Wake up and sell the coffee

THE nominations are in and two men will be very busy selling themselves over the next nine days to win the Bukit Batok by-election by peddling a vision of what the sleepy Western estate could be: A “beautiful place for all of us” and the “envy of Singapore”.

The cost? $1.9 million, according to PAP candidate Murali Pillai – though, SDP’s Dr Chee Soon Juan would rather residents look more closely at another number: the $24 million plan announced by the philandering Mr David Ong as part of a larger estate masterplan when he wooed residents of the single-seat constituency in last year’s General Election.

Want to sell yourself as an expert in the upcoming by-election on May 7? Here’s what happened during yesterday’s (April 27) Nomination Day. You’re welcome and please come again.

• BB BE: Dr Chee’s $24m question
• PHOTOS FROM THE GROUND: Bukit Batok by-election Nomination Day
• A humdrum Nomination Day
• Booking commences for Bukit Batok tours
• Bukit Batok: The straight fight that nearly wasn’t

Things are less pretty on the economic front, with the central bank announcing yesterday that unemployment is expected to rise even as wages moderate in its biannual macroeconomic review of the economy. Expect more people to be laid off as well.

Companies are having a hard time selling their goods. After a series of recent closures by major retail brands, the latest casualty is homegrown fashion label Raoul, who’s shutting its final shop in Paragon and going wholesale to save on rental costs.

The Straits Times’ Christopher Tan believes SMRT chief Desmond Kuek oversold himself when the former chief of defence took the job three years ago and said he would fix the rail company’s “deep-seated” problems. Check out Mr Tan’s commentary today about where the buck stops – and when.

Speaking of SMRT and untimely exits, a bus driver was jailed for one week yesterday for closing the door and driving off before an elderly woman got off the bus completely. The incident last year caused the 89-year-old Madam Ting Lan Kin’s leg to be pinned under a tire and her foot had to be amputated.

The driver, Lau Pik Choong, tried to bargain against a jail term saying he would lose his job but the judge was buying none of it. “You, as a public bus driver, owe a high duty of care for the safety of all the commuters on the bus,” he told the Malaysian national, who was also barred from driving for 18 months.

Did he get off cheap, or was it too a high a price to pay?

 

Featured image from TMG file. 

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