The purpose of temaksek investment into grabtaxi was not so much about making money. I mean this biz is already making money but its not the main focus. Its done in order to have a tool to keep a tab on the resident's movements. A tool to keep track of taxi movements, private car movements, customer movements via yr mobile phone. All free leh, with consent and got paid some more. Grab taxi booking servers can be accessed by the authorities anytime.
i believe Uber rejected all these intrusions, thats why no investment from ah gong.
50,000 Singaporeans job is more than the number of regulars employed by SAF. It is 50 1000 Singaporeans factory workers factories or 500 9:1 foreigners:Singaporeans ratio factory workers (current mom allowed foreigner-to-Singaporeans ratio).factories.
We should be smarter than foreigners and not let such robots take away jobs here until they have been successfully implemented in their own countries in the most congested cities countrywide and fully accepted by their own people before even considering this option. If we allow the robots invented by MIT people in, then we become the stupid people.
Originally posted by f1taxidriver:The purpose of temaksek investment into grabtaxi was not so much about making money. I mean this biz is already making money but its not the main focus. Its done in order to have a tool to keep a tab on the resident's movements. A tool to keep track of taxi movements, private car movements, customer movements via yr mobile phone. All free leh, with consent and got paid some more. Grab taxi booking servers can be accessed by the authorities anytime.
i believe Uber rejected all these intrusions, thats why no investment from ah gong.
All taxis are already being monitored because of GPS. LTA already developed an application of laymen Singaporeans to see locations of the taxis in the vicinity. All people using smartphones are already being tracked by people with the money to pay third party companies for such services. Only people not using smartphones are spared from these organizations.
Right On!!
Originally posted by Neutral-Thinker:As I do not depend on call-bookings for a living (street hailing is 80% of my income, used to be 95% of my income), I am still Okay for the time being. I only consider driverless taxi ( see http://www.citylab.com/tech/2015/06/singapore-is-already-planning-for-a-future-of-driverless-taxis/396707/ ) as the real threat to traditional taxi business. Someone in Singapore is trying to let more foreigners take away jobs from Singaporeans by employing only a handful of Singaporeans and eliminating at least 50,000 Singaporean jobs. And these are Singaporeans who are more competitive than people in developed countries based on price of taxi fares ( http://www.priceoftravel.com/555/world-taxi-prices-what-a-3-kilometer-ride-costs-in-72-big-cities/ ) .
Driveless taxi will definitely be a great threat. But not so soon. We still got some time before it becomes a reality. Still, food for thought, thanks.
Driverless taxi or car will not happen lah. It is not a question of technology, but liability. Until they can resolve the legal issue of insurance and accident liability, it will not happen. The law needs to catch up with technology as always.
And of course, there is always the security threat.
Don't under estimate driverless taxis as Singapore still controlled by academic elites from reputable universities. They want the system that way until a got-serve-national-service WP candidate with PhD who has better academic credentials won a district. What if they rub sholders (their foreign classmates and them) with each others and say robots cheaper then we all lose jobs. The fact that they are collaborating with MIT people indicates that they intend to implement it. MIT people also not so stupid joint effort with us for nothing when they could implement it totally by themselves; they want to penetrate our market. Some policy makers on top sure eventually give in to their demands for whatever reasons then give a lame excuse and there goes our jobs.
Like they say foreigners cheaper (and easier to control) and even set the Service Sector ratio to 89 foreigners for every 100 total local+foreign workers ( http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-worker/foreign-worker-levy/calculate-foreign-worker-quota ) . With this new Service Sector ratio, companies would make excuses to eliminate Singaporeans to hire foreigners or replace Singaporeans with foreigners once a Singaporean leaves his/her job.
It could happen sooner than you think as they already started work in 2007 and you also have to think for your fellow Singaporean peers and your descendants. Anyway this is just something to think about for the time being.
I dont think it will happen at all, even if driverless technology is goot to go now.
Reason 1 - CDG as a government entity is all about controlling the citizens, knowing their movements, providing undercover for CID, CNB officers, stealth raiding of premises require non-police vehicles - plainsclothes police officers use cabs to reach their destination so the tua pek kong cannot detect. All these activities need a real human on board. If all taxis become driverless, then the retrenched PMETs eat grass? For passengers who like to stop anywhere - it means they cannot disembark anywhere. People will complain that they got locked in the cab.
Reason 2 - with a cabby, when an accident happens, CDG can pin the blame on the cabby. Makan his deposit and so on. If change to driverless auto taxi - CDG eat themself? Driverless taxi late for booking, and CDG kenna all the blame?
Reason 3 - when normal taxi breakdown, cabby use his phone to call for help or inform CDG at his own cost. If driverless taxi complete breakdown, battery dead, no power and cannot msg control centre - then the vehicle will be stranded wherever and someone got to go retrieve it. CDG kenna fark again. Out of CDG 17,000 normal taxis - how many breakdown every day now? CDG got so many manpower to rescue the malfunctioned driverless cabs or not?
Reason 4 - normal taxi already kenna fare cheat. Driverless cab - knn wait the whole taxi disappeared after a ride by a mechanic who ask the driverless cab to stop inside a workshop in Admiralty Road East. How ah?
So dont worry lah. Driverless cab will not happen. Bu Ke Nen. CDG will have many many problems. When you run a big business or a country, you must standby some scrap goats. Robots can never perform this function. They cannot be tried in a court. Laws are applicable to human beings only. Dogs, spiders, robots are not answerable to anyone.
If don't say it out, will happen. If say it out already, then maybe would not happen. Otherwise use this secret weapon to attack us just because .....
Anyway, keep note of this project by MIT people and the good at studying type...they would not sponsor it for no benefits.....Very likely, taxi companies also do not know about this secret project in Singapore.
But some elites in Singapore are staking this project. They are after money, jobs and reputation and may make us the victims of their pursuits.
Of course MIT. Got many smart people, but also got a few professors who got their positions thru smooth talking, connections and with reasonable academic ability. Just a few ok, not many.
Driverless tech is meant for military. When the government invests 100 million and above, you know it must have military benefits. Who cares about taxis?
But they stated explicitly they are going for driverless taxis.....not military......so .... must let taxi drivers know.....
Sacrafice 50,000 price-competitive Singaporean taxi drivers ( http://www.priceoftravel.com/555/world-taxi-prices-what-a-3-kilometer-ride-costs-in-72-big-cities/ ) for a few Singaporeans when the jobs could be protected and reserved for Singaporeans?
I would not mention names, but MIT graduated Singaporean politicians have also been losing Singaporeans money. If sponsor this project dont implement, then become another MIT related money losing project (so we may become the victims).
Even the head of Taxi Association is a MIT graduate. And if you even have the chance to drink kopi with the head, ask him about it.
So just remember there is such a project being sponsored (most likely using tax-payers money) that would take away Singaporeans' jobs.
Links to take note :
1) http://www.citylab.com/tech/2015/06/singapore-is-already-planning-for-a-future-of-driverless-taxis/396707/
2) http://www.technologyreview.com/news/533601/singapore-wants-a-driverless-version-of-uber/
Dont worry too much about the innovations in NTU or NUS. They got research projects and the professors need to come up with cool stories to secure next year's research funding. Nothing will happen one lah. I have been reading all these CSB (cool stories bro) for the past 20 years. None of our local professors, who cares they got Harvard, MIT or Yale education - started a billion dollar company such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Google. These kind of things will never happen in Singapore. When I was a kid, I dreamt Singapore will one day produce such people. As the years went by, I realised it was only a mirage. Decided to stop day-dreaming. Our professors here will never get rich. Their pay is quite pathetic if you ask me.
Your job as a cabby is very secure. Relax and carry on driving for as long as you can.
I hate to say this but our success in life is measured by our bank balance and having an intact family - no divorces, having children who are healthy, not disabled and who grow up into responsible adults.
Old, poor and no descendants - habis liao. Might as well kill yourself now.
Poor but got intact family - not bad
Rich but got divorce - not a big problem
Rich with a happy family - you are in heaven already.
Just let the other cabbies know that there is such a project being sponsored using tax payers money (which means they are also sponsoring it too as they pay income tax, GST, ERP, help taxi companies generate corporate tax for government, and COE/road tax from taxis rentals) and it is targetted at eliminating cabbies.
If we don't care about this, one day we would be replaced by robots while the so-called academic elites continue to earn from programming/operating robots and the foreigners manufacturing robots.
Won't happen in our lifetime as TD for sure. If it happens at all, most probably for short shuttle service, within say a place like One-North as they are planning right now. Trunk services very hard lah.
So many issues. Even Google car is having problems now.
What is more troubling is UberX & Grabcar and who knows who else coming in. This service will eat into TDs earning slowly but surely.....especially if they can make it cheaper and better than regular taxis. And of course, economic slowdown lah and jobs loss.
Economy slows => jobs loss => lower income =>
Demand for taxis down....
=> less money for taxi rides
Supply of taxis up...
=> more PMETs and others become TDs
=> more salesmen and others do uberx to supplement income
That squeeze will come sooner or later. Now already feeling it a bit.
Originally posted by f1taxidriver:Dont worry too much about the innovations in NTU or NUS. They got research projects and the professors need to come up with cool stories to secure next year's research funding. Nothing will happen one lah. I have been reading all these CSB (cool stories bro) for the past 20 years. None of our local professors, who cares they got Harvard, MIT or Yale education - started a billion dollar company such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Google. These kind of things will never happen in Singapore. When I was a kid, I dreamt Singapore will one day produce such people. As the years went by, I realised it was only a mirage. Decided to stop day-dreaming. Our professors here will never get rich. Their pay is quite pathetic if you ask me.
Your job as a cabby is very secure. Relax and carry on driving for as long as you can.
I hate to say this but our success in life is measured by our bank balance and having an intact family - no divorces, having children who are healthy, not disabled and who grow up into responsible adults.
Old, poor and no descendants - habis liao. Might as well kill yourself now.
Poor but got intact family - not bad
Rich but got divorce - not a big problem
Rich with a happy family - you are in heaven already.
Cdg offer 1k to refer hirer, they are overstocked with cars
I rather they don't pay recommendation fee and don't mark up rental of returned taxis by $10.
haha sack problematic old hirer
rent to newbie, 3 nths cover back the 1k leow lo
Originally posted by j007:Cdg offer 1k to refer hirer, they are overstocked with cars
Bro the 1k for old vehicle only
i40 no count hor