I mean honestly? Everyone in Singapore knows that you have to exchange your old ez-link cards for the new CEPAS-compliant card by 30 September 2009.
On the radio, in the newspaper, on television, in all languages the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has informed everyone to do a 1-for-1 replacement of the card. Since you need the ez-link card for public transport, you would think Singaporeans would know that it’s important to change their cards.
Yet today you can see long queues at almost all the Transitlink Ticket Office as Singaporean rushed to replace their cards on the last day. I mean this despite LTA and Transitlink giving them 9 months to change their cards!
However the lines are so long today that LTA felt they have no choice but to extent the replacement deadline till 7 October 2009. What the hell is wrong with Singaporeans? When the one-for-one card replacement program began on 9 January 2009, you can see people queuing for up to an hour to replace their cards. Singaporeans seems to be spilt between those who want to be first and those who do things at the last minute.
I replaced my card in Feb or Mar and there wasn’t even a queue. Wouldn't it be so much easier for Singaporeans to just change their cards somewhere between the start and the end of the exchange program?
Unfortunately for the LTA, that's a logic Singaporeans do not seem to have.
5 comments:
All languages? How about those old folks who only understand their own native dialects?
Maybe LTA should implement hefty fines. This is the ONLY thing that works on true, blue Singaporeans.
My 3 EZ-Link cards were GIRO linked, and from February I queued up at least 4 times and each time I was told I should wait until the Giro link is ready some time in one or two months time.
They didnt settle the whole Giro thing till just a weeks before the deadline.
You should ask what is wrong with LTA. And why hire so many PRC girls who barely speak English to server heartlanders.
jimmy mun
You mean all those people lining up are all changing their GIRO-link cards?
Okay that may be unfair; you mean most of those people lining up are changing their GIRO-link cards?
Okay that may be unfair; you mean half of those people lining up are changing their GIRO-link cards?
Okay that may be unfair; you mean 1/4 of those people lining up are changing their GIRO-link cards?
Okay that may be unfair; you mean...you get the picture right?
The CEPAS card has so many incompatibility issues with existing merchants, plus the GIRO issue mentioned earlier, its so natural for people to want to hold them on till the last minute. Plus a fair bit of the elderly here don't really read the english and chinese signs displayed at stations etc.
The issue is: What's wrong with LTA when SUICA/Pasmo in Japan work fine side by side without necessitating such a cumbersome change of cards.
Whether you agree with the change or not, it’s known that you have to change the ezlink card by 30/9. Yet many people still do not. I don’t like defending LTA either but 9 months is more than enough time to change your ezlink card
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