Lack of bus drivers

Bus drivers seems to be in demand by our bus operators whom first resorted to Malaysians and then China Nationals. (Maybe India Indian next). While the average pay for the bus drivers moves up north, still many people are not joining the profession which becomes logical when you attribute to associating factors such as starting very early in the morning (5am I believe) for the morning shift and ending close to 2am for the afternoon shift. Also, I suppose there is traffic risk, risk of sticking to timings, risk of bad passengers, risk of passenger abuse and such...

So with LTA injection of 1.1 billion into the industry, could it evolves into a situation whereby there are buses parked at the bus park and the operators couldn't find anyone to drive the bus?

Assuming if part of the 1.1 billion goes to increasing the salary of the bus drivers, could it also evolves into a situation whereby the starting pay of the bus driver is higher than the starting pay of the poly grad or Uni grad?

Also, with the high demand and low supply, can we still expect a high level of SERVICE from the bus captains? By the big word SERVICE not only referring to courtesy of the bus drivers but should also include the following:

- Service with a smile
- Smooth driving of buses (no hard braking, acceleration or cornering)
- Waiting for passengers who is trying their best to catch the bus
- Stop till elderly sits down before moving the bus
- Stop as close to kerb and bus stop as possible
- Going his way out to help passengers, especially those with special needs
- etc
- etc

There is a reason why SBST calls their bus driver bus captain. It is because like a captain of a ship or aircraft, this person is in charge of everything from the smooth operation of the vehicle to attending the needs of the passengers. To take responsibilities (and pride) in the job itself. Although it is OMO in the situation of the bus, the basic objective is still the same, to take responsibility (and pride) in the job and give one's best to ensure a exception level of service.

Are our so called bus captains able to achieve that?