Although SMRT responded rapidly by providing 70 buses to ferry commuters to Tanah Merah Station, I had to spend 1 hour and 10 minutes in the bus from Pasir Ris to Tanah Merah - a journey that would usually have taken about 20 minutes by road.

The shuttle bus, which was already packed when it left Pasir Ris, tried to pick up affected commuters at Tampines and Simei. Not surprisingly, few of the commuters at Tampines and Simei got on board as the bus was already crowded.

Furthermore, the journey was made on trunk roads with numerous traffic lights. The usually heavy traffic in the morning was made worse by the large number of shuttle buses that had been dispatched.

As a result, my usual 30-minute journey from Pasir Ris to Raffles Place took one hour and 40 minutes.

SMRT should have managed the situation better by dispatching shuttle buses from each of the affected stations to Tanah Merah instead of sending them on a lengthy route through Tampines and Simei.

Also, the shuttle buses should have used the expressways so that more trips could have been made.

This would have made better use of limited resources and commuters would have got to their destinations faster.

In addition, the Land Transport Authority should have coordinated relief efforts with the Traffic Police. Despite the heavier-than-usual traffic, throughout my journey there were no traffic policemen at intersections to direct traffic. The only police vehicle that I saw was stuck in the traffic jam itself.

If Singapore is to rely heavily on the bus and MRT network to move commuters, then there should be a more robust and effective recovery plan by SMRT and the authorities.

Cheah Khuan Yew