Local News

Do cashless transactions really make our lives more convenient?

Stall owners at Pasir Ris hawker centre are unhappy at the new cashless system that was implemented just this January. Although they have to pay an additional $150 for the cashless service, the poor hawkers do not receive their earnings on time.

They have been complaining of disbursements being as late as 5 months. Within these 5 months, they still have to cough out money for other services such as dishwashing and table-cleaning, most of which they claim were not even done properly. 

The hawker is run by NTUC Foodfare. It has refuted these claims but acknowledged that there are late payments. 

Why do these hawkers have to bear the brunt of our tech failure? Are we becoming a Smart nation just for the sake of it? Is it really an improvement or are we rushing things when it is not necessary? What do you think?

In the latest news on reckless drivers, a taxi beat a red light at Penang road while two pedestrians were running across the road in the rain. According to the video of a car dashboard camera, the driver hit one of the pedestrians and sent him flying. The second pedestrian immediately dropped his belongings to attend to the victim. In the video, the passenger of the taxi and another pedestrian who was nearby came to assist. The taxi driver was nowhere to be seen in the video.

The fine for beating a red light is S$200 for light vehicles in Singapore. The driver is also given 12 demerit points. Let us all hope for a speedy recovery for the pedestrian that was hit.

If you think $5 is cheap for durians, think again.

Some Singaporeans were enraged after paying $5 for 2 durians at an event endorsed by Teo Ser Luck at Sengkang Community Club. Besides having to queue for a long time, they had to put up with an "unexpected" shortage of durians and even rotten durians.

Halfway through the event, the organisers realised that they did not have enough durians to distribute. Worst still, the durians were as small as our palms: "We were given tiny/sourish durians and not allowed to exchange. With ill-treatment from a gang of volunteers who threw things onto the ground and made us pick up durians without stem w bare hands. What's the compensation for such humiliation for supporting community events?"

After the event, netizens flocked online to complain about the dismal durians and bad management. Until now, Teo Ser Luck has not responded.

Sengkang Community Club has stepped up to refund the cost of the tickets so people can claim free durians from the same vendor. But do you think this a good solution? Who's to blame for the bad planning and management? Will people be appeased with more palm-sized rotten durians? Why organise an event for the sake of it if they can't even do it properly?