Teen makes U-turn on closing blog on Thomson Line after meeting LTA

SINGAPORE — After an informal meeting with Land Transport Authority (LTA) staff over the weekend and encouragement from friends and the public, civil engineering enthusiast Nethaniel Foo has changed his mind about closing down his blog about the construction of the Thomson MRT line.

A final-year civil engineering student at Singapore Polytechnic, Nethaniel, 18, had decided to call time on his Thomson Line Construction blog after negative encounters in the course of producing content for it.

For instance, staff at some worksites had threatened prosecution for trespass when he flew his drone to take aerial photos of the sites to document the progress of construction.

On Saturday, Nethaniel was invited to the launch of the tunnel-boring machine for the Thomson Line’s Stevens Station by contractor Daewoo Engineering and Construction — the company was not among those that had previously threatened him with prosecution.

Members of LTA’s civil team for the MRT line were at the ceremony and had an impromptu discussion with him. According to Nethaniel, they said platforms like his blog are good ways to better engage the public and project stakeholders. When contacted yesterday, the LTA confirmed that its staff met Nethaniel but did not provide further details.

Previously, Nethaniel said he had contacted an LTA employee to seek a collaboration that would allow him to continue with blog updates without being stopped by worksite personnel, but said he did not receive a response.

The LTA told TODAY last Friday it was not aware of the request for collaboration and Nethaniel’s correspondences with its subcontractors, but has since contacted him and offered a “direct line of communication ... for information pertaining to our projects”.

A spokesperson had added: “LTA is happy to work with the community on creating awareness for our projects.”

The LTA had also rejected allegations on Nethaniel’s blog that it had issued “legal threats” to its contractors and sub-contractors for contributing pictures to him, calling them “false allegations”.

Yesterday, Nethaniel said he would continue using his drone to take aerial photos of worksites, but expected that worksite employees would now shy away from providing him with material “to avoid creating unnecessary trouble for themselves”.

Asked why he had decided to continue the blog, which he started end-2013 after completing his O-Levels, Nethaniel told TODAY: “If I do not do the blog, nobody else would. The public and stakeholders deserve to have frequent updates and understanding of the progress of the construction works for these government projects which are funded by taxpayers, and ultimately utilised and enjoyed by the people.”

The Thomson line is part of the 43km Thomson-East Coast line, which will open in stages from 2019.