Sans bicycle, Singapore will probably surrender once more, not too long after SG50.Faced with severe healthcare challenges, a high terrorist threat and criticisms about high per-capita greenhouse gas emissions from Singapore, I think that Singapore has NO OTHER CHOICE but to embrace the humble bicycle with open arms.
Evidence of an incompetent SG gahmen in the face of an increasingly ill/ unfit population, addicted to fatty foods and allergic to exercise: i.e. 'lifestyle sick' (sick due to unhealthy lifestyle choices) :
Photo of obese person from:
http://thewestsidestory.net/2-1-bill...ide/11632.html- ST, 18Mar2014:
'Change mindset to curb rising health-care costs in Singapore':
"The Government's expenditure on health care has almost doubled in just three short years - from $4 billion in FY2011 to $7.5 billion in FY2014.
This does not take into account the $8 billion put aside for the pioneer generation... What Singapore needs is the mother of paradigm shifts.
First, people need to stay healthy for as long as possible.
Bad habits like smoking, binge drinking, sedentary lifestyles, and high sugar and fat consumption are still rampant.
... The Health Promotion Board was set up to tackle just this problem.
Unfortunately, progress is slow, while poor health will snowball as the population ages with little regard to staying fit.
It would be better if a larger part of health expenditure is spent on prevention rather than treatment, too.
Another shift that is needed is a move towards better and stronger primary and community care, so that chronic diseases can be kept under control and not result in ever-worsening health..... "Proof that preventive healthcare in Singapore is just lip-service:
- ST, 02Dec2015:
'Singapore 'has 2nd-highest proportion of diabetics':
"Singapore has the second-highest proportion of diabetics among developed nations, a new report by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) revealed.... 10.53 per cent of people in Singapore aged between 20 and 79 are estimated to have the chronic disease, ... Only the United States fared worse, with a percentage of 10.75.
...'In many cases, obesity leads to insulin-resistance, so obesity is a big driving factor behind diabetes.'... that if people change their lifestyles 'very aggressively' - such as by watching their diet and ramping up exercise - it is possible to reverse early type 2 diabetes.... 'However, lifestyle factors such as work, late hours and irregular meals make it hard for them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.'"The 2nd problem is that of ISIS/ the terrorist attack problem.Consequence of homemade haversack bomb (PS: not even made by 'professional', also did not contain any chemical/ biological/ nuclear warfare elements: would be worse if detonated in enclosed space (Bus/ MRT) I believe...):
Pict sauce:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/spe...hon-explosionsIt is no secret that the MRT system, besides being very expensive to run and riddled with breakdowns, also suffers from frequent overcrowding whereby trains are too crowded to even board (
thus the need for 'passenger traffic lights' at some stations, and
repeated public campaigns to have bags placed on the floors just so more passengers can be crammed per carriage: an open invitation to terrorist to strike as people lower their defences against stray bags on the floor).
That the risk of terrorist attack is high is admitted just as much by Mr Lee Hsien Loong (PM of Singapore):
'Terrorism threat in Southeast Asia a 'serious, difficult' issue: PM Lee' [CNA, 16Nov2015]. More intense security checks causing lengthy jams before the Singapore customs checkpoint being a case in point:
'Causeway traffic eases for pedestrians but not vehicles' [ST, 19 Dec 2015].
2 severe consequences will follow an explosion during peak hours inside a packed moving MRT train: the immediate tunnel damage which will suspend train services along essential main lines (NS/EW lines) and worse the
long term hysteria, paranoia/ psychological damage to Singaporeans which will make many too afraid to even leave home, let alone use public transport as people lose faith in the gahmen to protect them from deadly bombsgiven to the confined cabin spaces and the porous nature of Singapore's borders. Increased police presence (roadblocks), screaming ambulances attending to BOTH the lifestyle sick and victims of terror + funeral processions would surely grind the transportation network to a total halt and damage the Singapore economy almost irrecoverably. Adopt bicycle transportation at that point U say?: I don't think it would be easily implementable then, at least not in chaos situation where many are psychologically unbalanced and physically weak by that point in time.
There is no further need to remind that the stink raised about Singapore's high greenhouse emissions does not endear our country to the world. UN funds would probably be tied up in helping refugees relocate from flood inundated areas of the world: Singapore, with its high per-capita GDP and astronomical defense budget would probably be last in line for UN disaster relief funding. Funding for famine areas of the world should take precedence over funding for obesity related disease treatments in any case.
Cycling to/ in Town:
Pict source:
https://www.sfbike.org/news/bikes-76...e-to-work-day/ Embracing cycling in Singapore will show the world what a
resilient, robust, rugged society we have in Singapore, not to mention our responsibility towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions through the minimisation of fossil fuels to the minimum necessary and immunity to oil price fluctuations since a cycling nation is a rugged one, not excessively dependent on fossil fuels nor imported medical professionals (nurses, docs, therapists) to transport ourselves nor care for a minority sick (subsidies going forward should be strictly for congenital diseases only).
On 15 February 1942 (WW2), Singapore surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army which had swept through Malaya at lightning speed on stolen bicycles.
By the time of a major terrorist attack on an MRT train in Singapore, our poor nation would have totally squandered its chances of surviving such an attack. The rugged, robust and resilient society that saw Singapore to SG50 has been dismantled by greedy and lazy Singaporean leadership overly dependent on fossil fuel energy for a pollutive consumer lifestyle totally out of touch with reality and an embarrassment to the world.
The excessive worship of money has brought Singapore to her knees.
Sans bicycle, Singapore will probably surrender once more, not too long after SG50.So how long more will we have to wait for 24hr bicycle+bus lanes to be drawn as part of our healthy lifestyle + rugged society + anti-terrorism + anti-green house gas emissions + more & smoother travel options (+ SG100 survival campaign) Mr PAP Gahmen???!!!:
e.g. provisional design of suggested 24hrs bicycle + bus lanes in Singapore (given deaf ear by SG gahmen):
Pict sauce:
http://lovecycling.net