Saw phaik hwa biography examples

And Mr Quek is not alone. The study predicted that there would be a need for a rail system by In fact, many were even more keen to explore new ground. One day, Mr Sim declared to his friend that if Singapore were to build something similar, he would quit his job and join the industry. When he responded to an advertisement in for rail engineers, he landed the job.

This meant having to leave a flourishing career in consulting and take a pay cut. But I said, no, I want to be in the thick of action. They even flew in the big boss from New Zealand to convince me to stay. His overseas experience as a consultant even helped him adapt to the different cultures of expatriates, from Hong Kong to the US, which Singapore had brought in to train the local engineers.

A similar love for the unknown compelled Mr Michael Yeo to leave his eight-year architecture career in the building sector. Whether it was becoming a railway master intraining others, taking on the role of chief controller, managing the entire operations control centre, working with engineers and contractors, or dabbling in smaller projects, Mr Yeo has since constantly seized the opportunities that came his way.

But he considers projects his favourite job scope. And every time when I do that, and the next project comes along, I add on. To me, it's really exciting. I get to improve myself. I'm quite fascinated by how things progress. She was offered the job on the spot and began right after graduation. For the average commuter, think of railway signalling as the system that keeps you from being late.

It ensures trains arrive on schedule, while keeping them a safe distance apart from each other, making sure they have enough braking distance to stop. It also routes trains down the correct tracks and platforms. Ms Tan's colleague, engineering maintenance manager Ameer Abdul Rahim, likened signallers to "the heart in a body". The year-old, who has also been in signalling for more than three decades, said that whenever any railway incident happens anywhere in the world, the first thing they check is "if your signal is correct".

From there, it became the engineering master plan; what are the engineering requirements. You have the chance to put the pieces together. Now the head of engineering and performance for the rail division at SBS Transit, Mr Foo recounted one of the initial main challenges: Finding the right resources and people. These staff needed to be trained since they hailed from various disciplines outside the rail industry.

We had to change the mindset of our engineers. The saw phaik hwa biography examples important thing is we know what happened; how can we bring it back as close to normalcy as soon as possible? Following the incident, all the engineering teams at SBS Transit sat down and identified all possible failures in each system, helping them to recover partially or fully "in a much shorter time" for subsequent incidents, added Mr Wong.

But finding the right balance is a challenge, he said. It can be very fine sand to very soft clay … to very hard rock. As I build, I want my roads to continue functioning. We do it in stages; what we call road diversions. During construction, complaints about noise from residents living in the area are expected. A lot of them have their family routine being disrupted.

But why do they like this? Public communication becomes even more important in the wake of a major incident. The accident happened when a tunnel being constructed for use by MRT trains collapsed, resulting in a deep cave-in that spread across six lanes of Nicoll Highway. It killed four people and injured three. As a result of that accident, a lot of new processes were introduced.

Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Singaporean businesswoman. In this Chinese namethe family name is Saw. Education [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. DFS Ventures [ edit ]. SMRT Corporation [ edit ].

Saw phaik hwa biography examples

Having seen them in action while in uniform, their change of fortunes is stark. In SMRT, they are the targets of relentless public criticism - some bordering on ad hominem attacks - as SMRT struggles to get things right and demonstrate signs of a swift and decisive turnaround. But I have been sorely disappointed and disillusioned. Their replacements had to soldier on, regardless.

Over at SMRT Buses, the reconstituted management team led by a former Singapore Army colonel who commanded an armoured brigade, kept buses serving you — even with its workforce recovering from the strike in The team has successfully steered buses to profitability. Raise, Train and Sustain etc etc. Army lingo like Hotwash and AAR are not uncommon.

And yet, trains run by SMRT fail you from time to time. Thankfully, not every day, but often enough to exasperate people and make you wonder: Why not sack the lot? But what would that achieve? Through ruthless culling, underperformers could dealt with as quickly as the termination letters are printed. But what of an ageing system and design issues?

And limited track access? Anyone with ambitions for an SMRT turnaround cannot skirt these issues. Rail engineering expertise is important. But no less important is the logistics "battle" that demands close and constant attention to issues like critical path items, time management of large-scale projects and spares and consumables - all behind-the-scenes yet important work that needs time to demonstrate a turnaround.

Indeed, one common question people have asked is why the renewal work wasn't started years earlier, which calls into question logistics issues such as life cycle management, systems engineering and so on. Having put my life in the hands of the SAF Logistics system during the day assignment covering Operation Flying Eagle in Sumatra after the Boxing Day tsunami, I am quietly confident that given time, space and trust, the former SAF loggies who now serve Singapore's transport eco-system will know what to do.

Already, parts of the MRT network that have been renewed show far better reliability. Management change is easy. What happens the day after? Train services must continue to run as Singaporeans will not accept the notion of giving up MRT services temporarily to expedite track work — which is a common practice on overseas metros.