Why does it take so long to repair escalator and toilets at Tg Pagar MRT station?

I take the train at Tanjong Pagar station almost every day. As the station was doing some improvement work last year, I had presumed that all repair works would have been completed after Chinese New Year.

It surprised me that the escalator facing Tanjong Pagar side is closed since last week and is still under servicing. No completion date was given.

The situation was compounded by the fact that this older station has only one escalator (Tanjong Pagar side) serving thousands of commuters a day. Commuters have no choice but to climb the steps as the lift cannot take in so many passengers at one go.

Could the SMRT explain why it takes so long to repair the escalator and toilets at the Tanjong Pagar station?

To serve commuters better, a notice should be put at the platform to inform them of the out-of-service escalator and toilets.

David Kwok Ng Kan

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Hiddink found guilty but escapes jail term

THE HAGUE - FORMER South Korea and Australia coach Guus Hiddink has escaped a prison term after being found guilty of tax fraud.

A court in the Netherlands on Tuesday refused a prosecutor's request for a 10-month jail term.

Instead, the Dutchman was given a 45,000 euro (S$90,800) fine and a six-month suspended sentence.

The court said Hiddink defrauded the tax authorities of 1.4 million euros in 2002 after returning from South Korea, whom he had coached during the 2002 World Cup Finals.

Hiddink claimed at the time that he paid his taxes in neighbouring Belgium. He said he was living there.

The prosecutor, however, said that Hiddink owned only a small apartment in Belgium and did not reside there.

During the trial, the coach denied that he had lived with his girlfriend in Amsterdam.

He said he instead slept in a number of different places - in hotels, at his girlfriend's home, at the training ground of PSV Eindhoven, whom he was also coaching at the time, and sometimes in his car.

His lawyer, Jan Leliveld, said: 'Guus is satisfied that the prosecutor's demand for a jail term was not given. But he regrets that his reputation has been tarnished by this affair.

'The court was unable to determine how much money went supposedly unpaid to the tax authorities. As a result, we will take our time in deciding whether to appeal.'

Hiddink has always denied defrauding the tax authorities.

'I'm an honest man. I want to show that there has been no fraud. This whole affair is all down to administrative errors,' he said a few weeks ago.

Last season, he coached PSV and worked with the Australian team, whom he led to the last 16 of the World Cup Finals.

He is now working with the Russian national team.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Taufik pulls out of All-England event

JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S Olympic badminton champion Taufik Hidayat has withdrawn from next month's All-England Championships.

The Indonesian media reported yesterday that he had fallen out with the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI).

He had disagreed with the association's decision to allow two men's doubles teams to compete in the tournament, despite the fact that they had broken regulations.

The players - Markis Kido, Luluk Hadiyanto, Alvent Yulianto and Flandy Limpele - had taken part in an event in Papua last December without the PBSI's consent.

The association had banned them from taking part in Swiss Open.

But Taufik, twice an All-England finalist and a former world champion, wanted them also to be barred from the March 6-11 event.

The decision reportedly upset Taufik and he threatened to pull out of the All-England unless PBSI changed course.

The talented 25-year-old has a history of off-court antics and frequent disputes with his national association.

PBSI officials with have confirmed the decision but failed to provide a reason, reported The Jakarta Post.

Said Lius Pongoh, the official in charge of training: 'We still have his ticket and hotel reservations. But Taufik will not compete at the All-England.'

The All-England title is the only major title Taufik has not won.

He told The Jakarta Post: 'I want it badly, but now I am facing this.'

REUTERS

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