I recently got invited into Facebook groups like PETITION AGAINST HIGH BUS FARES for POLY STUDENTS and Travel Concession for FULL-TIME SIM Students, a plea for common sense but I didn’t join. What’s the point?
The creators of the groups wrote stuffs like:
It is obviously unfair that SMRT and SBS charge polytechnic students adult fares while JC students only pay 45cents per trip. Are we not of the same age as JC students? Do we NOT travel as much as JC students do? Are our families any better off than theirs? The general answer is NO, Polytechnic students are in fact just average students. Yes, there are elder students who are already working and capable of supporting themselves, but they still hold a very much smaller percentage as compared to the young students fresh from secondary school. I do believe SMRT and SBS are smart enough to not make decisions based on stereotyping thinking, and i certainly do believe that they are capable of being fair and unbiased, so i take it this fare difference was due to negligence in decision discussion and making. A higher fare would very directly affect the students’ moods about school, discouraging students from poorer families to continue with their studies. This could impact the Singaporean economy as the majority of people studying go to polytechnics after their O levels, and a high fare would discourage workers from coming back to polytechnics to upgrade themselves.
and ..
I’m sure many of us feel the need to be recognised as full time undergraduate students who deserve concession for public transport too, just as much as our peers in the public universities. I heard even students, if it is indeed true, of LaSalle College of the Arts get approved as tertiary students who deserve concession.(Pardon me if I’m wrong) So why not us too?
But you think your voices are heard when you write so much on Facebook? Ministers don’t use Facebook (am I right?).
My suggestions
Riots won’t be allowed in Singapore, so don’t even think about it.
I would suggest we all target our school’s students’ union. Let them voice it for our behalf. If not, what’s the students’ union for?
If your school’s student union isn’t doing anything about this, write in to your school’s student affairs. Remind them that you’re (we’re) all not rich.
Now I know its not easy, but contact the media. Let the media know that you got a few thousand people here that aren’t happy. (Few thousand for a poly isn’t sufficient. At least find 20% of the school population.) Form a group of 10-30 people first, camp at food courts daily to gather signatures and NRICs/Student ID. Let the media know what you’ve got and that they should voice it for you.
And again if this doesn’t work, go suck thumb.
Oh or if you’ve got a better suggestion, let me know. I completed my 3 years in poly and I know, if they wanted to implement what you suggested, they would have done it years back.
… again, good night.
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