Those Hare Brained Schemes

Nee Soon has started a new non-smoking scheme and by all account, it is a total failure. I am not surprised because like all the other well intended scheme or new law that our over paid Ministers and civil servants dream up in their nice cosy office on their Herman Miller chair, all of them are brainless and impractical.

Like the Nee Soon ban on smoking in the whole estate except at a few designated smoking tent. The idea is great but there is a whole year of grace period. Not surprisingly, the smoking tents are still empty and the smokers are still happily smoking everywhere.

Talking about smokers, one of the most hair brained scheme they dreamt up is the smoking zone in the coffee shop. I mean do they really expect the smoke to stay within the yellow box and not drift over to the tables next to the smoking zone? 

And the no picking up/alighting of passengers along the roads in the CBD area except at designated spots and taxi stands? Guess what? the scheme seems to have died a natural death and taxis are now happily stopping everywhere they need.

Other stupid and impractical things that they came up with:

1.Deregulation of taxi fares. That has to be one of the absurd decisions made. I am very sure our taxi fare structure must be the nightmare of not just every Singaporeans but foreigners as well.

2. Removal of Dustbin and Trash Cans. Did anybody noticed that since 911, trash cans have been removed from many of our public places and train stations. The reason given was the fear that terrorists can plant bombs inside the bins. Frankly, if a terrorist really wants to bomb a public place, there are many many opportunities other than the trash bins. The removal of the  trash bins only serves to make the littering problem worse.

3. And does anybody know that there is an obscure law that a person can be charged in court for being naked in his own home! Yes assuming you are walking around your home in the nude and the auntie in the opposite block of flat happened to see you, you can be charged for indecent exposure. Never mind that you are doing something in the privacy of your own home.

But what makes it more stupid is that we have laws and more laws - no spitting, no littering, no speeding, no u-turn, no smoking, no jaywalking but frankly how often do you see anybody being caught and fined for them? Having laws are good but what good are they if there are no enforcement