Our 'Earthquake'

I'm sure all NUS students have seen the short mail reminder about ensuring adequate time for travelling during the exam period. Clearly we all know why.

From: http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC120419-0000080/Train-breakdowns-worsen-exam-fever

Train breakdowns worsen exam fever

by Ng Jing Yng

Apr 19, 2012


SINGAPORE - With the universities starting their exams, some undergraduates like Ms Tan W J, 22, are sweating over the prospect of reporting late at the exam halls - no thanks to the recent spate of MRT disruptions, the latest of which crippled services between eight Circle Line stations for two-and-a-half hours and affected 18,000 commuters.

In fact, Ms Tan, a second-year business student at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is contemplating either asking her father to give her a lift or leaving her home an hour earlier than usual.

"I am very worried that something is going to happen that day ... there should be special allowance as many of us stay far from school and taxis will be hard to get during train disruptions too," said Ms Tan, who will be sitting for her first paper on Saturday.

Other undergraduates Today spoke expressed similar concerns that they could be barred from taking their papers for being late because of major train disruptions, even though SMRT will provide an excuse chit, like the one pictured, for affected commuters who request for it.

The Singapore Management University (SMU) has started its exams while NTU will do so on Friday.

Exams for undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (NUS) begin today. And yesterday, NUS sent an internal circular reminding students to "plan your schedule to ensure sufficient travelling time".

When queried, an NUS spokesperson said that such reminders are sent out regularly before examinations. Nevertheless, the spokesperson explained that examinations may start later - by up to 30 minutes - because of unforeseen events such as traffic situations. However, if the undergraduates are late by more than an hour, it is a strict "no" - not even if the undergraduates produce SMRT's excuse chit.

According to SMRT, passengers can request the chit from any station staff, which would serve as proof for affected commuters. The practice has been in place for some time, an SMRT spokesperson said.

Responding to Today's queries, NTU said its practice is similar to that of NUS. Nevertheless, the university would consider making alternative arrangements for late-comers in the event of a major train disruption, said NTU registrar Chan Kwong Lok.

At SMU, undergraduates who are late beyond an hour must provide "valid evidence" to support the unforeseen circumstances in order to be given special exemption, its spokesperson said.

Apart from students, workers, too, find themselves in a fix when the trains break down for an extended period.

Ms Yang Qian Ting, 23, who was caught in yesterday's disruption, was stuck at Buona Vista MRT Station - even though she had a job interview at Labrador Park.

Adding that she had to call her interviewers to explain her situation, she said that SMRT "could have made announcements much earlier so that we can plan alternative routes".

Employers Today spoke to said they would excuse their workers for being late because of major disruptions.

Mr Allan Lim, who owns start-up Alpha Biofuels, said he would accept SMRT's excuse chit from their workers as proof. Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Chan Chong Beng agreed: "At least there's a (piece of) paper ... It's much better than having suspicions on whether the (excuse) is genuine or not genuine."

Yesterday, the MRT network suffered a major breakdown for the fourth time in six days. For 2.5 hours, train services were disrupted between the One-North and Bishan stations.

SMRT's preliminary assessment indicated an electrical earth fault, which disrupted power supply to the communications backbone network located at Botanic Gardens Circle Line Station at about 7.40am, said SMRT spokesperson Goh Chee Kong.

SMRT activated 70 free bridging buses between the affected stations and deployed an additional 100 staff on the ground to assist affected commuters.

However, commuters at the Buona Vista and Bishan stations were upset over the lack of information and clear instructions from the authorities.

In a media statement, SMRT interim CEO and executive director Tan Ek Kia apologised for the inconvenience. He said the SMRT is working with its contractor and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) "to investigate the cause of the problem to prevent a recurrence".

Noting the recent spate of disruptions, LTA group director for vehicle and transit licensing Colin Lim said the transport operator "will be required to provide a full report on the incidents including its plans to resolve the underlying causes". He added: "LTA will review the report and work with SMRT on the plans to rectify the situation." 

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It seems pretty ironic that trains are still breaking down consecutively even when the inquiry is going on. In fact it seems that no matter how much maintenance is (claimed to be) done, there is always something breaking down somewhere. I guess this is how electrical systems work - they can fail suddenly without notice, like my computer or other technology products. Due to the delicateness of electrical systems, even a small fault can result in a big problem.

Luckily I usually travel to school by bus, which runs on petrol. So it's definitely more reliable than trains haha.

This reminds me...I think I better back up my data soon. My computer has been performing too well these few weeks, after a massive problem of blue-screen-of-death, sudden shutdown, boot-up failure some time ago. By the earthquake-analogy, something bad may be happening soon...