A motorcyclist encountered a double whammy when was thrown off his bike and nearly got run over by a bus, following an accident involving four other cars.
According to Stomp contributor Alex, the accident took place along the Seletar Expressway (SLE) towards the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) before Mandai Exit, at around 9.50pm yesterday (Mar 19).
A video shows the biker being flung off his motorcycle and onto the path of an oncoming bus, which nearly ran over him.
Fortunately, the victim was not hit by the bus and he can be seen trying to crawl to safety. One of his shoes also came undone and was left lying on the road.
Stomp understands that the bus driver stopped to render assistance.
In response to media queries by Stomp, a Police spokesperson confirmed that the accident involved a motorcycle and four cars.
“The 21-year-old male motorcyclist was conscious when he was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital,” added the spokesperson.
JINDO, South Jeolla Province – After nearly three years lying on the sea bed, the Sewol ferry is finally ready to come out of the water.
And the day when the ill-fated passenger ship is brought on land would, for the victims’ families and many ordinary citizens, mark the start of a long-awaited end to bitter disputes and acrimonies over why this country that prides itself in technological prowess failed to rescue over 300 passengers from a slowly sinking ship in broad daylight.
On Friday, when The Korea Herald visited the waters off Jindo, where Sewol capsized on April 16, 2014, final preparations to raise the wreckage of the sunken ship were in full swing.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries had planned to begin lifting it Sunday, but had to change the schedule due to weather conditions. The lifting is mostly likely to take place on April 5 when the next neap tide is expected, a ministry official said.
None had expected salvaging the ship would take this long.
To lift the 6,825-ton ferry, which lies 40 meters underneath the surface of the water, the government had decided to install beams underneath the wreckage, which will be used for the lifting.
“I’ve never seen that kind of soil. It wasn’t bedrock, not earth nor sand, but it was more like a mixture of concrete and rocks,” recalled Lee Cheol-jo, an official from the ministry who has been supervising the entire salvage operation since 2015.
“Each diver had to go underwater and check the soil condition, brief us on what it is, put the drilling machine and this process took too long,” Lee said.
The government announced the salvage operation plan in 2015 and selected Chinese consortium Shanghai Salvage to spearhead the 85 million won (S$104,477) project.
Since then, at least 200 workforces have lived on a floating barge.
The Sewol ferry was carrying 476 people, mostly students on a school trip. Just 172 passengers were rescued and nine bodies are still unaccounted for.
A group of 60 divers, technicians and engineers had to stay awake 24-7, taking turns in three shifts, because they never know when there would be a calmer sea for them to go underwater, they said.
The salvage project began in June last year with the target of bringing the ferry to the surface by the end of July.
But with work postponed several times due to adverse weather and technical problems, the timeline for raising Sewol was repeatedly pushed back to August, September and then October.
Lee Cheol-jo, an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries who has been supervising the entire salvage operation since 2015, briefs on the salvage operation Friday.Photo: The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
To finish the preparation operation in time, divers were put on standby in body-warming suits connected to a hot water tank even in December, ready to go underwater, ministry officials explained. The waters off Jindo are known to have strong currents throughout the year.
Shanghai Salvage, a Chinese company, was the only company that suggested lifting the sunken Sewol using a lifting rack in a method called “tandem lifting.” Other companies mostly suggested hooking the ship and lifting it with a crane.
Lifting a ship of this size with such a method has never before been tried, ministry officials said.
“It is crucial to practice and conduct a final check on the centre of gravity and calculate how much power each lifting wire needs to withstand,” said Lee.
During the entire process, keeping balance is the key to lifting the heavy ship.
The Sewol ferry, lying at the bottom of the sea on its left side, would now weigh about 16,250 tons, due to water, stones and sand inside the ship.
Without knowing the exact location of the nine missing bodies and the heavy freight inside the sunken ferry, they need to precisely analyse the load and forces to lift the ship beforehand, authorities said.
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Hundreds of protestors clash with police over Sewol ferry disaster
Two jack-up barges, which will lift the hull of Sewol, will bring the ship and dock it onto a semi-submersible vessel. The vessel will then carry the ship to a port in Mokpo, about 87 kilometers away.
If work goes smoothly, the whole process will take 10-15 days, ministry officials said.
“We need to lift it at least 35 meters off from the ground during the actual lifting slated for April 5. Then we will be able to see about 13 meters of the hull of the ferry above the surface, to be dried and ready to dock to another vessel to be carried to land for inspection,” said Lee.
In case the missing nine bodies are not found inside the ship, the rest of the workers will continue to search underwater.
A total of 40 40-by-20-meter nets have been installed around the area where the ship is lying. Divers will walk underwater on the seabed and use sonar radar to detect the bodies.
Authorities said that it made the nets as tight as possible so even small bones would not go missing, considering the victims’ families.
“It will be a slow and steady process. But we cannot rush,” said Chang Ki-wuk, head of the salvage operation methods team.
“(Lifting the ship) will be the start of a successful search for not only the missing nine bodies, but to find out the clear cause of the Sewol ferry sinking, which will takes months from now,” Chang added.
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Parents of victims shave heads to protest Sewol ferry disaster
Social media was abuzz when news broke recently of actress Fiona Xie having a new beau – rapper Julien Leo – mostly because she is much older than him.
Xie, who is hosting the sixth season of Channel 5’s home-makeover show Renovaid, is 35 years old, while Leo, son of high fashion retailer Tina Tan-Leo, is 21.
The 14-year age gap does not appear to be an issue for the couple, going by a recent lovey-dovey photo of them which he posted on Instagram.
In it, he has his arms around Xie’s waist andthe caption reads: “Happy Valentine’s Day Baby!! To the memories we’ve made and to the adventures that await us!”
The picture has since been deleted from his account (@jayouleeun), but that has not stopped netizens from capturing screenshots and sharing them online.
When contacted, Xie declined to be interviewed. She did not confirm the relationship either.
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Fiona Xie dating 21-year-old rapper from local band
The actress, who once dated former actor Robin Leong, made her acting debut in Channel 5 drama, Growing Up (1996-2001) and has starred in Channel 8 dramas such as Home In Toa Payoh (2003) and The Champion (2004). She is also known as a bilingual and versatile host of travel and infotainment television shows.
She quit show business in 2009, reportedly to move to Hong Kong to live with her then-boyfriend, an Australian-American. Last year, she returned to Singapore to act and has spoken about seeking psychiatric help following her heartbreak from the split with her previous boyfriend.
Relationships where one partner is significantly younger or older are also known as May-December romances – a reference to how one person is in the spring of his or her life (May) and the other is in the winter (December). And while they are not uncommon in show business, they almost always raise eyebrows.
The Sunday Times looks at some prominent May-December relationships.
SINGAPORE ACTOR CHEN TIANWEN, 53, AND HIS CHINA-BORN WIFE BAO XIAOHUI, 32
Age gap: 21 years
Photo: Shin Min Daily News
After playing supporting roles for three decades, veteran actor Chen experienced a second spring in recent years when he found himself in the spotlight for his performance in the award-winning film, Ilo Ilo (2013).
He was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His music video, Mr Unbelievable, also went viral in 2015 and spawned a movie that same year.
On the personal front, the 53-year-old got a fresh start when he married his second wife, Bao, from Inner Mongolia, in 2014. The couple had a son named Genghis the following year. He has no children with his first wife, who is also from China.
When contacted, Chen declined to be interviewed about his marriage. Previous news reports had quoted him as saying that the couple met on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
ACTOR-DIRECTOR MEL GIBSON, 61, AND FORMER EQUESTRIAN VAULTER ROSALIND ROSS, 26
Age gap: 35 years
Photo: AFP
When Gibson, director of Hacksaw Ridge (2016), walked the Oscar red carpet last month, accompanying him was his girlfriend Ross.
She is also his baby’s mummy, having given birth just weeks before the Academy Awards. Their son, Lars Gerard, is his ninth child and her first.
Gibson was once married to dental nurse Robyn Denise Moore and they had seven children. They divorced in 2009 after 29 years of marriage. He then had another daughter that year with Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva.
In an interview with British tabloid The Daily Mirror in November last year, he said of Ross: “Regarding age and relationships, it’s just a number… We dig each other.
“It might cause a problem and one has a trepidation about these things, but it’s working out great.”
FASHION DESIGNER ASHLEY OLSEN, 30, AND FINANCIER RICHARD SACHS, 58
Age gap: 28 years
Photo: Mary-Kate Olsen’s Facebook
Clearly, the Olsen twins have a thing for much older men. And their lovers are in the finance industry.
While Ashley’s relationship is fairly new – she and Mr Sachs are said to have been together for about five months – Mary-Kate tied the knot with Frenchman Olivier Sarkozy two years ago.
The twins started off as child actresses and continued to act into their teenage years. While Mary-Kate still acts occasionally, her sister has quit. They are now more focused on their fashion business.
When they were photographed on a double date to a basketball game last year, they were reportedly oblivious to the stares from the people around them, openly snuggling, kissing and dancing with their dates.
HONG KONG TVB STARS KEVIN CHENG, 47, AND GRACE CHAN, 25
Age gap: 22 years
Photo: Apple Daily
Chan, a former Miss Hong Kong, is beautiful, but the doe-eyed girl was largely unknown when she made her acting debut at TVB in 2013.
That is, until news broke in 2015 that she was dating hunky veteran TVB actor Cheng.
He was often considered one of the television station’s most eligible bachelors, after his break-up with 41-year-old actress Charmaine Sheh in 2009.
Unlike many Hong Kong celebrities, the couple have been open about their relationship and both have said many times that the age gap is not a problem.
Chan told The Straits Times in an interview last year: “It’s more important how well I can communicate with my significant other. People close to me know I’m serious about this relationship.”
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22-year age gap with beau Kevin Cheng doesn’t bother Grace Chan
TAIWANESE ACTOR NICKY WU, 47, AND CHINESE ACTRESS LIU SHISHI, 30
Age gap: 17 years
Photo: Nicky Wu
In a dream come true for the fans of hit Chinese television drama Scarlet Heart (2011), its lead stars, Wu and Liu, started dating off-screen.
When they tied the knot in Bali last year, the wedding was hailed by fans as the show’s “best special episode”.
At the wedding, Wu, who was married to Chinese actress Ma Yashu before they split in 2009, said of Liu: “God saved the best for me.”
Even though the couple have 17 years between them, one can hardly tell just by looking at them. After all, Wu, considered a heart-throb since his debut in pop group Little Tigers almost three decades ago, looks like he has barely aged a day since.
SINGER MARIAH CAREY, 46, AND DANCER BRYAN TANAKA, 33
Age gap: 13 years
Photo: Reuters
When pop diva Carey broke off her engagement to Australian billionaire businessman James Packer, 49, last October, she moved on almost immediately – into the arms of a much younger Tanaka.
The hunky Tanaka, who is of Caucasian and Japanese heritage, has been a back-up dancer for Carey for the past decade and the two have often been spotted flirting on stage in her shows.
He reportedly works for her as her creative director.
This is not the first time Carey has been in a May-December romance. But when she was married to music executive Tommy Mottola in the 1990s, it was her husband who was 21 years older.
This article was first published on Mar 19, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The 25-year-old green sea turtle, dubbed “Piggy Bank”, was a resident of a small public park for two decades.
According to a wire report, visitors frequently threw coins into its pond because tradition holds that sharing one’s wealth can make the coin thrower live a long life, just like turtles normally do.
But after years of swallowing items thrown into its pool, it became difficult for “Piggy Bank” to swim.
It eventually had to undergo a gruelling seven-hour surgery to remove 915 coins – many corroded – in various currencies from its digestive tract.
Upon hearing the news, property investment firm Country City Investment, which runs the Dempsey Hill cluster of eateries and retail outlets in Singapore, decided to put up two signs around its turtle pond near Block 15 Dempsey Road, to save the seven turtles living there from a similar fate.
These turtles – as well as other fish – had been released by members of the public into the 20 sq m pond over the years.
The pond was built in 2009 to house a giant 1.8m arapaima fish left by a previous tenant.
Mr Nicholas Ng, 38, the firm’s general manager, says: “It is shocking to hear about the news of the turtle in Thailand. Visitors need to be educated to prevent such incidents from happening again.”
Visitors usually throw a few hundred dollars’ worth of coins a year into the turtle pond, he adds.
These coins are cleared regularly as part of pond maintenance and the money goes towards charitable causes, such as programmes to help children, youth and the elderly.
Last Thursday, Mr Kamrul Islam, 39, a general worker with the firm, collected $1.50 worth of coins.
He says: “I just cleared the coins a week ago. People can throw in up to $30 a month.”
Over at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in Bright Hill Road is another turtle pond containing about 400 turtles.
A glass barrier has been installed around the pond to prevent visitors from throwing anything inside.
The monastery’s senior manager, Mr Patrick Lee, says: “We should take this as an opportunity to remind ourselves not to cause suffering or take away innocent lives through negligent acts such as littering.”
Dr Jaipal Singh Gill, 34, executive director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says: “Coins should never be thrown into an enclosure with animals.
“They will serve a much greater purpose in a charity’s donation box.”
He explains that animals sometimes consume non-food items possibly because they mistake these items for food, or from nutritional imbalances or a sense of frustration from living in a stressful or barren environment.
“Coins that are eaten will initially settle in the animal’s stomach and may then make their way into the intestines. They can cause pain, discomfort and intestinal blockages, preventing the passage of food and absorption of nutrients. Left untreated, the animal will likely die.”
He adds that it is good to see owners of ponds in Singapore stepping up to take responsibility for the animals under their care.
As for “Piggy Bank”, its surgery was successful and it reportedly paddled around a small pool with relative ease last Monday.
This article was first published on Mar 20, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Every time cab driver Ong Koh Chee encounters passengers with luggage or carrying bulky items, he makes it a point to help them load their items into his taxi.
The 56-year-old, who has been a cab driver for 20 years, treats it as part of his job and will not shy away from doing it, even if the items look heavy.
“I still have enough strength to handle it. Maybe if I were 60 or 70, I wouldn’t be able to, but since I still can, why not?”
However, he is actually going the extra mile. Cab companies and private car companies here say that while drivers are encouraged to help passengers with bulky items, it is not a strict rule to be followed.
“It is situational, as there may be times when the driver has an injury and may hurt himself while carrying it. He may also end up damaging the bulky item,” says a spokesman for Premier Taxi.
Taxi companies Premier Taxi and Trans-cab and private car companies Grab and Uber told The Sunday Times they do not enforce such rules.
Other taxi operators ComfortDelGro, SMRT and Prime did not respond by press time.
This issue of drivers helping passengers with bulky items arose recently when a Grab driver boasted on Facebook that she had left her passenger’s luggage behind.
Sharing her encounter on a Facebook group for Uber and Grab drivers, she claimed she had done so because she was displeased at her passenger’s assumption that she should load it into the car for him.
The post sparked debate online, with many showing their support for the driver. And while her reaction is not an oft-seen one, her reasoning – that drivers are not porters – is one shared by many other taxi and ride-share drivers on the roads here.
Like her, full-time Uber driver Vivian Ong, 23, feels that her job is to provide a safe and comfortable ride.
While she will willingly help passengers in need, such as the old and disabled, she is less willing when it comes to able-bodied passengers.
“Ultimately, I feel that driving is the service, our job is to get people from point A to B,” she says.
“If you look as fit as me and are perfectly capable of doing it, I would be a lot more reluctant to do it,” says Ms Ong, who started driving for Uber two months ago.
Recalling an incident where a passenger had stood by watching her lift his luggage, she says: “It left a bad taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day, I need the five-star rating, so I’ll still do it.”
She was referring to the driver- rating system used by Uber, where drivers with consistently low ratings may have their account deactivated.
Others, too, are reluctant to help, especially when the passenger’s fares are lower. Grab driver Bronson Lee, 45, typically does not help passengers travelling short distances.
“It’s also about morals. The fare is already so low and you still expect the driver to carry your things for you? We are not movers,” says Mr Lee, who has been driving for 11/2 years.
Most other drivers The Sunday Times spoke to, however, have no issues with helping their passengers, although many view it as an additional service.
“I just treat it as a form of courtesy. It’ll make the trip friendlier if you do it,” says Grab driver Javis Ong, 21.
Cabby George Lim, 43, too, makes it a point to get out of the taxi to help.
“We drive long hours so it’s a chance for me to exercise too,” he says, noting that taking the initiative to help also prevents customers from complaining about his service.
The majority of passengers The Sunday Times spoke to say that drivers help them with their items more than 75 per cent of the time. That said, most also felt that drivers were under no obligation to help them.
“Honestly, we do not pay them for their extra services,” says civil servant Cynthia Chen, 40, who typically loads her items herself.
For 42-year-old Eddie Vedder, even if the drivers come forward to help him, he will insist on hoisting his own luggage.
“If something happens to his back, who will be responsible for it?” asks the internal auditor.
“In no way should a taxi driver become a porter or a butler at the expense of his well-being.”
This article was first published on Mar 20, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The United States’ top envoy brushed aside months of tension between Beijing and Washington at the end of his visits with high-level Chinese authorities, pledging tighter bilateral co-operation.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday completed a three-country Asia trip aimed at mapping a game plan against the looming North Korean threat.
Taiwan barely figures into this plan, with no mention of it made in any of the US State Department’s press statements during Tillerson’s Beijing stop.
US President Donald Trump had fanned the hopes of some in Taiwan while angering Beijing’s leaders in December by accepting a congratulatory call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
He also stoked ire in Beijing with tweets over Taiwan, North Korea and China’s escalating actions in the South China Sea.
But his secretary of state struck a cordial tone in Beijing, the last stop of his Asia trip, assuring the government there that Trump was seeking to improve ties and to “do everything we can” to prevent conflict from breaking out on the Korean Peninsula.
Trump places a “very high value on the communications” that he has already had with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, he said.
Tillerson’s public statements and those of officials he met including Xi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were dominated by the issue of North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programme.
Vow for Closer US-China Ties
Xi and Tillerson pledged in their talks Sunday that their two countries would work to strengthen a relationship that has been unsettled by disputes over North Korea and trade.
Xi met Tillerson in Beijing just hours after nuclear-armed North Korea tested US-China unity anew with a provocative rocket engine test, and with negotiations under way for a potential Xi summit next month with Trump in the United States.
Xi said told Tillerson that he and Trump had resolved in a phone call last month “to make joint efforts to advance China-US co-operation, and we believe that we can make sure the relationship will move ahead in a constructive fashion in the new era.”
“I’m confident that as long as we can do this the relationship can surely move in the right direction,” Xi said.
En route to Beijing, Tillerson visited US allies Japan and South Korea where he declared Washington would drop the “failed” approach of strategic patience diplomacy with Pyongyang – a sharp break with China, which favors careful diplomacy over heated rhetoric.
Relations have also been strained by China’s fierce opposition to a US anti-missile defence system being deployed in South Korea, and Trump’s Twitter accusation on Friday that China was not doing enough to control its neighbour and historic ally Pyongyang.
Trump also has repeatedly accused China of unfair trade practice.
But Tillerson has made nice while in Beijing.
“We know that through further dialogue we will achieve a greater understanding that will lead to a … strengthening of the ties between China and the United States and set the tone for our future relationship of co-operation,” Tillerson told Xi.
Earlier Sunday, North Korean state media said the isolated regime had tested a powerful engine hailed by leader Kim Jong-Un as a “new birth” for its rocket industry, which experts view as cover for developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.
In addition to a blockbuster main event featuring newly-crowned ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and top lightweight contender Ev “E.T.” Ting of Malaysia, ONE Championship recently announced eight bouts to solidify a spectacular fight card in Manila. The event takes place at the 20,000-seater Mall of Asia Arena on 21 April.
Added to the card are Folayang’s veteran Team Lakay stablemates Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon (14-5), Danny “The King” Kingad, and the debuting Gina “Conviction” Iniong (4-2).
Belingon, a wushu striking specialist, is coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Tajikistan prospect Muin Gafurov last October, and is set to take on Finnish grappling sensation Toni “Dynamite” Tauru (11-4-1). Tauru submitted Belingon’s Team Lakay teammate Geje Eustaquio last December, and Belingon has been wanting a piece of Tauru ever since.
Following Eustaquio’s loss, Filipino fight fans took to social media to demand a Belingon-Tauru matchup, to which the 29-year-old Belingon promptly agreed. Now, Belingon gets exactly what he had asked for. Tauru is certainly no slouch however, and is as dangerous as a fighter as they come. The stylistic matchup should be an entertaining affair for however long it lasts.
Making her highly-anticipated ONE Championship debut is Team Lakay female atomweight athlete Gina “Conviction” Iniong. She will go head-to-head with Filipino-English star, “The Kilapino” Natalie Gonzales Hills (1-4).
Iniong is one fighter Filipino fans have been yearning to see inside the ONE Championship cage. She already holds a victory over former atomweight title challenger Mei Yamaguchi in another promotion, and is said to be a legitimate candidate for a run at “Unstoppable” Angela Lee’s ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship.
If Iniong can get past Hills, who has been working hard to improve her skills training in the United States over the past couple of months, it could set up a possible date with higher-tier opponents later this year.
Making his return to the ONE Championship cage is high-flying young star Danny “The King” Kingad. Kingad, one of the most promising prospects to come out of the Philippines in recent memory, is undefeated so far in his professional career. His last two fights with ONE have ended in spectacular finishes. He’ll take on Malaysian prospect Muhammad Aiman (2-1).
The man Kingad defeated in his last outing, the enigmatic Eugene Toquero (8-4) will also be making an appearance in Manila, this time against unbeaten Indonesian fighter Stefer Rahardian (5-0).
Aside from the incredible showcase of top local talent from the Philippines, a handful of international ONE superstars are also scheduled to see action, with the main card featuring a bout between Cambodia’s Chan Rothana (4-2) and China’s Xie Bin (2-2).
What’s more, Christian “The Warrior” Lee (5-1), a top featherweight prospect representing Singapore by way of Waipahu, Hawaii, is ready to make his return to the ONE Championship cage.
Lee, who was put to sleep courtesy of a Martin Nguyen guillotine choke last August, took some time away from competition to work on sharpening his skills for an inevitable comeback. The 18-year-old will finally get to face long-time divisional rival and fellow top prospect Keanu Subba (5-2) of Malaysia.
The pair have long been on somewhat of a collision course as two of the top young talents in the promotion. They get the chance to settle the score once and for all in Manila.
Also on the card is Evolve MMA female stalwart and women’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Michelle Nicolini (3-1). Nicolini made her ONE Championship promotional debut last November, winning by submission over Mona Samir. This time, the eight-time BJJ world champion is set to clash with unbeaten 33-year-old Russian fighter Irina Mazepa (2-0).
Mazepa is one of the top contenders at strawweight, having already defeated Malaysian standout Ann Osman and former women’s boxing world champion Ana Julaton in her first two appearances inside the ONE Championship cage. It will be a tremendous test for Nicolini, who gets the opportunity to prove her mettle against a top-tier foe.
Kicking off the preliminary portion of the night is Filipino wushu specialist Robin Catalan (5-2) who takes on compatriot Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado (6-0).
All in all, ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY is certainly one of the most stacked fight cards of the year. Filipino fight fans have on their hands an evening that they just cannot afford to miss. Additional bouts will be announced at a later date.
So it looks like nothing is standing in the way of taxi companies imposing their version of “surge pricing” on customers.
Last Friday, the Public Transport Council (PTC) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a statement saying they had “no objections” to the proposals by taxi companies to impose what they termed “dynamic pricing”.
Surge pricing, a system used by private car-sharing apps such as Uber and Grab, adjusts fares according to passenger demand in a particular area at a particular time.
Taxi companies had applied to the PTC to be allowed to introduce such fare pricing on bookings made on mobile apps.
Uber and GrabCar have, in recent years, provided real competition to cab companies, with media reports of many un-rented cabs sitting around.
There was hope that, if nothing else, this competition will finally drive cab companies to provide better service to customers and better welfare for their drivers too.
I find it rather ironic that of all the things to learn from the likes of Uber and Grab, the cab companies have chosen to copy their surge pricing.
After all, surge pricing is probably the one thing that commuters hate most about these apps.
Just think back to July 2015, when two of the main MRT lines – the North-South and East-West lines – had a major breakdown that lasted for 3½ hours.
Enjoy $7 OFF on GrabTaxi from 10am – 10pm daily! Take a Standard Taxi ride between 10am and 10 pm with GrabPay (Debit/Credit Card), and get $7 off by entering promo code: 1010
He is currently recuperating at home. For his loss of income during this period, the daily reported that Lau would get RM195,000 a day, based on his 51 days of stay at hospital, and another six months for rehabilitation (183 days).
The 55-year-old suffered multiple fractures in his pelvis and strained his tendon and muscle during the Jan 17 incident.
