SMRT

[freedom]

The government is trying to act like a socialist country to please the people, but it will kill the capitalism that makes Singapore great. Eventually, the transport cost will be high and the service will be bad.

Wake up, the politicians.

[kichialo]

The government is trying to act like a socialist country to please the people, but it will kill the capitalism that makes Singapore great. Eventually, the transport cost will be high and the service will be bad.

Wake up, the politicians.

Service has been in decline for ages. They should just nationalise it. The capitalism model has not worked well for public goods.

[opmi]

I seriously doubt SMRT can turn their bus business around unless the govt approves of a fare hike.

Also, while taking the mrt daily, I notice that SMRT hires staff with a simple job (at bedok, eunos, paya lebar) of telling passengers to move into the centre of the carriage. I think it is a bit waste of manpower

Maybe the SAF mgt can indent some NSF for some of these 'fatique work'..

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The government is trying to act like a socialist country to please the people, but it will kill the capitalism that makes Singapore great. Eventually, the transport cost will be high and the service will be bad.

Wake up, the politicians.

SG had capitalism before meh???

I dont know what to call it. Definitely not capitalism with all these GLCs around.

No free competition. e.g. competition legislation has so many exceptions for the major industries. Dont know what kind of competition legislation is it.

[specuvestor]

Socialism with capitalistic incentive was what made Singapore, so much so that China wanted to learn the model from us.

Goh era of Singapore Inc, thinking the rich would eventually help the poor as aggregate economy improves through taxes and jobs, was what caused a lot of the problems today. The principle has changed

[freedom]

The government is trying to act like a socialist country to please the people, but it will kill the capitalism that makes Singapore great. Eventually, the transport cost will be high and the service will be bad.

Wake up, the politicians.

SG had capitalism before meh???

I dont know what to call it. Definitely not capitalism with all these GLCs around.

No free competition. e.g. competition legislation has so many exceptions for the major industries. Dont know what kind of competition legislation is it.

there is no such thing called free competition in capitalism, or you mean by free market. Also, capitalism does not object regulation.

[countonme]

Nationalising means the can control the fare price directly. I think they prob dont do it becos fare may be adjusted downwards easily. No good also for current shareholders .

The government is trying to act like a socialist country to please the people, but it will kill the capitalism that makes Singapore great. Eventually, the transport cost will be high and the service will be bad.

Wake up, the politicians.

Service has been in decline for ages. They should just nationalise it. The capitalism model has not worked well for public goods.

[Temperament]

IMHO:
In the first place SMRT should be a National asset rather than a money making "public company" paying handsome dividends in the past few years. And the largest share holders is..... ? i think as a public company, the citizens can not expect or ask for subsidy. Where as a National company well, citizens may ask or expect fare subsidy. So if SMRT is nationalised,what's next on the table? Hospitals....?

[Dividend Warrior]

So if SMRT is nationalised,what's next on the table?

SMRT facing operational problems. Oh no! SMRT is very important to Singaporeans' lives. Quick! Use our special economic tool - "Nationalisation". Problem instantly solved. Yay!

Telcos facing network problems. Oh no! Telcos are very important to Singaporeans' lives. Quick! Use our special economic tool - "Nationalisation". Problem instantly solved. Yay!

Banks facing problems. Oh no! Banks are very important to Singaporeans' lives. Quick! Use our special economic tool - "Nationalisation". Problem instantly solved. Yay!

And so on and so forth......

"Nationalisation" - Singapore's secret weapon

[NTL]

How low can the fare go? Unless the fare is subsidized, then it may go further down. Then it's the tax payers subsidizing.

If SMRT going to go nationalised, there may be more bureaucratic layers. Will they be efficient?

[a74henry]

The market has reacted negatively to SMRT by selling it down from a high of ABOUT $2.34 in July 2010 to a price of $1.29 last Friday in view of its dividend reduced to its shareholders. Based on the last quarterly result, I would have sold SMRT.

With reference to the last quarterly results, it does not bode well for SMRT fundamentally as it will continue to suffer a tighter margin with the increased labour cost, maintenance cost and CAPEX. The only potential catalyst are the PTC's grant of fare upward revision and LTA's sharing of CAPEX.