Dear friends,
Recently, I read reviews on how much our government is spending to arrest the traffic congestion problems here in Singapore. They are investing in hi-tech multi-functional traffic intelligence systems to monitor & "predict" traffic (erm... so that they will know to place your next ERP gantry. perhaps)...
I agree that solving traffic congestions in Singapore is no easy feat. However, after paying billions of dollars and imposing tremendous hardship on its citizens AND YET being unable to solve the problem, is something that continues to baffle me. This brings me to a story that I've heard many years ago.
When NASA sent their astronauts into space in the early 1960s, they needed a ballpoint pen that is able to write in zero-gravity & freezing temperatures. They used a specially-designed pen known as the Fisher AG-7 Space Pen. It is nitrogen-pressurized and the pen worked in "freezing cold, desert heat, underwater and upside down," as well as the zero-gravity of outer space. It was developed by an enterprising individual, Paul C. Fisher, owner of the Fisher Space Pen Company. Fisher spent "thousands of hours and millions of dollars" of his own in research and development. The Russians took a simple approach. They used pencils.
One may look at the story and laugh over it. But really, this is probably what we are going through at this point in time. Our minds often make a simple problem more complex than it really is. While I embrace the use of technology to provide traffic intelligence, the data collected can be better utilized than to erect ERP gantries.
This is a link to an UNPUBLISHED LETTER to the Straits Times by Mr Rodney Wong that sums up (very interestingly) the perils of our Ministry of Transport. I do not know if that article will still be available online by the time you guys hit this link but if you want a copy, you can drop me a line (I've saved a copy of it).
Your food for thoughts today.
Cheers.
The Phantom
Editor, KPNN
(Kay Poh News Network)
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