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To nationalise or privatise?
By Singapore Man of Leisure  •  July 24, 2011
The recent call to review and perhaps nationalise the public transport of Singapore caught my attention. There are pros and cons of course, but let's take 2 examples: 1) HDB - nationalised. 2) Taxis - liberalised and deregulated. HDB I thought there were lots of noise recently that HDB is not "transparent" with it's costing and pricing? Making too much profit? High prices and all? So how would our public transport be better off being nationalised if the new entity adopts the same HDB pricing principles? OK, let's assume the transport ministry won't follow the HDB "surplus" model. Then it's the deficit and "subsidised" model - and none can beat the Greek model: Can Greece's rail system scare up an investor? If we want greater transparency, would a nationalised entity or a publicly listed transport company be more transparent with their costs, profit margin, return on investment, etc? Taxis Once upon a time, I only see blue Comfort taxis and black & yellow-top private taxis in Singapore. Now when I return to Singapore during home leave, I am amazed at the number of different taxi companies in Singapore - so many different colours now! For free market competition fans, this liberalisation and deregulation should also apply to public housing to make HDB prices more competitive. Even more so for those who shout loud loud that Government should stay out of the private sector and not compete with local SMEs. I don't know. Did free market competition result in lower taxi fares? Who would win? So we have 2 camps: the nationalise and free market privatise camp. Clash of ideas and healthy debate of opposing views are good. It's how democracy should work. But if the same person today say privatise for apples, and tomorrow say nationalise for oranges, then its simply playing "politics". No? See people talk people; see ghost speak ghost. Thinking out loud I don't think the focus should be on the ownership structure. It's the quality of people running the show that should matter. Like the old NS joke of my time: Army is always good; its people that spoil the show. By the way, I am a bit puzzled. If I am in opposition, I would never say nationalise (not when I'm not in power anyway). It's a bit like saying to the Government of the day that I trust you will do a better job than private enterprise? A compliment to the ruling party and alienating private business owners and citizen shareholders? Would you buy into our publicly listed transport companies? About the Author: "Hi! I'm a Singaporean working in Athens, Greece. I aspire to be like the swan that's here and gone. And if need be, I'll rather be the hammer than the nail. Yes, it's from that song. 123, Away, I rather sail away.... (El Condor Pasa)" Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!) This post was written by a guest contributor. Please see their details in the post above. If you'd like to guest post for TheFinance.sg, feel free to contact me for details about how YOU can share your tips and knowledge with our community.
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By Singapore Man of Leisure
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