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SMRT has apologised for sending out a message alert that asked its own affiliate taxis to take advantage of the massive MRT breakdown on Thursday evening.
The message sent out at 7:58pm on Thursday read, "Income opportunity. Dear partners, there is a breakdown in our MRT train services from Bishan MRT to Marina Bay MRT stretch of stations."
An SMRT spokesperson confirmed the legitimacy of the picture and the message that was sent out on Thursday night, telling Yahoo! Singapore that it was a wrongly-worded message that was sent out by its taxi staff.
“We
are sorry for the oversight. Our staff used a template and we have
since corrected it,” she said, adding that the transport operator has
since spoken with their taxi staff responsible for broadcasting these
messages to change it.
Thousands of commuters were left stranded from the massive disruption on the North-South line in what's believed to be the worst disruption in SMRT's 24-year operating history.
34-year-old Loh Boon Teo was riding in an SMRT taxi on his way home to Malaysia when he happened to come across the message and snapped a picture of it.
The video editor for omy.sg told Yahoo! Singapore
that he was quite incensed at the sight of the message, as he was
already spending a week’s worth of MRT train fares on a single taxi ride
to the Woodlands checkpoint.
“It just really made me feel like
all they cared about was making money out of this,” he said. “They
really don’t seem to care about us passengers at all.”
His colleague, Kenneth Kong, then posted it on Facebook, and it soon spread like wildfire — as did the controversy that followed.
Many Yahoo! Singapore
readers were outraged at the message, with some saying it was
wrongly-worded and others taking great offence, angered that
Singaporeans seem to have been taken as a source of “income”.
Commenting on a post of the picture, user Lucilla Teoh wrote, “Totally unethical to call it an ‘income opportunity’. A simple announcement to say that taxis will be needed will suffice.”
Another
user Aaron Ang added, “This is seriously going over the line. What are
they taking Singaporeans for? Are we just dollar bills? … Income opportunity, really?”
Several
others, however, said that it was good that taxi drivers were being
alerted to the immediate need for cabs in affected areas around the
island.
User Jen Jen Lee wrote, “(It’s) just the language
problem, I think — otherwise, it’s fine. Without this message, those
waiting for cabs can’t get to where they want to go.”
Reader Veronica Tang said, “I really didn’t think there’s anything wrong. First, it’s Carpe Diem in its brightest display. Second, people still need transport to get home. No problem. Everyone benefits.”
ePeng Tan pointed out, “This is the power of teamwork and information-sharing. Economically, it is the best distribution of resources.”
The controversy comes just days after SMRT Taxis announced plans to increase flagdown fares, meter fares and waiting time charges next Tuesday. The move is in line with similar fare changes announced by Comfort Delgro's own taxi fleet.
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