‘Floods worse than breakdowns for economy’
Flash floods, which hit Orchard Road on Friday, have affected some retailers' revenue hard due to a fall in human traffic patronising their stores, though not as seriously as in 2010 as floodgates mitigated the impact somewhat.
Hamburger chain Wendy's was estimated to have lost about 60 per cent in sales due its temporary closure during the Friday dinner rush, reported The Sunday Times. The fast food chain had to throw away food to keep up with food hygiene practices.
A few shops Yahoo! Singapore surveyed had their goods damaged due to the floodwaters. An electronics store at Lucky Plaza incurred a loss of $15,000 worth of goods.
Yahoo! Singapore also spoke to retailers at Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza and they said though the damage of the floods on Friday was minimal compared to last June's, the losses incurred are generally more than the recent MRT train breakdowns.
The recent MRT train breakdowns, which went out of service for a total of 17 hours and affected over 222,400 train commuters, is said to have relatively minimal disruptions to the economy though there were inconveniences caused, according to Song Seng Wun, executive director and regional economist at CIMB Research Pte. Ltd.
"There were inconveniences caused, but there were relatively minimal disruptions to trade in goods and services because the train breakdown occurred for a relatively short period -- measurable in a few hours rather than a few days or weeks," Song told Yahoo! Singapore in an interview.
"Orchard Road was only temporarily quieter for a brief period, and I think the first severe Orchard Road flooding did more damage to some of the shops' takings than the train breakdowns," he added.
Sharon Tan, who owns a women's fashion apparel store at Far East Plaza, said while there was a slight dip in customers during the breakdowns, particularly during the 7-hour disruption on Saturday morning, the Christmas festive season has not deterred customers from making a shopping trip to Orchard Road, citing there were still alternative public transport routes available.
She claimed that the flash floods on Friday and in June last year, were more detrimental to her shop's earnings.
Breakdowns' impact
A reader of socio-political blog The Online Citizen claimed that the recent MRT train breakdowns and delays are estimated to have cost the Singapore's economy about $31 million, which he calculated based on statistics from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Singapore Tourism Board.
Song, on the other hand, declined to provide an estimate amount of the economic costs incurred, saying that it requires "many brave and unrealistic assumptions".
Yahoo! Singapore has also spoken to other experts in the industry, and all claimed that it is difficult to quantify the economic costs, but reiterated that the economic implications to trade in goods and services is relatively small in the context of a S$300 billion economy, because the incidents were only temporary disruptions.
In addition, two out of three of the major train service breakdowns occurred when people were heading home or going to work on a Saturday morning, so workers' productivity is minimised, as compared to a train disruption on a weekday when people are going to work.
The reputation of Singapore as a world-class transport hub seems to be of a paramount concern instead, noted Song Seng Wun.
"The damage in my mind, is less about the economic cost than the reputation of Singapore. In the eyes of any Singaporean, tourists or investors, Singapore is about efficiency. Well, the government is still efficient. But now, the question is how efficient is the public transport system," he told Yahoo! Singapore.
