SINGAPORE: Among Mr Jeffrey Siow’s many goals for his newly started tenure as acting Transport Minister, one stands out: To make Singaporeans proud of their public transport system.
This pride is evident in Singapore’s aviation and maritime sectors, but with public transport, there is room to improve sentiments, said Mr Siow in a wide-ranging interview with media earlier in June, covering topics from long-term plans to recent issues.
“On the public transport side, we can do a lot more, and we will work,” he said.
“It does mean, of course, you must make sure that the public transport side, we run the system as well as we have run the air and sea systems.”
The former senior civil servant, who was in the Ministry of Transport (MOT) from 2012 to 2017, said he was motivated by how his current portfolio is a “very meaningful” one – where his work is felt by everyone.
“Whether you walk, take the train, take the bus, drive, or even when you travel, you go to the airport, or you get goods delivered from overseas because you shop online … transport matters,” said Mr Siow.
He said that decisions in the transport realm can be especially palpable.
For instance, when he was at MOT as a civil servant, he had a hand in the Thomson-East Coast Line project.
“Now I’m taking the train that we said we would design in that way. In that manner, it became a tangible reality,” said Mr Siow.
The very visible transformation of ideas into reality will also be captured in mega projects such as Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 and the Tuas Port – both announced when he was in the transport ministry.
“So it’s real, it’s tangible, it is easy to do work when you feel that whatever you are doing matters,” he said.
But he also acknowledged that with all that, comes increased scrutiny.
“Everybody has an opinion on whether or not you’re doing things right, and I am not short on conversations with people about issues, and I enjoy it very much,” he said.
These conversations even include discussions with his mother on transport-related topics.
