Singapore has built its reputation on the reliability of its private and public services.

The repeated MRT train service disruptions, unless addressed effectively and without further delay, may soon come to be viewed as a worrying sign that Singapore's standards are starting to slip.

Perhaps it is time to recruit people with the expertise and experience in running mass rapid transit systems well to carry out a comprehensive review and overhaul of the system (Dig deep to solve problem of flooded tunnels; Oct 9).

Such experts are likely to hail from overseas.

We have not been too proud to recruit such experts in the past, for example, when Singapore was undergoing its industrialisation programme.

We should not be too proud to do so now.

This would be preferable to the situation we are facing currently, where many hours of productivity are lost and the rail operator seems to be continually firefighting as unanticipated problems crop up.

Allowing the situation to continue unabated may ultimately result in the loss of investor confidence in the country as a whole.

Josephine Chong Siew Nyuk (Ms)