Just realised that there’s more to what I wrote in my previous post! Sigh.

When I first saw this chart, I thought it looked kinda weird that the revised fees are going by 20 cents instead of 10 cents. I thought it was a ploy to downplay the actual per 10 cents mileage. Then I realised. The meter is no longer going by increments of 10 cents; it is going by increments of 20 cents! This means that you potentially pay for up to 385m worth of mileage without using it (i.e. when the taxi stops and the meter jumps another 20 cents, it’s distance untravelled).

That aside, I realised something else. Peak hour surcharge is no longer a flat rate of $2.00. It is now 35% of metered fare, which is somewhat like midnight charge in the day! And this was not even reported in the news in words! The papers just happily used this diagram for everyone else to figure out!

And oh well, they did away with the staggered late-night surcharge and resumed the 50% of metered fare from 12:00 midnight till 5:59am in the morning. I think the above chart makes a good print out to put in your wallet, so just click on it and there’ll be a pop-out that you can easily print out.

I wonder when the companies will start increasing the rental for the taxi drivers. I heard they reported another 2 figure increase in profits this year. Let’s all help them to push it to 3 figures. After all, when the taxi companies do well, they improve the economy and hence all Singaporeans benefit. Really.

Then again, I don’t like to post such senseless entries that:

1. probably won’t make any sense to anyone,
2. no one else really bothers, and
3. the intended audience is not listening, nor reading,

But all I want to say is… stop clogging up the damn screen!

Seriously, with all these ads flying out from left to right and popping out out of the blue and blasting their ads off, not only do they make navigation much more difficult, but also scares the hell out of me with the sudden volume! I definitely wasn’t expecting that when I was at the library.

So, straitstimes.com, please be consider to your customers and stop blasting ads on our screens and into our ears.

Ed: And you know something about those [X] close window links? They are so specific that clicking a pixel out of it launches the ad anyway.

After the party, some of us adjourned to Wala-wala, which was just behind Essential Brews. My intention was to have a glass of Erdinger, but you know? Man proposes, God disposes.

It was by any means a good gathering - nice people, nice atmosphere and everything else good. Of course, one of the first thing that we decide on when we get to Wala-wala is whether we want to be entertained by a band (and end up in us not being able to talk to each other), or just chill out.

So, we decided to check it out upstairs and woot! We found the cellar!

Woohoo! Loot!

arzhou checking out the loot! Haha… if anything’s missing yesterday night, it’s him. Soon after, all of us got chased down because some of us were… ahem, underage. Oh well… no live band for us, but that means more crap to talk about =P

That’s Sylvia at the right and then Patrick next to her (thanks, er… Patrick =P) and arzhou… I can’t seem to figure out who the other guy is… sorry!

And here’s felix with his extensions! Funny why I didn’t seem to observe it when we were at Essential Brews! so cool right!

Here’s miccheng in the dark! It’s a surprise the camera could still capture him so well!

And here are the people that got us chased out convinced us that some music and more talk is healthy for the soul! Haha… In the end, they got 3 glasses of orange juice. I think someone asked them if they have curfew and if their mummy knows that they are out here. I’m not sure if that’s a mean thing to say, because I vividly hated it when people used to ask me that. Hey, come’on, I was 15 back then and all ready for adulthood!

Here’s the Wala menu. Things here aren’t exactly the cheapest around in town, but hey, this is Wala, and I’m sure people don’t mean to say Walau when they see the prices on the menu. =P Want to guess what I ordered?

Tada! For the uninitiated, it’s Shirley Temple. For some strange reason, even if it’s mocktail, I still get sleepy after drinking it - must be something in it that I am allergic to.

And here are the minors! Okie… except for the last 2. Heh heh… er… miccheng, I think you were supposed to smile. Didn’t you realise that you are the odd one out? Tsk tsk… =P

Cheers to the next table! Woohoo! Everyone enjoys a good round of Asaki japanese beer! Wait… what is it that arzhou is holding?

And here’s Rinaz! Sweet as ever! Haha… smile one for the camera!

Rinaz meets Felix! I’m not sure if they met before previously though! Haha…

Yes, U-zyn giving his personal best again! Hehe… always ready for the camera!

And a jolly good time with Chillycraps and Jzin! Hehe… I met Jzin once during the MCC meet up but I couldn’t recognise him again. Then he told me that he had Lasik - it’s the one where the use the lightsabre laser to cut the flap on your cornea before correcting your cornea. Sounds scary to me, but hey, it’s life-changing! No more getting up early in the morning wondering who turned off the lights, and no more dew/mist on your glasses when you get down from the bus!

Everyone had a jolly good time in the end. I had to leave early because I need to blog be in the lab in the morning. It was drizzling when I got there and it was still drizzling after I got home. Sigh. I thought the Met station said that there’s going to be no more rain! No wonder people akin a woman’s mood to that of the whether - ever changing without notice.

And oh, thanks to Jzin for sending me back. Really appreciated - else I’d still be a wet chicken walking my way home.

When’s the next gathering? =)

There are people who will take cabs, and there are people who won’t. Quite obvious isn’t it? The only difference is, how many more will and how many more won’t. The PTC, in less than 2 weeks, approved the fare hike proposed by ComfortDelgro which generally saw a hike in 2 areas: (i) flag down rate and (ii) city surcharge, which will be extended all the way from 5:00pm to midnight, overlapping the staggered midnight surcharge that is currently imposed. This means that a typical ride from the city will incur a surcharge that follows:

• Flag down rate of $2.80 (assuming a normal cab)
• City surcharge of $3.00 (between 5:00pm and midnight)
• Peak hour surcharge of $2.00 (between 5:00pm and 11:30pm)

Which gives a total of $7.80. If for some reason you decide to call a cab during peak hour, that will increase the basic fare to $11.30. This is comparative if you take a cab just before midnight (and with the disappearing syndrome still there), you end up paying about $11.40 (120% of $7.80 + $2.50).

The only thing that went down is prime-time booking surcharge from $4.00 to $3.50, although I don’t see how it can make a significant difference looking at how much more we are already paying for the basic fare.

Some cabbies are apparently cheering on the hike, citing the fact that people will just get used to the new taxi fares eventually. To the few that were interviewed, they probably feel that Singaporeans are very affordable and any furore over this hike will soon be over. After all, Singaporeans are known to have very short memory.

AN EXTRA $2 to pick up a passenger in the city area during peak hours is a welcome incentive for cabby Mohamad Sahat to head back to the city even without a passenger.

‘After taking passengers out of the city, and if I’m within a reasonable distance, I will go back to the city to pick up more passengers,’ said the 61-year-old ComfortDelGro cabby of 16 years.

The increase in the city surcharge from $1 to $3, announced by ComfortDelGro yesterday, along with other fare increases, will relieve the ‘pinch’ cabbies like Mr Mohamad have felt in recent months.

Cabbies interviewed said rising diesel costs and goods and services tax (GST) have increased their operating costs by 10 to 15 per cent.

To make up the difference, most drivers like Mr Mohamad have to clock an extra hour on the road. He now puts in 12 hours a day, six days a week, to take home about $80 a day after splitting the $100 daily rental with relief drivers.

‘The new fares will increase our income by a bit and help us with rising costs,’ he said.

ComfortDelGro said that after last year’s fare revision, cabbies took home about 12 per cent more.

Mr Robin Ng, president of the CityCab Operators’ Association, said the move to absorb Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges of drivers who cannot find a fare within 15 minutes of entering the city area will definitely help. ‘ERP charges are getting higher these days. It does not make sense for drivers to pay the ERP charge just to go into town to get a customer when they can get one outside without paying a cent.’

His views were shared by other organisations. The Taxi Operators’ Association (TOA) said yesterday in a statement that ComfortDelGro’s revision was a ‘fair and timely decision’.

‘TOA believes that overall taxi meter fare should reflect the operating cost of the taxi business, and the primary consideration is the income stability of the taxi drivers when fare adjustments are made,’ said the association, which represents six taxi operators’ associations.

Taxi drivers reckon the volume of passengers will decrease in the next few months but are not concerned about the long-term effect.

‘The demand drop will be short-term…I’m more concerned about the company than the commuters. Usually, when the company increases fares, it will raise rentals or take away other perks. I hope that doesn’t happen,’ said Mr L.S. Chew, 47, a cabby of 11 years.

ComfortDelGro indicated yesterday that it will not raise rentals following this fare adjustment.

It added that diesel subsidies and other benefits, which amounted to $73 million last year, will continue this year.

mariaa@sph.com.sg

I do find it interesting on how the papers or taxi companies commented that there is very little reason for taxi drivers to hide just before midnight. Going by any sense of economics, all it takes is just to hide behind some pillars (metaphorically) and taxi drivers will be able to get 10% more from their midnight surcharge.

However, this will only work if all taxi drivers are doing the same thing. Since this had already been practiced previously, it isn’t difficult to continue doing it. If you ask me whether this hike will solve the disappearing midnight problem, I’d say, there’s no direct effect. As long as there is an incentive to wait till past midnight, drivers will do it - just like how some of us will wait till past 9:30am just to avoid the $2.00 surcharge.

What I feel about the whole thing is:

• There may be slightly more taxis in the beginning - partly because of the refund that the taxi drivers get from their taxi companies if they do not secure a passenger within 15 minutes of entering the city.
• However, I feel that the taxi companies will eventually get back the money from the drivers by raising rental. After all, there is no free lunch in the world, at least not in Singapore
• Passengers will get used to the new flag down rate and the problem will start all over again
• Remember the time when the taxi fare was raised from $2.40 to $2.50 and many people swore off taxis? Look at what’s happening now. It’s just as crowded.
• It does not solve the disappearing cabs before midnight problem, since the hike does not seem to address this directly
• Rather, it seems to address the disappear cabs in the city problem

Despite all these hikes, the papers managed to find someone who is optimistic about the whole thing; people that will press on to take cabs despite the hike and all - with some feeling that it’s good that the taxi drivers will be able to earn more:

COMMUTERS, for the lowest taxi fares in town, look out for a copper-coloured Prime cab, at least for the next three months.

But be prepared for a long wait, as the company, which has said it will not raise fares for the time being, has only 100 taxis on the road - the smallest fleet here.

Most of the other companies said they would follow ComfortDelGro’s lead, so commuters should be prepared to pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more when hailing a cab during peak hours from Monday.

But the increase is unlikely to deter commuters from hopping into a cab. A poll of 20 commuters at Orchard Road yesterday found no one saying they would stop taking taxis because of the higher fares.

Half of them, including Ms Lili Yeo, a research writer with a finance company, said they would make changes, like take a train out of the city centre and then a cab for the rest of the journey to avoid some of the new peak-hour and city surcharges.

For the rest, taxis are and will remain an option only if they are late or caught in the rain.

Some raised concerns about whether, with the changes in the late-night surcharges, taxis will start to ‘disappear’ again just before midnight.

ComfortDelGro does not expect this to happen, given that the city area surcharge will be in force right till midnight, giving taxi drivers in the city little reason to ‘hide’.

One commuter said the higher fares are understandable as ‘at least taxi drivers will be able to earn more’.

Others, like Ms Angela Chan who gets around exclusively on taxis now, says she will plan her journeys better, but will not give up the rides.

The pastor takes a taxi every day from her home in MacPherson to her office in Chai Chee, a trip that costs her an average of $10. When the new price plan kicks in on Monday, she can expect to pay up to $11 for the same trip.

‘It’s money I’m willing to spend, because time is precious and it’s more convenient than a bus.’

Taking the MRT is often not a practical option, she explained, as she requires two bus transfers, and an extra 20 minutes, before she can get to the Aljunied MRT station, the closest one.

‘It’s erratic and unpredictable, and I waste quite a bit of time.’

While higher fares are unlikely to stop her from hailing a cab, she said she would consider making shorter trips, and then transferring to the MRT instead of travelling in a taxi for the entire journey. ‘I will definitely reconsider taking long trips in a cab,’ said Ms Chan.

Businesswoman Elena Ling said: ‘It’s not a drastic increase for those who can afford it.’

Her only concern: ‘What about the sick or elderly who need to take a taxi and can’t afford it?’

taniat@sph.com.sg

Articles obtained from straitstimes.com on 11th December 2007

Apparently, the PTC approved the fare hike by ComfortDelgro and 3 of the 5 major companies are following the lead. Only Trans-cab is  not contactable and Prime Taxis is holding their horses. This will be effective from 17 December 2007.

After reading the new fare structure for 1 minute, I think I got a little lost because it involves some complicated ERP formula for the taxi drivers as well, involving some refund of some sorts. Never mind. I need to rush out now. I’ll digest it on the way to lab.

Update: Apparently, here’s how the fare structure will be like:

1. Flag down rate will rise by 30 cents to $2.80
2. Prime time phone booking will go down by 50 cents to $3.50
3. City surcharge for taking a cab in the city area will rise by $2.00 to $3.00 from Monday to Saturday, 5:00pm to midnight

What that won’t affect passengers is this:

1. Refund of ERP charges of between $0.50 and $2.00 if taxi drivers do not get a passenger within 15 minutes of going into the city

I would like to save my personal commentaries for later because I will just lash out lambasting the whole fare system if I comment now.

TAXI fares will go up from Monday and people who want to catch a cab in the city during evening peak hours will see their fares rise the most.

They will pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more for a taxi ride home from the city from 5pm to midnight. Heading home to Ang Mo Kio from Orchard Road during these peak hours will cost about $14.35, up from $10.65 now.

Travel during off-peak hours, which will affect the bulk of passengers riding in the 23,000 cabs here, will go up by 10 per cent, said Singapore’s biggest cab company ComfortDelGro, which announced its new fare structure yesterday.

It is raising flag-down rates by 30 cents to $2.80. Surcharges for peak period and late-night travel have also been adjusted.

Three of the other five cab companies say they will follow ComfortDelGro’s lead to raise flag-down rates and up the distance- and time-based charges.

Only one charge is going down - the prime-time call booking fee will be lowered from $4 to $3.50.

Trans-Cab could not comment by press time while Prime Taxis said it will not raise flag-down rates for at least another three months.

One measure that drew attention was ComfortDelGro’s move to raise the city surcharge as a way of ensuring its supply of 15,000 taxis better matches the demand for cabs, where and when they are wanted most.

Commuters will have to pay $3 for a cab in the city between 5pm and midnight from Monday to Saturday, up from $1 now.

ComfortDelGro said the higher surcharge will address the No. 1 complaint of commuters - long waiting times for cabs in the city in the evening.

Its spokesman Tammy Tan said: ‘One reason for this is that many taxis leave the city centre for the suburbs and drivers find little incentive to drive all the way back to the city to pick up new passengers.’

The company dangled one more incentive to lure cabbies into the city area: It will refund cabbies the Electronic Road Pricing charges payable to get into the city - between 50 cents and $2 now - if they do not get a passenger within 15 minutes of passing the gantry.

Cabbies welcomed the news of the higher fares, especially as ComfortDelGro also said it is not raising rentals and will continue with its diesel subsidies. Cabbies pay between $70 and $125 in rent a day regardless of how much they earn.

Cabby Tony Pang, 58, said: ‘Passengers will stay away initially - it’s a knee-jerk reaction. But the increased fares will help us drivers a bit.’

Commuters like insurance agent Kenneth Tan, 27, will think twice about taking a cab now. ‘It’s going to be more costly but if I need to save time or get out of the rain, I might still take one.’

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 11th December 2007

The party was a great success in that… I enjoyed myself tremendously and I thought it was very well done. Thanks Daphne for organizing it! =)

There are many pictures taken and for the first time, I really can’t afford the energy to rename all of them! Haha… but here you have it, the almost complete collection of what I have taken with my camera; although I believe that Claudia has much, much more. Man… I should get myself a D40 soon!

Click on any image to get a larger picture. If you want it any larger, you’d have to email me. Haha…

Before dinner came (they really took quite a while to serve the food, then again, it’s served in batches according to what you have ordered, I think). So in my idle time, the best thing to do is to snap photos!

miccheng: who’s that taking photos behind me???

Then U-zyn presented the Ping.sg T-shirt and everyone wanted him to change into it. What better way than to strip him there and then?!

miccheng, chillycraps, arzhou and innocent photographer, adam: strip him! strip him!

Then, all of a sudden, Felix decided to come up with some scandal saying that I leaped out of my seat when U-zyn was stripped half-way. Duh! Felix! How can you conjure such a story?!

felix: oops!

Haha… soon after, dinner came. Hmm… it looks really good! From every single perspective!

Yes, and it does taste good too! haha… the cripsy-something-chicken-something-lemon-grass is really good. For once, I managed to finish everything. Oh well, I didn’t eat anything from noon just to keep my stomach for this! Haha…

And here’s U-zyn showing that he’s still pretty much in 1 piece. Hey, wasn’t he supposed to be stripped?!

I think Sheylara’s gonna kill me… the flash makes everyone look pale….

And that’s Christina… with… Defector! Yes… nearly forgot his name! =P

Felix: *evil grin*

And here’s Felix looking all innocent again! Heh heh… don’t even think about writing any scandals! Haha…

Peering at what my neighbour’s got for his dinner. Wow! Looks like chicken. Then again, is it beef? Hmm… then again, looks like grilled chicken. It’s funny how I can’t tell what is what after it’s been grilled…

U-zyn (to Sheylara): Oh, what’s that you are holding in your hands?

And oh, Sheylara was live blogging with her Nintendo DS Lite! Wow! How cool is that? Haha… it’s a little tough though, because the DS Lite is really small and she has to use a stylus to type; but it’s really amazing!

This is the DS Lite that she was using… nice! =)

Here, miccheng is showing off his stuff to Veron and Jairus…

It’s his O’timeline! Which was supposed to be in alpha state. Hehe… nice laptop. =P

Jairus: *grin grin*

And here’s Jairus posing with miccheng. Jairus just joined Comiqs as a director *wow!* and will be activing investing his time into developing Comiqs.

This is dessert! Doesn’t look too appetizing, does it. Maybe it’s just a colour thing - somehow, green doesn’t seem to go well with dessert. Apparently there’s lots of milk content in the ice-cream cos’ I can’t take milk and I felt nauseous after eating it. Still nauseous now…

Another perspective does make it seem better, doesn’t it? Except for the green stuff, that is. Is it green tea? Wasabi? Pastel?

And it’s time for the lucky draw! Mine is the 2 of hearts, which unfortunately didn’t win anything! =(

On the contrary, Sheylara who was busy blogging away won a 2 year membership with Essential Brews! Wow! Okie… I’m not sure what that entitles her to… maybe I should just stick more to her from now on… Ya… then the Goonfather will kill me. =P

michael: are you sure you smile detector function is working???

Here’s Michael from Comiqs too! He was demonstrating some functionality from his website when I interrupted him to take a picture to show my stuffs! Haha…. Then, we decide to see if miccheng is the show stopper for the smile detector.

miccheng: dodge! dodge! …. okie la, grin for you la…

miccheng: quick leh! my muscle cram already!!!

Michael: are you done yet? I can’t smile anymore!!! jaw aching le…

miccheng: aiyah! too tired liao… let’s look at stars instead…

Micahel: sian already… >_<

Then it was mingling time. More camwhoring phototaking for remembrance sake. =)

Everyone smile for the camera!

Miss Cel: I’m going to chop you up and dump your body in some rubbish bin and no one will ever find you again!

Princess Sab: You think it’s so easy huh? *smirk smile* Before you do anything, you’d be gone so fast you won’t even know what happened!

Soon later, it was time to leave. It was then that I realised that there were ZO cards on the wall! Haha… so many of them! However, I didn’t bring my haversack along today, so I can’t carry the whole thing home bring home a few cards.

It was a nice gathering… but the night is still young and the fun had just begun! Woohoo! Hehe… everyone’s putting on their shoes and moving out to our next destination!

One last look before moving off… hehe… think it’d be quite a while more before I’d come back here. The food’s ok, but it’d be quite boring to come here alone! Haha…

Goodbye Essential Brews! See you again soon!