Just a brief introduction of myself, I’m a frequent traveller to and fro the two cities. I’ve been doing this for the past 15 years, not one or two. Doing this for such a long time, I realised that there’s a pattern to the buses.

Travel fares (As at publishing date)

Note that if you travel from JB, you pay fares in Ringgit Malaysia. If you board the bus at Singapore Customs or in Singapore, you’d have to pay in Singapore Dollars.

Want to be time and cost efficient? You can be a smart traveller. Read on.

I thought the new Contactless ePurse Applications (CEPAS) compliant EZ-Link was almost the same as the previous (SONY?) card. I’m very wrong.

“Please Top Up”

With $1.48 of value inside my card, I didn’t know I would be prompted to top up my card and I wouldn’t be able to take the MRT. Oh well, I was able to get onto a bus few days back. Whatever.

I discovered that the new card requires you to have at least $3 inside your card to get on a MRT. Why? Because the $3 deposit from your previous card was deducted for the new card. That means you’re paying for their upgrades. (Correct me if I’m wrong)

New Features

• You can (now/soon) pay for your meals, shop at 7-Eleven, Buy 4D/Toto/buy soccer bets, pay for government services, improve your own health, etc etc with your new card. Means you got no cash or if you maxed your credit cards, you can still do shopping provided your EZ-Link card got money.
• Can pay ERP with this card? They’re making your life so good. If you forgotten to top up your cash card, you still can go through the gantry without getting fined.  (Am I right?)
• You can now top-up your card at more places. (Ofcourse got charge you small fee at some places!) EZ-Online top up service. Let me review it when I’ve tried.
• Higher e-Purse capacity. So you can now store up to $500 inside your card. This can be your next pre-paid current account!

Got Free Gift Somemore!

Wow. EZ-Link is offering you free 6 months insurance (Provided you’re not older than 81 and you’re at least 18! Click here to register. But after 6 months, we won’t know they’ll do (with ACE Insurance). Maybe bug you to get another policy at a fee?

Have you replaced?

This card so good, you haven’t replaced? From now till 30th September 2009, you can do a 1-for-1 exchange (at selected MRT stations/Post Office Branches/TransitLink Offices). Go replace it during working hours. Use your boss’ time, not your own. It’s ok to return back to office late sometimes. More info here.

Got something to share with me regarding the new EZ-Link card?

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.