Uber is ever experimenting – and Singapore remains a choice testing ground for the San Francisco-based ride-booking app, Uber Singapore general manager Warren Tseng told reporters on Monday.

It is a market Uber “prioritises”, it is the “San Francisco of this part of the world”, he said. Singapore is where Uber has made several “big bold bets” – an operating principle spelt out on the company’s office walls – from setting up a car-rental company to recruiting drivers to venturing into cash payments to woo heartlanders.

Mr Tseng described Lion City Rentals, a car-rental company Uber set up here last year in a world’s first for Uber, as a “very successful experiment”. Designed to recruit drivers through affordable, flexible car rental options, this move has since been replicated in the United States and India.

Uber’s recent trial to let riders pay their fares in cash has been well-received, he added. One in three first-time riders now opt to use cash, with heartlands Tampines and Simei showing the biggest hike in cash sign-ups and first trips, followed by Bishan-Ang Mo Kio, Woodlands and Bukit Panjang.

The pay-in-cash option, soon to be rolled out island-wide, could attract a new demographic – students who do not own credit cards, said Mr Tseng of this departure from Uber’s cashless-only policy, under which its app automatically charges the rider’s credit card on file.

Since Uber slashed its UberX fares by 15 per cent last week in its latest experiment to win market share, its number of rides in Singapore has risen by 10 per cent, and new riders, by 20 per cent. Drivers have been able to put “more butts in seats” and lower their downtime; their earnings have also stabilised.

Said Mr Tseng: “It’s a good time for this experiment. The price cuts are doing what they’re designed to do.”

Uber’s rival Grab, which lowered its GrabCar fares days after Uber’s price cut for UberX, agreed that the price cut was a “strategic move” to boost passenger demand and drivers’ productivity.

Yang Nan, assistant strategy and policy professor at the National University of Singapore Business School, said of the price war: “Uber doesn’t do this only to compete with Grab. With the 15 per cent cut, UberX is now cheaper than regular taxis most of the time and definitely during peak hours and in areas with surcharges.”

The sustainability of Uber’s price cut however, depends on demand elasticity, he noted. “If the increased number of rides and reduced downtime more than make up for the 15 per cent, it will be kept. Even it doesn’t, Uber cares about having a larger customer base. But I wonder how it will affect drivers’ willingness to work with Uber.”

Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University, said everything that Uber does is an experiment since it is a young company in a nascent business.

“So, nothing special about Singapore. The only test that this may be is whether an on-demand car service can work in one of the most regulated cities in the world, where people actually follow rules.”

Uber’s private-hire-car rental model, which it operates through its fully owned Lion City Rentals, has been described by some as sub-renting and evasive. Grab, on the other hand, advocates an absolute-partnership model. Its head Lim Kell Jay said: “As a technology company, we do not own vehicles. Partnering vehicle-owning companies enables us to stay lean and asset-light, translating into lower ride costs for passengers.”

UniSIM senior lecturer Walter Theseira said the rise of private-hire-car services have improved taxi drivers’ bargaining position with respect to their operating companies: “They now have meaningful alternatives.”

This article was first published on April 26, 2016.
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He spoke to The New Paper from Bangladesh, where his Tampines Rovers side are poised to take on Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi in Group E of the AFC Cup today.

Victory will push the Stags a step closer to becoming the first Singapore side to qualify from the group stage of the second-tier regional tourney since Home United in 2012.

V Sundramoorthy’s team are chasing history, but it was The Dazzler’s own footballing past that caught up with him recently and drew a warm glow.

Sundram met up with childhood football buddy K Muralidharan Pillai – the People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate who will contest the May 7 Bukit Batok by-election – to make a video and, together, they talked about the sepia-tinted days gone by, when football was simple and brought so much joy.

Former Singapore international Sundram believes that Murali’s character, displayed early on the streets of 14th mile Sembawang and at the foot of the Jurong Town Corporation flats there, will ensure the lawyer does well in the coming hustings.

“He was more of a scholar who would balance football with studies and that was what made him stand out from the rest of us who just wanted to play football,” Sundram told TNP.

“We’ll be playing till it got dark, but Murali would always leave earlier so he could go back and study. He didn’t even have to say why he had to run off, we all knew he was that kind of responsible boy.”

The kind of responsibility Murali displayed as a kid is a major reason Sundram, 50, believes his old buddy will serve the people of Bukit Batok well.

“The moment we met, I realised that he is still the same down-to-earth and jovial fellow I knew then – and he carries himself well. Those of us who grew up with him will be very proud if he does pull this off,” said Sundram, who meets Murali every now and then at family gatherings.

Murali remembers vividly playing football with his famous friend as a kid, and how his job as a teammate was to simply collect the ball and pass it to Sundram.

The 48-year-old credits his parents for his off-the-field discipline.

“Coming from a modest family background – my father even juggled two jobs at one time to put food on the table – my parents emphasised that a good education would serve us well in life,” said Murali.

“I must confess I leaned towards play more often… I recall a number of occasions where my mother would go marching to the football pitch to ask me to go back home immediately to wash up and study.”

Sundram went on to don national colours and become one of Singapore’s greatest footballers and he now dreams of leading the Lions as coach.

Murali’s journey to leadership on the national stage followed a different path, but one that Sundram believes deserves equal, if not more, credit.

“My dream as a kid was every kid’s dream, just to play a match at the National Stadium… we never even thought about playing in Europe,” said Sundram, who turned out for Swiss side FC Basel in the 1980s.

“I think the challenge – and impact of success – of this election is about the same for Murali, and all of us who grew up with him are supporting him.”

“I’m in Bangladesh now, the first time I’ve been back here since 1982 when I was 18 and played in an Asian youth tournament. You won’t believe how old I feel. But you realise some things never change – like friends from your younger days, like Murali – a time when it was all so innocent.” – V Sundramoorthy

“In the 14th mile JTC flats at Sembawang, I had a wide circle of friends from different races and social backgrounds, and we respected each other. This early childhood experience laid the foundation for me to be able to reach out to people of different backgrounds, make friends with them and work together for the betterment of our community.” – Murali Pillai

This article was first published on April 26, 2016.
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