FREQUENT LIFT BREAKDOWNS CONFIRM PAP MPs UNFIT TO BE ESTATE MANAGERS?

Ah Kow: Bro, you heard about the lift breakdown in Woodlands on Sunday night? Not one but ALL the lifts not working at the same time!

A large number of residents living in this 33-storey block are elderly folks

Ahmad: This is a new record for Singapore and a world record for public housing. And this is not a 30- or 40-year old block but it was built only last year. How come can lidat?

Arumugam: During the Bukit Batok by-election, PAP MP Grace Fu anyhow hantam Dr Chee and questioned “SDP’s readiness to run a town council”. I think the recent lift breakdowns confirm PAP’s self praise about its estate management is all bullshit. How to manage estate properly when can’t even ensure lifts work properly?

Ahmad: Last year, a lift in Taman Jurong severed an old lady’s hand and nobody was at fault. But how can a hand be trapped between the doors of a lift? The victim’s son also said he was very uncomfortablebecause before all the evidence were removed before examiner had conducted the inspection. So town council not at fault and residents just have to move on?

Ah Kow: I heard that in March this year, a lift in PM Lee constituency shot up 17 floors like a rocket with a poor domestic helper trapped inside for 90 minutes. So you know who they blame? Nobody again but blame on faulty brakes. BCA suddenly came in to wayang and said it takes a “serious view”: after this, residents were assured the government is serious and forgot to blame PM’s town council.

Arumugam: 2 months later in May, another lift malfunctioned in Pasir Ris and caused the death of a 77-year old man after he fell from his mobility scooter. Things are really getting bad. Who would believe residents living in first world public housing could be killed by a lift?

Lift malfunction killed a HDB resident

Ahmad: And rocket lift not only available in Ang Mo Kio but also in Sengkang this month, according toresident Faridah Mohamed.

Ah Kow: Quite funny that Singaporeans can believe PAP talking cock about estate management when all PAP MPs have no estate management background. They think just OJT can make them good estate managers. What a joke.

Arumugam: Aiyah, PAP just want to place its own people in HDB estate for control la. But now their true colours all can see. It’s just like SMRT without good management and leadership, everything starting to fall apart. Very soon, our country will also fall apart from all this incompetence.

Ah Kow: Town councils also use the same excuse as SMRT – blame it on power fault. Every time NO ONE at fault. But when comes to credit and bonus, suddenly the queue longer than Toto queue for CNY draw.

Arumugam: HDB residents also quite stupid because they vote for such a system. In other countries, they have professional estate managers who are held accountable. In Singapore, we vote to have millionaire MPs staying in landed property who know nothing about estate management.

Ahmad: If residents look around, they will realise the town council property officer is MIA. Most of the town council work is done by cleaners. If residents want work to be done, we have to provide feedback, even on obvious issue. So residents are effectively doing work for the town council. You think stupid or not?

Arumugam: Lift breakdowns is not rocket science but town councils make it seem like the issue so complicated. First they should not try to save on cost by using companies with the lowest bid because they employ mostly foreign talents. These companies squeeze and kekan their foreign talents to make more profit and the foreign talents just L L keep quiet when kena tekan. But you think they all so stupid and do a good job for the company?

Ahmad: I think if my boss tekan me every time, I will also screw up the job. Anyway, when something happen many years down, I already balik kampong or work in other companies. Same as SMRT foreign engineering staff right?

Ah Kow: I remember when MP Goh wanted to increase his salary and ministers’ salary, he said that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. But when it comes to blue collar workers, they suddenly reverse gear and happy to pay peanuts. He think they will do a good job? How come got double standard?

Arumugam: Cheap labour is one issue but the other one is our lifts are overused by renovation contractors but not monitored by town councils. All a contractor does is apply for a permit and the cleaners will clean the lift after job is done. Although the lift has been cleaned, what about construction debris kena stuck between doors and under the lift? No problem, just close one eye and handle the issue when problem arises or if residents provide feedback. How to expect lifts not to break down when they are not properly maintained?

Ah Kow: Bro, you should be a lift consultant. 

Arumugam: Actually a lot of things common sense. But when PAP makes a mistake, they are just trying to cover up by complicating things and wayang to deflect blame. Things are only going to get worse because HDB hardware also getting older. When the government only focuses on profiting from citizens, they see maintenance as a cost eating into their profits and so will cut down cost as much as possible.

Ahmad: Anyway, I think MPs should only be our voice in Parliament. It says a lot about them when our lifts have become unsafe or breaking down more frequently. Really quite silly to appoint MPs as estate managers when they have zero background in estate management.