Lesson from SMRT

People always undermine operation, maintenance and service delivery. It's always more glamorous to flash the P&L, stock price, new deals, party, celebrities, publicity, golf, etc. Operation is taken for granted. The problem is that operation is the foundation. It's what you sell to customers. In the context of SMRT since it serves the public's interest more than share holders, it's even more important. SMRT took operation for granted. The money they used to invest in the retail space, hired dolly dim sum, etc would be more useful if they channel it to operation. Once it blows up, it will cost the high flyers' job.