By CHERYL LIM, cheryll@sph.com.sg
Farm House in the sunset
Picture is obtained from http://sendingpostcards.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/house_sunset_small.jpg
Some 4mez-link cards not yet replaced
COMMUTERS here are still hanging on to half of the eight million ez-link cards slated to be replaced with a new smart card, despite being left with just two weeks to exchange them.
They risk having to pay $5 for their Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (Cepas)-compliant cards after Oct 1, when the old cards become invalid.
Only four million old cards have been replaced since the exchange exercise began on Jan 9 this year. They are making way for the new cards, which are designed to pay for more services on top of bus and MRT rides, including parking fees, Electronic Road Pricing fees and retail purchases.
Old Christmas Card
Some commuters who use TransitLink’s Bank Giro top-up scheme said that they have delayed replacing their old card because they will incur additional charges with the new one. They will have to pay a one-time application fee of $1.50 to sign up for the new card’s Giro scheme, called Ez-Reload by Giro, as well as a “convenience fee” of 25 cents for every auto top-up of the card.
Student Clarice Lim, 23, said: “Though the charges are small, I feel that they are unnecessary, so I have put off changing the card until the deadline is up.”
EZ-Link spokesman Gregory Danker clarified that the application fee has been waived, and will kick in only from Feb 26 next year. The “convenience fee” is levied to offset the processing costs incurred, he added.
Asked why TransitLink did not charge commuters for auto top-ups of the old card, he said that he was unable to comment on the pricing model of other organisations.
Mono lake sunset
Another reason for commuters dragging their feet over replacing their old cards: sheer laziness. Marketing executive Daryll Teo, 27, said: “I haven’t changed mine simply because I’ve been procrastinating. But I am keeping watch on how much time I have left to do so. No way will I pay $5 for a new card.”
Other commuters believe that replacing theirs at a later time allows them to beat the queues. Mrs Jamie Lim, 55, a housewife, said: “Everyone would have changed theirs before this month. I waited until now so that I won’t have to jostle with the crowds.”
Junior-college teacher Luke Lu, 28, who got his new card only last week, felt that it had been pointless to replace the card early, because commuters cannot enjoy any of its purported benefits yet.
He said: “None of the carparks have changed their systems to accept this new card, so we still can’t use it in place of our CashCard.”
They risk having to pay $5 for their Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (Cepas)-compliant cards after Oct 1, when the old cards become invalid.
Only four million old cards have been replaced since the exchange exercise began on Jan 9 this year. They are making way for the new cards, which are designed to pay for more services on top of bus and MRT rides, including parking fees, Electronic Road Pricing fees and retail purchases.
Old Christmas Card
Picture is obtained from http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/Christmas%20images/christmas%20cards/old_card.jpg
Some commuters who use TransitLink’s Bank Giro top-up scheme said that they have delayed replacing their old card because they will incur additional charges with the new one. They will have to pay a one-time application fee of $1.50 to sign up for the new card’s Giro scheme, called Ez-Reload by Giro, as well as a “convenience fee” of 25 cents for every auto top-up of the card.
Student Clarice Lim, 23, said: “Though the charges are small, I feel that they are unnecessary, so I have put off changing the card until the deadline is up.”
EZ-Link spokesman Gregory Danker clarified that the application fee has been waived, and will kick in only from Feb 26 next year. The “convenience fee” is levied to offset the processing costs incurred, he added.
Asked why TransitLink did not charge commuters for auto top-ups of the old card, he said that he was unable to comment on the pricing model of other organisations.
Mono lake sunset
Picture is obtained from http://images-0.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/3631898-2-mono-lake-sunset.jpg
Another reason for commuters dragging their feet over replacing their old cards: sheer laziness. Marketing executive Daryll Teo, 27, said: “I haven’t changed mine simply because I’ve been procrastinating. But I am keeping watch on how much time I have left to do so. No way will I pay $5 for a new card.”
Other commuters believe that replacing theirs at a later time allows them to beat the queues. Mrs Jamie Lim, 55, a housewife, said: “Everyone would have changed theirs before this month. I waited until now so that I won’t have to jostle with the crowds.”
Junior-college teacher Luke Lu, 28, who got his new card only last week, felt that it had been pointless to replace the card early, because commuters cannot enjoy any of its purported benefits yet.
He said: “None of the carparks have changed their systems to accept this new card, so we still can’t use it in place of our CashCard.”
185 Million Year Old Sunset - The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Series
Picture is obtained from http://images-2.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/2883895-2-185-million-year-old-sunset-the-jurassic-coast-world-heritage-site-series.jpg
Helpdesk: 我的字典
Wǒ de zì diǎn
Smart card: 智慧卡
zhì huì kǎ
Unnecessary: 不必要的
bù bì yào de
Procrastinating: 拖延
tuō yán
Jostle: 推推搡桑
tuī tuī sǎng sǎng
Beautiful fruit-shaped
Picture is obtained from http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/.a/6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c-550wi&imgrefurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/food_and_drink/&usg=__FEBOYjQ_29s4ox90T4AyBZCetqI=&h=322&w=468&sz=36&hl=en&start=1&sig2=NsF2L6HbhAgj98woATFGSA&tbnid=ByGlF5XNGEEuuM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3D6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG&ei=4t-0SpXGDJju7AO2sZ3WBQ
Reference
- MY PAPER TEESDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2009, A6, MY NEWS, HOME
- http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ebook/web_php/fvbrowserjs.php?urljs=http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ecreator/sphopf/ep150909cnd_opf_files/ep150909cnd.js&ver=Gen
- http://images-2.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/2883895-2-185-million-year-old-sunset-the-jurassic-coast-world-heritage-site-series.jpg
- http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/Christmas%20images/christmas%20cards/old_card.jpg
- http://images-0.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/3631898-2-mono-lake-sunset.jpg
- http://sendingpostcards.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/house_sunset_small.jpg
- http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/.a/6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c-550wi&imgrefurl=http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/food_and_drink/&usg=__FEBOYjQ_29s4ox90T4AyBZCetqI=&h=322&w=468&sz=36&hl=en&start=1&sig2=NsF2L6HbhAgj98woATFGSA&tbnid=ByGlF5XNGEEuuM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3D6a00d8341c5d3253ef011570add7e4970c%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG&ei=4t-0SpXGDJju7AO2sZ3WBQ
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