COME December, Singapore Ducktours will cease operating its HiPPO River Cruises along the Singapore River, having failed to secure the tender to run water taxi services on behalf of the country's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Ducktours took issue with URA’s emphasis on bid price instead of the bidder’s track record during the tender process, and argued that the authority’s new requirements – including the S$3 (US$2.40) and S$4 price caps on standard and express fares, respectively – simply did not make business sense.
On top of using an online blog to air its grievances, Ducktours published an open letter – signed by Ducktours’ CEO James Heng and addressed to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – appealing for a review. Full story
