On Sunday, my Indonesian helper went to Tampines MRT station to top up her ez-link card. She was approached by a uniformed officer, who insisted on helping her with the top-up even though my helper said she could do it on her own.

Unbeknown to her, the staff member proceeded to convert her ez-link card to a SimplyGo card. The staff member also told her she would get a $2 rebate for doing the conversion.

The staff member then thrust a flier, which was in English, into my helper’s hands and asked her to read it for more information. My helper realised that her card had been converted to a SimplyGo card only after her next bus ride. The remaining card balance and the trip fare were not displayed on the reader.

A SimplyGo card requires the user to download an app, set up an account and link the card to view details of the trip fare and card balance. This is inconvenient as the user cannot easily see the card balance when tapping out on a bus or at a train station to know when to top up the card.

Also, there are people who do not use mobile phones. And some mobile phone users may not have mobile data and may rely on Wi-Fi.

There was also no $2 rebate when my helper checked the card balance at a general ticketing machine the next day. I read the flier and found that the $2 rebate offer period was over.

I wonder how often conversions like these have been happening at MRT stations.

Carolyn Ng