Jalan Besar tourist prison

Some shop houses along Jalan Besar have been propped up with support bars by the LTA to minimize damage from ongoing MRT construction in the area. The black-and-yellow striped bars look like barriers from a crime scene (which it is not) or a construction site (which it is, peripherally) and have been likened to a prison. The fear is visitors and tourists will be put off by it and assume it is not safe to go there.

The problem is not the bars themselves but the message they send: Danger - stay away. The solution is simple. Paint the bars in bright colors (lime green, bright orange, hot pink, etc.) and it will look artsy, even inviting. No one would associate that with a warning barrier.

Orchid Revolution?

Ever since the election the government has been bending over backwards to appear responsive to the people. I had strange thoughts creeping into my head – is the whip being passed from the government to the governed? Spring Singapore chairman Philip Yeo expressed fear that the government may become “terrified of the people” and pamper them too much. A reader wrote in to the Straits Times expressing a similar fear. Though the Speaker’s Corner is empty as usual, could we be in the midst of an Orchid Revolution?

Meanwhile, over at the Maplewoods condominium, a bunch of crybaby residents are whining about construction work on the new MRT line going on outside their development. After hearing their alternative plan, LTA engineers felt it would cause delay, but that that did not satisfy the residents. I guess these Complaint Kings and Queens think they know better than the professionals who have done a remarkable job to date in building a world-class mass transit system. It looks like the whiners will secure a number of concessions, or “goodies,” after their pathetic outburst. Which means we can expect more to come – if not from them, then from many others who will no doubt try to follow their example.

MRT related construction is causing disruption all over Bukit Timah and other areas. Maplewoods owners will benefit greatly when the new line is completed, with a station right outside their door. They will gladly accept the increase in value to their property and the proximity to the MRT. They just don’t want to bear any inconvenience along the way.

There are few things in life as irritating as a spoiled brat – except for a hundred of them.