Thursday April 14, 2011
Making a Point - By Jagdev Singh Sidhu
WHEN Malaysians heard of the massive 500km mass rapid transit system being planned for Iskandar Malaysia, a knee jerk reaction was expected.
Many found it incredulous that such an expensive and expansive public transport system could be mooted by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda).
The cost of the 150km of MRT being planned for Kuala Lumpur, which has a large number of people coping with a poor public transportation system and a clogged up road network is probably in excess of RM50bil and many people wonder how Irda is justifying one for Iskandar Malaysia. It has far fewer people in an area three times larger than Singapore.
Checks with Irda, however, paint a different picture from what was in the news.
Irda officials claim that the 500km integrated transportation network over that distance would mainly utilise a bus rapid transit system, which will cost far less than an MRT.
The rail component would not necessarily be the MRT and could be limited to just a few km of a monorail system.
The message of their statement is this - planning is necessary for Iskandar Malaysia and it's a luxury Irda and Iskandar Malaysia should capitalise on as it has the opportunity to do something that most other cities in Malaysia did not.
Although Iskandar Malaysia encompasses Johor Baru, much of the land area is an open canvas for the authority to chart an efficient public transportation system from scratch.
That means Iskandar Malaysia should not fall into the transportation trap many of the other major cities in Malaysia are facing.
The population of Iskandar Malaysia is projected at 1.5 million people.
The road network in Iskandar Malaysia, which is being upgraded and with new arteries being built, will be enough to cater for that population.
As a large number of people living in Iskandar Malaysia commute to work in Singapore, a proper transportation system is needed to ferry them across the Tebrau Strait.
More light would be shed when the construction of a station connecting the island with Johor Baru was formalised.
But Iskandar Malaysia will need an upgraded public transportation system within southern Johor.
Development plans and programmes underway are anticipated to see more people moving into Iskandar Malaysia as the billions of ringgit of investments already committed and being earmarked should see the number of people living in Iskandar Malaysia rise to three million by 2025.
The projects planned would lead to a massive number of people migrating to Iskandar Malaysia. EduCity, Legoland and the Premium Outlet are designed to cater to large number of people.
The Premium Outlet, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, will occupy an area of 44 arces and it expects four million visitors in its first full year of operations.
If the bigger picture was communicated clearly and concisely, much of the consternation over the 500km MRT news would have been avoided or if the message was from clear from the start.
In fact, articulating development plans that involve a large sum of the taxpayers' money should not be left to random interpretation.
Deputy news editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu thinks a lot of husbands would need to make an investment in a pair of good walking shoes once the Johor Premium Outlet is completed.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/14/business/8478099&sec=business
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Do you know you are not a good customer if you pay debts on time? So ...
Monday July 26, 2010
Monday Starters - By Soo Ewe Jin
Good customers deserve rewards, too
I AM quite sure the bank that issues me my credit cards (just two) does not consider me a good customer.
I spend way below my credit limit and, save for a few occasions, pay my bill in full and on time.
A friend who works in the industry once told me: “To be honest, you are not the kind of customer we want. A good customer is one who spends more, defaults now and then, and allows us to charge interest on his outstanding balance.”
I came across a report in The Washington Post last Friday which stated that credit card issuers in the US are facing a similar problem with customers like me.
Ylan Q. Mui wrote: “After the recession forced credit card companies to purge their rosters of the riskiest loans, the industry is facing a new problem: customers who are too good.
“Card issuers have long found their bread and butter in penalty fees and high interest rates paid by consumers who carry a balance.
“But that business model has been upended by the legions of consumers who were overwhelmed by debt when the recession hit, forcing the industry to write off billions of dollars in loans. In addition, new federal laws limit how much card companies can charge risky customers.
“Now, frugal-minded consumers are charging less on their credit cards, paying down their balances and steering clear of penalty fees – steps that are financially responsible but have the industry scrambling to find new ways to make money.”
What’s wrong with customers who are too good, one might ask?
I find that in the real world, customers who are not-so-good appear to be reaping better rewards.
Every now and then, the recalcitrant ones get discounts for being late, and one can’t help but feel a sense of injustice for being prompt and responsible.
For example, I pay all my bills on time but I never even get a thank you note from any of the utilities companies.
They are also not very consistent. Sometimes, they can be very quick to withdraw the service when you don’t pay up so that they can happily charge you a reconnect fee. At times, they also let the bill build up until it becomes virtually impossible to collect the arrears.
We should consider a carrot-and-stick approach whereby good customers should also be rewarded.
For example, if my record shows that I pay all my utilities bills from January to December on time, how about giving me a 10% discount on the first bill of the new year?
If you subscribe to satellite TV, your connection is cut off if you delay paying, but would the company consider giving an extra channel or two to those subscribers who never default for, say, two years in a row?
I am one of the pioneer subscribers to the Internet since the dial-up days but I find that those who sign up later get better packages because of increasing competition. Now, wouldn’t it be nice if they quietly upgrade my connection speed as a way to reward my loyalty?
But we have to get back down to earth. After all, our accounts are computerised and the IT people will tell you they cannot write exceptions into the programme or it will crash. To the system, we are just statistics, not people.
Still, a thank you email generated by the computer could make my day.
● Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin is happy to win a free meal at a sandwich restaurant near The Star thanks to a lucky draw. All he did was drop his name card into the bowl the week before.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/26/business/6728341&sec=business
Monday Starters - By Soo Ewe Jin
Good customers deserve rewards, too
I AM quite sure the bank that issues me my credit cards (just two) does not consider me a good customer.
I spend way below my credit limit and, save for a few occasions, pay my bill in full and on time.
A friend who works in the industry once told me: “To be honest, you are not the kind of customer we want. A good customer is one who spends more, defaults now and then, and allows us to charge interest on his outstanding balance.”
I came across a report in The Washington Post last Friday which stated that credit card issuers in the US are facing a similar problem with customers like me.
Ylan Q. Mui wrote: “After the recession forced credit card companies to purge their rosters of the riskiest loans, the industry is facing a new problem: customers who are too good.
“Card issuers have long found their bread and butter in penalty fees and high interest rates paid by consumers who carry a balance.
“But that business model has been upended by the legions of consumers who were overwhelmed by debt when the recession hit, forcing the industry to write off billions of dollars in loans. In addition, new federal laws limit how much card companies can charge risky customers.
“Now, frugal-minded consumers are charging less on their credit cards, paying down their balances and steering clear of penalty fees – steps that are financially responsible but have the industry scrambling to find new ways to make money.”
What’s wrong with customers who are too good, one might ask?
I find that in the real world, customers who are not-so-good appear to be reaping better rewards.
Every now and then, the recalcitrant ones get discounts for being late, and one can’t help but feel a sense of injustice for being prompt and responsible.
For example, I pay all my bills on time but I never even get a thank you note from any of the utilities companies.
They are also not very consistent. Sometimes, they can be very quick to withdraw the service when you don’t pay up so that they can happily charge you a reconnect fee. At times, they also let the bill build up until it becomes virtually impossible to collect the arrears.
We should consider a carrot-and-stick approach whereby good customers should also be rewarded.
For example, if my record shows that I pay all my utilities bills from January to December on time, how about giving me a 10% discount on the first bill of the new year?
If you subscribe to satellite TV, your connection is cut off if you delay paying, but would the company consider giving an extra channel or two to those subscribers who never default for, say, two years in a row?
I am one of the pioneer subscribers to the Internet since the dial-up days but I find that those who sign up later get better packages because of increasing competition. Now, wouldn’t it be nice if they quietly upgrade my connection speed as a way to reward my loyalty?
But we have to get back down to earth. After all, our accounts are computerised and the IT people will tell you they cannot write exceptions into the programme or it will crash. To the system, we are just statistics, not people.
Still, a thank you email generated by the computer could make my day.
● Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin is happy to win a free meal at a sandwich restaurant near The Star thanks to a lucky draw. All he did was drop his name card into the bowl the week before.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/26/business/6728341&sec=business
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