get stuffs. There only thing is, I wished their freight charges could be cheaper. =(

NEW DELHI - THE US dollar will not get you into the Taj Mahal from this week.

The Indian government, reacting to the falling value of the greenback, has decided that it will no longer accept the greenback as payment for visits to its historic sites.

Until now, foreign tourists to sites such as the Taj Mahal, Delhi’s Red Fort and the Mahabodhi Temple have had the option of paying in dollars or rupees.

But from this week, visitors will have to pay in rupees to visit the 120 or so sites run by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the BBC reported.

Entrance fees will be either 250 rupees (S$9.20) or 100 rupees.

‘These rates have been fixed in line with international practices, and in order to take care of the fluctuation in the dollar rates,’ a spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism told the BBC.

Officials say the ministry wanted to act fast so that tourism revenues are not hit. Earnings from tickets to historic monuments in 2006-07 was 608.4 million rupees.

Where once the rate was 50 rupees to a dollar, the going rate now is just about 39.25 rupees.

The plunging dollar has been having an impact worldwide, affecting not just tourist takings but also incomes of models as well as revenues of French fashion houses and aircraft makers.

The world’s top-paid super model Gisele Bundchen was reported recently to have spurned the dollar, preferring to be paid in euros.

At Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), it has had Chief Executive Valerie Hermann thinking about the number of pockets on a skirt and the price of embroidery on a dress, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Ms Hermann is adamant that YSL include in its ready-to-wear offerings cocktail dresses that cost no more than 1,900 euros (S$4,000).

Six months ago, that was the equivalent of US$2,565. Today, she would have to sell the same garment for US$215 (S$310) more to make the same profit. So if she can eliminate a pocket on a garment without sacrificing the integrity of its design, she will.

The euro’s rise and dollar’s slide are hitting European exporters particularly hard.

The euro has gained 11.5 per cent since the start of the year against the greenback. It closed on Friday at US$1.46.

Said Airbus chief Tom Enders: ‘If the dollar decreases by 10 cents, we are challenged to save another 1 billion euros.’

Last week, Infineon, Germany’s top semiconductor maker, announced that it lost 150 million euros in the latest quarter because of the weak dollar.

And Mr Reinold Geiger, president of L’Occitane of Provence, complained recently that 12 per cent of his annual US$400 million in skincare sales had ‘evaporated’ over the last year because of the falling dollar.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 19th November 2007