Everything is ready, the ticket machine seems to be working and the train passes through there. So, I can understand residents' wish to see the station opened.Thought Buangkok Stn has been in that state since NEL start running!
The ruling party wil not be swayed by such a move. Eventually, CST has to step down and allow someone else to take over. And that's when the govt will make their move.Originally posted by Atobe:It will not be opened until the Seventh Month is over, and the nearby graveyard that rests all the Japanese souls are given final blessings.
The fastest way for Buangkok residents to get the MRT opened, is to follow the residents of Potong Pasir that voted for CST, and loyally supporting him through every election.
This will give the Ruling Party a big incentive to truly be concerned with the needs of the Residents instead of the "Dollar and nonSense" that govern their deep pockets.
Don't need. Think they intend to open that station soon. Didn't they wayang with the white elephants thingy?Originally posted by Atobe:The fastest way for Buangkok residents to get the MRT opened, is to follow the residents of Potong Pasir that voted for CST, and loyally supporting him through every election.
two questions: instead of the white elephants cut out, if those were cardboards of pictures welcoming the visiting pap guests, would the police be investigating?? many signs put up by ah long, the loan sharks in hdb flats, police came and gone without pursuing further, why work so hard on these "white elephants"?Originally posted by drawer:The police now have involve in investigating the "white elephants thingy",probably those PAP leaders cannot take the criticism and have a "heart-attacked" after the incident.Thats why they ringed up the police to investigate.This is another good example to show our PAP leaders are "narrow-minded and petty assholes" who cannot take critics.Oh well......![]()
Then the citizens are happy for the MP and a lot of people vote for him during GEOriginally posted by sgboy2004:it will be opened when the election comes around the corner.....![]()
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You are probably closer to the truth than you know it....Originally posted by sgboy2004:it will be opened when the election comes around the corner.....![]()
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u betOriginally posted by gorby107:Then the citizens are happy for the MP and a lot of people vote for him during GE
I treat her writings like the scribbles on toilet doors.Originally posted by BillyBong:Hold that cynicism, please
By Chua Lee Hoong
Sept 12, 2005
The Straits Times
WHEN the results of the police investigation into the white elephants at Buangkok MRT station are made public, what will the people's reaction be?
If the perpetrators are found to have been (mischievous) grassroots activists with the People's Action Party, and they are let off with a mild warning, will people say, 'Double standards. It would have been different if it had been an opposition party'? If they are levied a stiff fine, will people say, 'Oh, it's all for show?' In other words, will the people insist on, Heads I win, tails you lose?
These, more so than the rights and wrongs of the elephants themselves, are the questions that interest me.
Not that the rights and wrongs of the case are that clear. The incident has many facets with broader implications, which explains why an official decision on the case is so long in coming and why the public is so interested.
Legally speaking - that is, going by the letter of the law - it is clear enough: the placing of the eight white elephants on a road-divider outside the Buangkok MRT station can easily be construed as falling within the meaning of 'public entertainment' as governed by the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, and required a licence. (Which there wasn't - unlike in the case of the cow cut-outs that appeared on a number of grass patches around Singapore a few months ago, put up by an advertising agency.)
Singaporeans know however that the letter of the law is not always enforced when infringements are minor.
Housing Board by-laws, for instance, prohibit placing personal belongings like plants along the common corridors, but this is seldom enforced.
Displaying placards of a non-sensitive nature - advertising a new neighbourhood coffee shop, say - would normally also fall within this category.
Those who put up the white elephants would presumably argue that what they did was harmless enough. After all, it was just eight cardboard cut-outs, which remained in the public eye for less than 24 hours before they were taken down.
And the date - Aug 28, 2005 - was also the second anniversary of the opening of the North-East Line. The then-Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the guest of honour, had promised at that time: 'We do not squander money on big white elephants that become financial burdens for our future generations.' What's more, he had worn a specially-bought tie with an elephant motif that day.
So white elephants have been on the minds of Buangkok residents for a while, and if a little visual reminder helps to hasten the opening of the station, well, why not? All in the practical interests of Buangkok residents; nothing subversive at all.
But therein lies the rub. Where does one draw the line between promoting residents' needs and pushing the boundaries, between acceptable political activism and unacceptable civil disobedience? This is the grey area, the contentiousness of which is bound to grow, if one goes by how the white elephant incident seems to have struck a chord among Singaporeans.
Early last month, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng drew a line in the sand when he warned against wilful breaking of the law: 'Regardless of whether he thinks it is a silly law or not, he does violence to the rule of law even if his actions are peaceful.'
That warning, however, doesn't seem to have received much traction. There are still many Singaporeans who think the Government is over-reacting to the white elephants, and who would prefer that investigations be dropped. But that, from the official standpoint, is clearly a non-starter because it would be an unwanted precedent. Buangkok station today, Raffles Place MRT tomorrow? White elephants today, hammer and sickle tomorrow? Laws become meaningless if too many remain unenforced.
When the results of the investigation are made known, the police will have to show that it is impartial in enforcing the law, regardless of which political parties are involved. And I hope Singaporeans will hold that cynicism, because heads I win, tails you lose isn't exactly a fair sporting approach.
http://www.asiaone.com/st/st_20050912_340319.html
It's fair to say the white elephants are a harmless display with more jest than an out and out political message. Still, it would be interesting to see who initiated them and how the men in blue handle this case after the fiasco at the CPF building.
That's why its published....Originally posted by LazerLordz:I treat her writings like the scribbles on toilet doors.You can clearly see that it's a perfect example of one-sided party journalism.
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agree!Originally posted by LazerLordz:I treat her writings like the scribbles on toilet doors.You can clearly see that it's a perfect example of one-sided party journalism.
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I don't think I agree with u for this. My thoughts were, they gonna sell the vacant plot around Buangcock to private developers for a handsome prize.Originally posted by macjoe:Buangkok MRT was to be built but why didn't the decision-makers plan and build it within range of current Buangkok HDB residents so they can immediately benefit but instead plan and build it on remote soil away from the current residents that they can't benefit immediately but much later?
Because I think they realise that if they build it for current Buangkok residents to access now, there will be no demand for those HDB flats to be built 500m away.
It would cost more if you build the station aft the MRT starts running as the construction can now be totally be done in that 5 hrs bet MRT cease operationsOriginally posted by crazy monkey:more white elephants in the pipeline when circle line is completed![]()
No... In London, it is so called sub..Originally posted by Archie_boy:Public transport is constructed for the benefit of citizens who can't afford private cars. That is why they are called public transport. The fact that we are taxpayers, the gov is obligated to provide some means to commute within SG and thus the public transport system. It is therefore a necessity.
Profiteering from a public transport system is really shameful. Public transport systems in other countries like the UK are heavily subsidised by their gov becos of their obligations.
In SG, sadly, it always seem to be different from the norm. Making profits from the PTS is shameful enough but not opening the 2 stations citing cost is embarassing. They entire MRT is a system. You cannot decide to open those stations at your wimp and fancy. You win some you lose some. It's a system.
All the lame excuses for not operating the 2 stations are jus some stupid idiots idea of profiteering.
For God's sake, operate all the stations be it profit or loss.