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Mind the gap

In contrast to the article which my last post was about, I enjoyed reading Tay Yek Keak's two-pager on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth in yesterday's ST. It was a rare interesting and 'light' article on the sombre topic of global warming. Then again, it wasn't actually about global warming, but about the film, which is about global warming.

Having said that, I'm not sure if I'll be rushing out to watch it. From what I understand, most of the show is Al Gore doing his multimedia presentation on the topic, which sounds to me like a rather glorified GP lecture. No offence to any GP lecturers, for whom I have high regard. I just mean that it sounds like it's a glorified GP lecture. You know what I mean... I have a high regard, in fact, for both GP lecturers and the discussion about global warming. It's just that I'm not sure if I want to spend the time and money in a cinema watching Al Gore doing the lecture. No offence to Al Gore either.

As a matter of fact, the first time I really thought about the issue seriously was when my GP teacher talked about it in class more than 20 years ago. Now, I had/still have very high regard for the man. He made it almost as interesting as he made King Lear. And, he also walked the talk, in a way. He chose to ride a motorbike instead of driving a car partly for environmental reasons. He was quite a sight because he was a tall and well-built expat and he rode this really nondescript old-looking bike. Of course, one could argue that he should have chosen to take public transport instead of riding a bike if he really cared about the environment.

That brings me to this article from TODAY, in which Dr Victor Savage from NUS suggested that the 'elite' set the example in using public transport (rather than private cars):
'In large cities like Hong Kong, which has a very strong commuter public, you can see tycoons like Li Ka-Shing on the train. He sees nothing wrong with taking the train. The elite here must show the same attitude towards public transport.'

OK, now, when will we start seeing our 'elite' and 'tycoons' on the trains and buses?

(If you are wondering about the title for the post, it's from 'Mind the platform gap.')

Comments

Anonymous said…
having read about him and seen a long interview with li ka-shing somewhere long ago, i kinda respect this old man for his achievement and generous fundings back to society, esp in the area of education (one of the recipient being our smu). however, i SERIOUSLY doubt he takes public transport on a regular basis, unless that means flying first / business class on a commercial flight instead of private jet. that's the only "public transport" i'll believe he may take. haha...
dee
Anonymous said…
Dee,
I wonder where Dr Savage got that idea then. Perhaps was thinking of some other tycoon or public figure?
Anonymous said…
no idea. but i would think lks took public transport (once or twice with his PR people) to promote a certain cause, u know, like how we see our ministers taking the mrt when a new line is opened, or something like that? i think there was a tv interview on his life a few years back by tvb or something. i've seen it somewhere online (maybe his official cheung kong site? can't remember). it showed him waking up REALLY early every morning to exercise before he goes to his office in his chauffeured car.
dee
Anonymous said…
So I wonder who the first REAL public figure taking public transport will be...

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