A Singaporean In Australia

WARNING: Wall-Of-Text post

I have a yet another dark secret to reveal.

I'm a owner of 1000 shares in SMRT. That makes me a shareholder of SMRT.

What's 1000 shares though? It's peanuts! Not that kind of peanut of course. I paid $1.6k for it. Nothing noteworthy enough to haolian in a public blog I know but I'll like to share a short tale behind this.

I would never forget a short debate with my best buddy a few years back about this investment decision. His stand was that it was unethical for me to be part of the shareholders of the SMRT, a corporation that strived to serve their stake and shareholders instead of, rightfully, their customers.

My sin

By being a shareholder of the SMRT, I was indirectly guilty of causing the discomfort and miseries of commuters everyday. I couldn't rebut his point because he was right and I agreed with him. But I offered the reason behind my decision.

My justification

As a customer of the SMRT myself, I was subjected to unreasonable price hikes and I could not do a single thing about it. No one in the government seemed to be interested to stop these crap. The only thing I could do to protect myself against these hikes was to become one of the assholes holding their shares.

SMRT dividend history

If you look at the dividend history of SMRT, I received $85.00 for my trouble in 2010 as dividends. Using these dividends I collected from the SMRT would, I reckon, be somewhat a hedge against these price hikes. This suck, but I had to do it. I'm just a man and I have only 1 vote in every General Election.

As a shareholder of any company, I'll check their annual report every year. Since I bought their shares, SMRT has broken their net profit record year after year after year. From an investor point of view, it's ok to hold the shares, the company is doing well. From a consumer point of view, it is infuriating.

I'm sure my buddy finds me hypocritical complaining about the year-on-year record profits but my heart is true. I'm with the consumers instead of shareholders. I know it doesn't sound convincing but hey, somebody else worked for the Japs as a translator didn't he? If he gets worshipped like a god I should get some empathy at the very least no?

My action:

When a CEO of a company that you invested in leaves the company, you have to sit up and take note. Something is happening and you have to make a decision to sell up or not. That's the investment basic. We know what happened a couple of days ago, Mr Saw resigned. Thus it is time for me as an investor to make a decision.

I'm not trained in technical analysis yet, I may try picking it up in future. But I have some useful insider info in the form of a farewell letter from Mr Saw as fundamental analysis information. Let's examine this:

Dear Colleagues,

In December 2011, I celebrated my 9th anniversary with the Company, which I have grown to love and am very proud of. It has been my privilege and joy to serve with you and I am humbled by your dedication and commitment despite the challenging environment in which we operate. It moves me to see how you put your heart into your work; serving our customers to the best of your abilities.

And it is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you. I have tendered my resignation and while my executive responsibilities will conclude on 6 January, I will remain with the Company to assist(appointing the cause to investigate the cause. World class government!) the relevant investigation teams and the Committee of Inquiry (COI) in their review of the causes of, and responses to, the disruptions to train operations in December, and with the transition to new executive leadership.

I believe the foundation for continuous success in SMRT has been firmly laid and I take pride in our collective achievements since 2002 up to now.(Self praise and forgot about collective failures) The Company has remained strong operationally and financially with solid performances in Trains and Commercial Divisions. Buses, Taxis and Automotive Services have continued to improve in a difficult operating environment.

The success of a leader is measured by the performance of the organisation he or she leaves behind and I feel the management of SMRT is in good hands.(Shameless self-praise again) We have an outstanding team led by Khoo Hean Siang in Trains and Teo Chew Hoon in Roads, both of whom are delivering continuous growth through exemplary management in what many consider to be unexciting businesses. The only regret I have is that I will not be here to see through the realisation of all of SMRT’s business potential in the coming years.(She didn't regret dismissing valued staff during her tenure?)

The recent MRT disruptions have put our company under close public scrutiny, and we are subjected to on-going investigations and a public inquiry. Despite the negative attention on the Company, almost on a daily basis, you continued to serve with a heart. Unfortunately, amidst all the focus on the recent lapses, the outstanding work that is being achieved by you and your teams has gone largely unnoticed and unrecognised. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your dedication, perseverance and professionalism.

As promised, although I have resigned, I will fully participate in all the investigations. I will also work with our teams to make improvements and necessary changes that will allow us to better serve our customers.(What?! Wtf, ~~kena sacked~~ resigned still can make improvements and changes?) I am confident that together, we will come out stronger.

With my departure, the Board has appointed Mr Tan Ek Kia, a seasoned professional, as Executive Director and interim CEO to oversee the company until a new CEO is found. This ensures SMRT continues to be in good hands.

Lastly, I would like to offer my heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you, the Board of Directors and Management Committee, whom I’ve worked closely with, for your generous support. There is no doubt in my mind that the best of SMRT will be in the years ahead of us.(I've heard this before. "Confidence for the future", "More good years ahead!" I'm uncomfortable..)

Phaik Hwa

My analogy

My thoughts after reading this farewell letter: This guy has no shame. He insisted that consumers do not appreciate SMRT's good work.

"the outstanding work that is being achieved by you and your teams has gone largely unnoticed and unrecognised."

Stop and think for a moment. How does customers give a company recognition? By being returning customers. Haven't we been returning customers? Well, If he wasn't referring the consumers, it must be the Land Transport Authority. Screw the damn LTA! Either way, making the customer happy isn't her priority - right to the last second of her ... service, if any.

"The recent MRT disruptions have put our company under close public scrutiny"

Saw is dead wrong. It wasn't the recent MRT disruptions. The close public scrutiny started way before trains started breaking down. There were a spate of complains about overcrowding for years. He refused to acknowledge it and refute the claims with his statements such as "This isn't crush load," and "People can board the train, it is whether they choose to." If anything, Saw was the intrinsic reason behind public anger towards SMRT.

My conclusion

Consider this:

1. There was no salary revision or adjustment for staff within Saw's stint in SMRT.

2. Only 8% of the profit are budgeted for maintenance at her decision. Much of this came from the retrenchment of staff from the maintenance team.

3. The retrenchment sparked a mini riot in Bishan deport which went unreported. Staff obviously were unconvinced of her leadership.

4. Staff medical benefit for whole family remained unchanged at $350/year for 2 decades.

5. Price hikes for services over the years - you can't count them with a hand.

6. Prior to his stint, staff could buy SMRT shares between 1-5 lots at a discount, subjected to appraisal. This benefit was axed with only management staff allocated with shares. The ugly face of elitism.

7. The 3rd rail that caused the 'first major disruption in 25 years' was discovered to be unstable 2-3 years ago. It required upgrading or replacement yet nothing has been done to it because no budget was set for it. Until the claws gave way. Then they used famous invincible cable ties to do the stuff.

8. Buggies in 3 SMRT depots are so worn out but the management refused to change them. If these junk requires COE, they would be running down their 2nd COE in no time.

Amidst all these cost cutting at the expense of staff and customers, where did all the money go to? Shareholders like me? Balls! If you buy the stock at recent prices ($1.75 or so), the dividend yield is a mere 4%+. Is that a lot? My savings in my Australian bank account gives me 6% per annum.

So where did all the money goes to? Besides his $1.86 million per year salary and who knows how many months bonuses, where else? I didn't dig. I'm just a mere amateur investor. As an investor and consumer, I'm displeased with my findings.

My decision:

Priceless monopoly, but dodgy management. I have no faith in the next CEO, probably yet another relative or friend of the ruling family. Sell!

So be it, good riddance
*Edit: Yeah I know she is a woman now, on closer look. Stop telling me already

112

Dear Albany,

My dear daughter. KK Hospital told Mum and Dad your expected due date is 10 Jan 2012. They could had screwed it up, just like the way they did for other issues that bug Daddy until today.

You knew what they did. You were with us when they diagnosed Dad with Thalassemia. They said it would affect you. Dad was frightened. Not because of the disease but what might happen to you. Dad was told to make an arrangement specially to do an additional blood test to confirm the results.

On the next appointment, they did not mention about the results. You were there too as Mummy had to do a checkup on that day. When Mummy probed them, then they casually said 'Oh, that one. No problem. No problem," like as if it meant nothing to them. It did mean something to us. All 3 of us.

Before we left happily home that day, we had trouble getting your heartbeat reading during the ultrasound scanning. Daddy was there to witness. The radiologist told us you were having hiccups. So Mummy and Daddy took you for a walk for your hiccups to clear. When we returned, they managed to take the readings but we were alarmed once again. They told us that you had a irregular heartbeat and we had to see the doctor a week later for comments.

With that, Mummy and Daddy left KK hospital with a heavy heart.

On the next appointment, they forgot about the issue again. When we probed, they got us to do another heartbeat count for you. It was perfectly okay. Mummy and Daddy was elated! Just as we prepared to pay up and leave, we were asked to enter a room for a discussion with yet another doctor we never seen before.

She told us a grave news that made Daddy went pale. She told Daddy you were marked as close to high risk for Down's Syndrome at 1:280 and told us that at that stage, we had only 2 more weeks to legally abort you if we decided to. She told us to consider doing amnio test which required them to probe the needle into the womb where you were developing to extract a sample. That could cause Mummy and Daddy to lose you if it went wrong. Doing that test would also mean the result would be known to us 2 weeks later. So the doctor told us to make the decision that day, if we wanted to abort you.

Mummy as usual could not make the decision and Daddy was left to make it. Daddy was frantic that day. The manner the doctor present the situation to us was quite insensitive and harsh. But Daddy remembered seeing your risk ratio a lot higher during the first test. How could it became 1:280 suddenly? Was it due to the irregular heartbeat? Wasn't that cleared already? No one could answer my question. I was very dejected that afternoon.

Daddy didn't want to ask anyone anything anymore. And Daddy made the decision. We left the hospital. That was the last time we stepped into KK Hospital. 7 days later, we took the plane to Australia.

In Australia, we went through 4-5 hospital appointments at King Edward Hospital. Each appointment, the doctors told us that you were ok. Daddy and Mummy did not ask about the Down's Syndrome anymore. But in Daddy's mind, I had always worried about you. Many aunties, Daddy's friends, told us that a pregnancy should be blissful and enjoyable. Ours were never that way, plagued with worries and uncertainties right until the final week.

Baby, let me tell you why Daddy made that decision to walk out of KK hospital.

When Mummy and Daddy discovered we had you, you were already 16 weeks old. During that period, Mummy and Daddy had happy moments going jogging, rollerblading and other activities. We could had lost you if Mummy had a fall or were careless along the way, not knowing of your existence.

Then Mummy had to slog late nights till 2am for her work for weeks during your 5th month. Daddy was so angry that he almost scolded Mummy for not putting you at first priority. We could had lost you through unhealthy diet and sleep pattern.

We flew to Australia with you, a new environment, a new place. We were frightened and felt lost most of the time. Then we had to shift house after 1 month. In spite of the drastic changes, you took them one after another.

You are a survivor, you want to live. Daddy could not beat you in that. Daddy always give up on things throughout his life. From you, I have learnt to be more determined, to develop an iron grit and never give up.

No matter how you turn out, we will never give up on you. Daddy is waiting confidently for you. I know you'll be fine. I'm ready to hold and kiss you.

We are family. You'll never walk alone

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