GE2025: PPP raises issues with the transport system, calling MOT a 'mess'

SINGAPORE: People’s Power Party (PPP) candidates, speaking at their third rally on Tuesday (Apr 29), took issue with a number of transport-related issues in Singapore, going as far as calling the Ministry of Transport a “mess”.

Mr William Lim, one of PPP’s candidates for Ang Mo Kio GRC, claimed that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had been “lax on the monitoring and maintenance of all trains and buses”.

He cited an instance last year when the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system had broken down for about a week.

Train services on the East-West line were disrupted for six days in late September last year after a defective component dropped onto the track, causing a bogie to come off the running rail between Dover and Clementi stations.

As a result, engineers had to spend days fixing the extensive damage to tracks and other equipment along the line.

“This is a wake up call for all Singaporeans,” said Mr Lim, who used to be a taxi driver and the founder of the “Singapore Taxi Driver” Facebook group. He is now a limousine service provider.

“This is something that we are lucky no one is injured or killed,” he added.

In addition, Mr Lim took aim at the three-piece Electronic Road Pricing 2.0 on-board unit (OBU) installations for cars, which is slated to be installed in about one million vehicles by 2026, saying that the units were made of “cheap stuff” which cannot handle Singapore’s heat.

“Why aren’t they using military grade components? This is something unforgivable.”

Mr Lim also criticised Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat for the SimplyGo saga in January last year. He noted that while the LTA had engaged more than 1,000 commuters to gauge their readiness to switch to SimplyGo between 2020 and 2023, Singaporeans were still unhappy.

The LTA had eventually U-turned on its decision to phase out the old ticketing system in favour of SimplyGo after commuters complained about a number of missing features in the new system.

Mr Lim was the first of PPP’s nine candidates to speak at the party’s third rally at Yio Chu Kang stadium ahead of the 2025 General Election. Mr Vere Nathan, the PPP new face who was the only one not to give a speech on Tuesday, was the emcee for that evening.

The rally began about 45 minutes later than intended due to wet weather.

Mr Thaddeus Thomas, who is Mr Lim’s running mate for Ang Mo Kio GRC, also spoke about transport-related matters during his speech, specifically the cost of certificates of entitlement (COEs).

Mr Thomas said that the 100,000 or so Malaysian motorists who enter Singapore on their motorcycles daily pay S$4 a day for their vehicle entry permit, which he called a “substitute to the COE” for Malaysians.

“My question is: Why can’t Singaporeans also pay COE for the motorcycles in smaller installments?” said Mr Thomas, who works in the construction sector as a health, safety and environment personnel.

“Like the Malaysians, there are only (about) 144,000 Singapore registered motorbikes, of which all of them are not on the road on a daily basis. This will remove the burden of service on a bigger loan with interest, over seven years.”

The longest period for a loan repayment of a vehicle is seven years.

Mr Thomas also spoke about the need to improve Singapore’s education system, saying that PPP would expand the capacity of courses available in tertiary education.

“PPP will ensure that all students are secured a course according to their own choice and academic performances, without being limited by course availability.

“We are not choosing lunch here. This is their future, this is Singapore’s future,” he said.