Man in seat storm

Reference: Man caught in seat storm says he has heart condition & has not been feeling well

Lady’s rant against man who wouldn’t give up seat leads to heartwarming reunion

So now the seat for the disabled and needy has become the seat of morality and ethics. If you're on the seat and refuse to give up to someone that's shown on the sticker pasted above the seat, you have bad manners.

Says who?

Everyone can have their opinions, sure. But who are you to judge who's the right one to deserve the seat?

The guy already said that he's tired and that's a good enough excuse that he needed the seat. The woman carrying the baby also needs a seat. So how do you choose?

Take me for example, when I board trains, I don't sit even when there are empty seats. If I am tired and happen to sit at the new morality/ethics seat, I'm likely not to give it up too. I stand for most of my trips so that I can give other people a place to sit, whether they are abled or not. If one day I sit and the some moron took a photo of me, and paint whatever picture that moron wants to paint, is that an accurate picture?

In short, if you want to sit, sit. Want to give up the seat, do so. But don't turn this into a freaking morality test and go judging people.

And stop using the "ownself check ownself" or "you voted for this" arguments. Those are just excuses for your inability to argue with facts and sensibility. People using shortcut arguments are killing their brains without knowing so.

Knowing your rights at the airport

I saw this Facebook post pop up. It's quite interesting.

The guy in the story, PJ Wong, was stopped the ICA officer for a spot check. Wong questioned the intent of the officer and basically questioned all the procedures. Wong even started taking videos. The police officer tried to snatch his phone. The supervisor was called in and Wong was left off.

Here are some thoughts, the officer is doing his job and is within his power to carry out the search. The questions are unnecessary and the officer don't even need to give him any reason. The police officer has no right to take away the phone. That would be stealing. The situation can turn extremely ugly. Luckily for the officer, he did not get the phone. If I'm in the same situation, I would proceed on with the search. What's the big deal? By the way, Changi Airport is not a public area. Many people mistake places where public have access as public area. That's not true. The property owner has the right to remove you any time from the premise.

Update: There's now a facebook page to support officer Eugene Ng.

Khaw Boon Wan vs UberX

Reference: Brace yourself, UberX. Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan is coming for you

I seriously do not understand what is meant by "leveling the playing field".

This is competition. Competition helps lowers the price of taxi fare which is too bad for the taxi drivers of course. Competition also improves the service by getting more cars out to work as transport vehicles. It benefits more passengers than taxi drivers.

So how does "leveling the playing field" generate positive utility for the economy, or even benefit passengers?