Bad Luck All Around

Do you see a circle or an octagon?

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his Budget speech that the rise in petrol duties is meant to encourage less car usage and reduce carbon emissions. One man took that advice to heart and went one step further. He even skipped the bus alternative - another carbon emission source - and decided to walk on the viaduct between Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Gombak MRT stations. Hence the latest train service disruption for over a span of 90 minutes on Friday evening (Feb 27).

February 2015 seems to set a record of sorts for train breakdowns and other hiccups:

• 03 Feb - NSL no train service from Marina Bay to Marina South Pier station for an hour
• 17 Feb - EWL disruption from Joo Koon to Jurong East due to a train fault at Jurong East
• 18 Feb - NEL train service suspended for 40 minutes, signalling fault
• 23 Feb - NSL disruption between Yew Tee and Kranji, track fault
• 24 Feb - LRT service between Choa Chu Kang and Keat Hong disrupted by damaged third rail
• 25 Feb - NSL delay between Somerset and Dhoby Ghaut, signal fault with train departing Somerset 
• 27 Feb - NSL disruption due to  track "intrusion" near Choa Chu Kang station

There's a story about then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew consulting the highly respectable Venerable Hong-Chuan when the plan for building the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) was first mooted in the mid-eighties. The monk warned that the crisscrossing tunnels would severely damage the excellent fengshui of the island, and the only solution was to ensure all Singaporeans carry a "bagua"(octagon diagram) with them. In consideration of the sensitivities of various races and religions on the island, Lee suggested the minting of a new coin embossed with the shape of a bagua. The new $1 coin was launched in September 1987, just two months before MRT began its first operation.

Note that the road tax label is also in the shape of an octagon, which means every car on the roads of Singapore is carrying a bagua too. Not that it does any good for the motorists pummeled by punitive taxes and tariffs.