Volume - V Issue - V Season 3 Volume - V Issue - V Season 3 | Page 34
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βIn the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one
has done his best.β β Eric Liddell
KNOWING MORE..
TRANSPORTATION
Singapore is a small island with a high population density, the
number of private cars on the road is restricted so as to curb
pollution and congestion. Car buyers must pay for duties one-anda-half times the vehicle's market value, and bid for a
Singaporean Certificate of Entitlement (COE), which allows the car
to run on the road for a decade. The cost of the Singaporean
certificate of entitlement alone would buy a Porsche Boxster in the
United States. Car prices are generally significantly higher in
Singapore than in other English-speaking countries. As with most
Commonwealth countries, vehicles on the road and people
walking on the streets keep to the left.
Singaporean residents also travel by foot, bicycles, bus, taxis and
train (MRT or LRT). Two companies run the public bus and train
transport system β SBS Transit and SMRT Corporation. There are
six taxi companies, who together put out over 28,000 taxis on the
road. Taxis are a popular form of public transport as the fares are
relatively cheap compared to many other developed countries.
Singapore is a major international transport hub in Asia, positioned
on many sea and air trade routes. The Port of Singapore, managed
by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, was the
world's second-busiest port in 2005 in terms of shipping tonnage
handled, at 1.15 billion gross tons, and in terms
of containerized traffic, at 23.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units
(TEUs). It is also the world's second-busiest, behind Shanghai, in
terms of cargo tonnage with 423 million tons handled. In addition,
the port is the world's busiest for transshipment traffic and the
world's biggest ship refueling centre.
-Wong
Kan Seng
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