So Many Insomniacs In Singapore

Out of curiousity, I did a Google Blog Search on the name "Sleepless in Singapore". To my surprise, I found so many postings by bloggers who were unable to sleep.

It's a bit worrying. So many bloggers are young people. Many bloggers cannot cannot sleep. Can we then conclude that many young people suffer from insomnia in Spore?

For my case, I don't really know what prompted me to use the name Sleepless in Spore. Insomnia is not a problem for me. Reflecting on it, it does seem to be a rather stupid name. Gives the impression of a handsome Tom Hanks type when if fact it is just the opposite. Actually, at the time when I started this blog, the movie You've Got Mail came to my mind.

Anyway, I will just stick to it. Unlike our government, I am not fond of changing names.

Consciously Rude

I once attended a seminar on Safety. The speaker talked about 4 levels of safety behaviour. It goes something like this:

• Level 1: Unconciously unsafe - this person is not even aware that he is behaving in an unsafe manner.
• Level 2: Consciously unsafe - this person has probably undergone safety training, and is aware that he is behaving in an unsafe manner.
• Level 3: Consciously safe - this person has probably undergone safety training too, and consciously reminds himself to adopt safe work practices.
• Level 4: Unconciously safe - after prolonged practice, safety becomes a part of this person's habits and he adopts safe practices unconsciously (e.g. Sporeans buckling up whenever they get into a car).

I believe we can apply this concept to customer service by replacing the words, 'safe' and 'unsafe' with the words, 'courteous' and 'rude'.

I think many small Singaporean establishments like the HDB retail shops and hawker stalls belong to the Levels 2 and 3. Previously they mostly belonged to Level 1. But the bad economy and tough competition caused them to 'shape up or ship out'.

The other day, I bought some fruits at an HDB shop in North Buona Vista. As the lady started to count the apples that I have selected and pack them into a plastic bag, she suddently put one aside and told me curtly to take another. As my hearing was not so good, I asked her to repeat.

"Go and take another apple", she ordered somewhat impatiently. "This one is bad."

After I returned with a new apple, she toned down her voice considerably to explain that one of the apples I had chosen earlier was slightly rotten. (She was probably thinking. "This chap is not only deaf, he is blind as well.") It wasn't exactly an apology, but she must have realised that she shouldn't have adopted such a rude tone of voice with her customer.

I cannot comment about the situation in expensive establishments because I seldom patronise such places. But, I suspect mostly they are in Level 3. With the strong emphasis on customer service training, many sales staff do make an attempt to be courteous. But it is tough for them because it goes against their nature.

I am sorry to say this; but I think that Singaporeans generally are quite rude and impatient. I hope many people will disagree with me.

Go and Jump into the Sea

The president of Iran said a few days ago that Israel should be wiped off from the face of the earth. Later, his government declared that they are a peaceful people who do not believe in force and violence and that sort of thing.

I guess the only other alternative then is to tell the Israelites, "Go and jump into the sea."

Good Government

Last week, I had the opportunity to play host to some visitors from the Philippines. Some comments that they made helped me to appreciate the good government that we enjoy in Singapore.

First of all, on the several occasions that I met them at the hotel, I noticed that the lobbies were often crowded with tourists of all shapes and colours, and the car park jammed with tour buses. Our STB must have done a pretty good marketing job to bring in so many people to visit our expensive ‘little red dot'.

Then, when I looked at the photos that they took at the Esplanade and Merlion Park, I suddenly realized that Singapore is really quite beautiful, albeit in an artificial sort of way. Because I seldom go to such ‘touristy’ areas, let alone take pictures there, I didn’t notice this before.

When driving my friends around, one of them remarked that our streets and roadside parks are so beautiful and well-maintained. “You really are blessed to have such a good government”, one of them remarked. I shared with them a little about our efforts to keep Singapore ‘clean and green’. True – our Nparks has done an excellent job.

After nearly one week, one of them said, “Its strange; I hardly see any police around in the public areas. Back home, we have police at every street corner, and yet there is so much crime. Here, you have so few police, but you have so little crime”.

I could not help but agree with them, although, in order not to sound too proud, I remarked that our government employed very highly qualified and highly paid professionals to manage the government departments; and many of our public sector organizations like the Singapore Police Force and the Library Board have actually won recognition in the form of national quality awards.

When I surf the internet and visit various forums and blog sites, I notice that many people complain that our ministers are over-paid. I do not have any opinion on that. However, I totally support the principle that the best talents should be hired to run the country; and such people should be paid salaries that are comparable to those in the private sector.

Today, we live in perilous times. Earthquakes, terrorist bombings, hurricanes, SARS, dengue, and a very real threat of a bird flu epidemic stare us in the face. Now, more than ever, we need good leaders to run the country.

What Will We Be Tomorrow?

For the past few days, every time I turn on the tv to Channel News Asia, I see this trailer about their new documentary, A Species Odyssey. The trailer ends with this question; “Today we are homo sapiens; what will we be tomorrow?”

I thought the answer to that one should be obvious. Yesterday we were monkeys; today are humans; tomorrow we will be gods of course. This is called Evolution.

Sigh - and this the kind of stuff are being taught as Science in schools.


“and ye shall be as gods” - The serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5)

Our Courts Not Supporting the PM

Our PM wants to do more for old people and improve the level of customer service in Spore. But judging from today's reports on the Took Leng How/Huang Na murder trial, the courts are not very supportive leh.

Firstly, those poor retirees had to queue for hours to get into the courtroom only to find that there were not enough seats. And then those in the gallery could not even see the star, sorry, I mean the accused. Worse of all, the verdict took only 3 minutes to deliver. Even the accused's family were not cooperative - no hysterical sobbing or fainting.

Understandbly, those poor old folks were so disappointed. No wonder one woman complained to the reporters. One chap even vented his frustrations on Took's wife.

Hiroshima

Last weekend, I saw Part 2 of the documentary, Hiroshima on Channel News Asia. There was a tragic scene that particularly saddened me. There was this woman survivor who watched helplessly as her young daughter, trapped under some beams begged her not to leave her as the flames engulfed her. All the time she was wailing desperately to her daughter to forgive her because she did not have the courage to die together with her.

I am reminded of an essay my GP teacher asked us to write on the topic, “War has never achieved anything, and never will. Do you agree?” That was more than 30 years ago. I cannot remember what I wrote then, but if I had to write that essay again, I am quite sure what my answer will be.

“But man at war with man hears not
The love song that they sing.
Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing”
- Sarah Harrison, The Flowers of the Field


“And as he sat on upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

And Jesus answered and said unto them ….. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
- Matthew 24: 3 - 8

Interesting Encounters With Rude Cashiers

Recently there were some articles in Today lamenting the low standard of customer service in Singapore. Actually, I find that the level of courtesy amongst the heartland retail shops and hawker stalls has improved considerably these past couple of years. This is probably due to the tough business environment and intense competition. Nevertheless, it is still quite common to encounter rude sales staff. Here are a couple of interesting encounters.

Encounter no. 1: Cake Shop at Bishan North Block 282

(Sorry this happened a few months ago, and so I cannot recall the exact figures)

I selected $5.60 worth of buns and paid the cashier $7; one $5 and one $2 bill. She then returned me $2.40 mostly in coins. As I turned away and counted the change, I turned back to point out her mistake. But to be doubly sure, I re-counted and then asked her how much was my purchase.

She replied impatiently: “Total is $5.60. You gave $7 and so I return you $2.40 lor ." .…. (pause) .. "Oh sorry, I keep thinking it is $8”, she added as she sheepishly she took a $1 coin from my palm.


Encounter no. 2: Food Court at Yung Ho Road (opp NTUC Lifestyle Centre)

The Cantonese have saying; “sin king loy yi, hou king yan”; meaning to judge a person by the way he or she dresses. This was often used to describe the discriminatory service meted out by rude Hong Kong sales people (in the bad old days that is – heard that they have much improved in recent years).

Recently I encountered discrimination of a slightly different sort. I was on my way to Jurong with 2 colleagues to meet a client, and was dressed relatively formal in long sleeves shirt and tie. As we were early, we decided to stop for coffee. I went up to the cashier to place my order. “2 coffees and 1 tea please”. But she was busy taking stock of cigarettes and totally ignored me. I was undecided whether or not to repeat my order. Maybe she already heard my order and she might scold me for being impatient and disturbing her. Or maybe she did not hear? Fortunately, her colleague came along and attended to me. Just then, along came a young man dressed in factory clothes and placed a similar order. Guess what .. our rude cashier girl immediately responded to him is such a friendly tone.

I never knew that you can be discriminated against for dressing smart.

On the other hand, it may have nothing to do with attire at all. Maybe it is a case for middle-aged uncle vs young Ah Beng – the choice is clear right? Anyway, it is still discrimination.