The Service Sector in Singapore
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Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
yes yes... i totally agree too...and here, alot of ppl complain the taxi driver talks too much~
Some really talk too much lorKNS they just go on n on n on when I'm not even listening
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Originally posted by russiabear:
i like SG style. no need to be nice to customer. customer oso dont need to heck care sales ppl or waiters or any sort of service staff. this is our culture mah. those places that say hello or whatever, is just lip service. for that i pay tips? nty. this reminds me of those chinese restaurants. like or dont like oso must pay for the peanut plate and wet towels.
In case you didn't realise, you can return the towels when you pay up and they will cancel the charge (at least at the places I've been to). And why should any place insist that I pay the 10% service charge if my server is mute and has a permanent scowl and my bread is cold on arrival? There are general formulas for tipping but the freedom to dictate your amount gives servers an incentive to try harder.
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I feel sorry for those who have never travelled out of the country before to experience better service standards. Children raised in this environment grow up believing that service is meant to be as such.
You can be sure that in restaurants like swensen or department stores like metro, one will find service staff saying thank you without ever giving you eye contact.
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I would say though that overall in Oz and USA, the restaurant experience is much much better
I like how to come to the table to ask about the food and the recommandations they give.
I think end of the day to me is the setting. I'm more inclined to want to talk in a restaurant than say, buying groceries
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i agree. customer also has a part to play in good service. when abroad in western countries, i always cheery to sales staff and vice versa. down here, if i smile at sales staff and be polite to them, some of them think i hitting on them. siao. down here is just bad service. worse if prc come into the mix. but pinoy staff so far i find good service actually.
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As for me, I dont really care much if they smile at me or say hi or never. Just pay and go.
Last weekend, went to eat japanese resturant with my family, as usual, voice are heard (welcome) but cannot see the faces.
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u know those insincere konichiwas and no eye contact....that's $^&*king irritating. And perhaps this is the mindset of a singaporean. If you are over friendly to a stranger, the person will be suspicious and yeh if to gals, they will think you wana hit on them.
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..and when my whole family walk out...all the sudden, the japanese languages blasts all over the place...cant even catch the meaning....
Terrible serivces.
I would rather see a waitress standing at the enterence and bow to us. Rather than heard voices all over the places.
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As a paying customer, we have the rights to be unhappy when the standard of their service is not up to the mark.
I feel that if one is a good customer, the chances of one getting good service is greater.
Sometimes I can be "nice" but when they can't solve the problem, can't help it by throwing my arms up!
One good example is the Singtel Service... They simply ignore you... and end your call.
Some households across the island have not been able to access their mio TV content or go online on SingTel's broadband service since Monday evening.
The number of SingTel subscribers and the areas affected cannot be determined, said a SingTel spokesperson, but the MediaCorp News Hotline received several calls complaining about the problem yesterday.
In a statement, a SingTel spokesperson said "some" customers may be encountering "technical difficulties" with accessing their mio TV content.
"Our engineers are currently rectifying the problem," she said.
"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope to resolve the issue shortly."
Mr William Goh, 52, said he had called the SingTel hotline several times since the service was disrupted on Monday evening but the telco had not been able to provide him with any information.
The property agent, who lives in Choa Chu Kang, said: "They can only tell me it's not rectified yet."
Businessman Lai Chin Aun, 58, who lives in Marsiling, said he has not been able to use any of SingTel's bundled services - mio TV, broadband Internet and telephony - since about 10pm on Monday.
"We're still paying for the service although we can't use it. They can't even tell us when normal service will resume," he said.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
u know those insincere konichiwas and no eye contact....that's $^&*king irritating. And perhaps this is the mindset of a singaporean. If you are over friendly to a stranger, the person will be suspicious and yeh if to gals, they will think you wana hit on them.
I agree about the suspicious Singaporean. Yesterday, I was at VivoCity's Charles & Keith when I saw the salesperson getting out of their storeroom with his hands full and he ended up struggling with the straggly bits of bead curtain that got tangled up around his neck. He turned around and around slowly and I started to giggle and say, "Oh dear! You're being strangled!" and then moved forward to offer to help untangle him but he managed to untangle himself before I could help.
In Australia, the salesperson will just laugh along and make some comment. Yesterday, the salesperson just walked off in silence.
Service is all about the feel-good factor. Here, even when I'm just being friendly, I feel that I'm often talking to brick walls - expressionless, unreciprocative, and mostly dour and silent.
Service in Singapore may be more efficient than Melbourne's, but when it comes to the feel-good factor, Melbourne triumphs over us, IMO.
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Originally posted by elindra:
I'm never bored because I always have a book with me
I just think they talk too much
I'm not really that chatty in person unless I know you really well.
I bring along a book, a mag, my MP3 player, and my DS Lite but sometimes, to break the monotony of reading, I'll just sit there and stare out the window or if the person sitting opposite is a nice ol' lady / gentleman who keeps smiling at me, I'll have a short conversation with him / her just to make him / her happier. A lot of the old folks there are well and truly alone because their children may be living in other states so I kinda feel sorry for them. It's not always talking to kill boredom but sometimes, it's talking cause I feel their loneliness.
I guess after living there for four years, I've grown to embrace the art of chatting with strangers. What do I do for a living anyways? In my job, I have to talk to dozens of 'strangers' on a daily basis. Sometimes, it irritates the hell out of me (esp if the person's a drug addict / alcoholic / you're in a mad rush), but at other times, I see the beauty of acknowledging the stranger near you and just making small talk to make each other's day a tad nicer. I guess it's a culture of gracious living.
All said, I don't think this small talk thing will work in Singapore. We're too suspicious, too much in a hurry and too utilitarian.
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
I bring along a book, a mag, my MP3 player, and my DS Lite but sometimes, to break the monotony of reading, I'll just sit there and stare out the window or if the person sitting opposite is a nice ol' lady / gentleman who keeps smiling at me, I'll have a short conversation with him / her just to make him / her happier. A lot of the old folks there are well and truly alone because their children may be living in other states so I kinda feel sorry for them. It's not always talking to kill boredom but sometimes, it's talking cause I feel their loneliness.
I guess after living there for four years, I've grown to embrace the art of chatting with strangers. What do I do for a living anyways? In my job, I have to talk to dozens of 'strangers' on a daily basis. Sometimes, it irritates the hell out of me (esp if the person's a drug addict / alcoholic / you're in a mad rush), but at other times, I see the beauty of acknowledging the stranger near you and just making small talk to make each other's day a tad nicer. I guess it's a culture of gracious living.
All said, I don't think this small talk thing will work in Singapore. We're too suspicious, too much in a hurry and too utilitarian.
just look at the faces of the people you see on trains and buses in singapore
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
I bring along a book, a mag, my MP3 player, and my DS Lite but sometimes, to break the monotony of reading, I'll just sit there and stare out the window or if the person sitting opposite is a nice ol' lady / gentleman who keeps smiling at me, I'll have a short conversation with him / her just to make him / her happier. A lot of the old folks there are well and truly alone because their children may be living in other states so I kinda feel sorry for them. It's not always talking to kill boredom but sometimes, it's talking cause I feel their loneliness.
I guess after living there for four years, I've grown to embrace the art of chatting with strangers. What do I do for a living anyways? In my job, I have to talk to dozens of 'strangers' on a daily basis. Sometimes, it irritates the hell out of me (esp if the person's a drug addict / alcoholic / you're in a mad rush), but at other times, I see the beauty of acknowledging the stranger near you and just making small talk to make each other's day a tad nicer. I guess it's a culture of gracious living.
All said, I don't think this small talk thing will work in Singapore. We're too suspicious, too much in a hurry and too utilitarian.
It's the culture here babe.
And most people rather be interested in their own problems and thoughts than talking to a stranger.
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Originally posted by av98m:
just look at the faces of the people you see on trains and buses in singapore
haha when commuters sit down and there's no one in front of them, they look around. When someone sits opposite or stands in front of them, they enter sleep mode LOL
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
I agree about the suspicious Singaporean. Yesterday, I was at VivoCity's Charles & Keith when I saw the salesperson getting out of their storeroom with his hands full and he ended up struggling with the straggly bits of bead curtain that got tangled up around his neck. He turned around and around slowly and I started to giggle and say, "Oh dear! You're being strangled!" and then moved forward to offer to help untangle him but he managed to untangle himself before I could help.
In Australia, the salesperson will just laugh along and make some comment. Yesterday, the salesperson just walked off in silence.
Service is all about the feel-good factor. Here, even when I'm just being friendly, I feel that I'm often talking to brick walls - expressionless, unreciprocative, and mostly dour and silent.
Service in Singapore may be more efficient than Melbourne's, but when it comes to the feel-good factor, Melbourne triumphs over us, IMO.
that's nice...talking to an uncle or auntie because u feel their loneliness. There's no time for that in sg. You seem like a friendly kind of person...i guess the culture in melbourne suits you better :)
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But hor, if you see the smrt staff standing around the tracks at clementi mrt station during the morning peak hour, they're actually quite friendly and chatty and a lot of the commuters waiting for the train do chat and joke with them. it wasn't like that when they first started deploying them there during peak hours but over time I think they've managed to break the ice with those who regularly take the train from there.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
that's nice...talking to an uncle or auntie because u feel their loneliness. There's no time for that in sg. You seem like a friendly kind of person...i guess the culture in melbourne suits you better :)
Erm... actually I'm not a naturally friendly person. It's something I had to adapt to because I now live in a different place. If you try to embrace another culture, you'll start to see things in a different perspective. When I first found myself being spoken to by a bored old lady there, I was like, "Eee yerh! What does this person want from me?!" but later, through observation and repeated experiences, I realised that all they want is just friendly small talk.
Who knows, when I'm of that age and living alone, I'll be like them too, hoping that someone will make small talk with me so that my world will feel a little less lonely, a lot less silent, and a bit more colourful.
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Originally posted by elindra:
It's the culture here babe.
And most people rather be interested in their own problems and thoughts than talking to a stranger.
You calling me babe is ... very very strange and awkward.
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Originally posted by av98m:
But hor, if you see the smrt staff standing around the tracks at clementi mrt station during the morning peak hour, they're actually quite friendly and chatty and a lot of the commuters waiting for the train do chat and joke with them. it wasn't like that when they first started deploying them there during peak hours but over time I think they've managed to break the ice with those who regularly take the train from there.
really? hmmmm......
but i will never forget that evening when i was packed like sardines in the train. Forceful bodily contact on a panoramic basis .
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
Erm... actually I'm not a naturally friendly person. It's something I had to adapt to because I now live in a different place. If you try to embrace another culture, you'll start to see things in a different perspective. When I first found myself being spoken to by a bored old lady there, I was like, "Eee yerh! What does this person want from me?!" but later, through observation and repeated experiences, I realised that all they want is just friendly small talk.
Who knows, when I'm of that age and living alone, I'll be like them too, hoping that someone will make small talk with me so that my world will feel a little less lonely, a lot less silent, and a bit more colourful.
it happens here in indo too...i take the train and when i sit down, i just smile at them, regardless of whether they are from the countryside or city. I wld converse with them too if they speak english.
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Singapore has improved but of course has still a long way to go. There are many factors that has been put forward as contributors to the not-as-good service in Singapore, things like the low salary, unreasonable customers, long hours, pride (especially chinese and asian pride of being a servant) etc.
You know the endless argument about the "customer is always right" and then later on to the retail experts bringing on "the customer is always right.....sometimes" antagonises the 2 parties. In Singapore, I feel that there are too many service staff who take the job very lightly. Who could blame them? Afterall, most service staff salaries cannot be considered "livelihood" since it is so low. But they fail to appreciate that having a job in Singapore is most times a privilege and not an entitlement as most believed. My sister was working in a retail environment and after 5 years there, she was taking home $2200 being promoted to a supervisor. Low? I dun think so. Cos her knew she had very low qualifications and she worked hard and make sure the thing she is measured by, which is SERVICE STANDARDS, she did well. If you choose to be in the service sector, there is nothing lowly about those jobs! If you choose to be in the service sector, then you bloody should have a high level of service standard! Or else just leave! No one is forcing you to SERVE!
As for customers, I think a very highly urbanised society like ours make us a bunch of big headed people. I see this in Hong Kong, I see this in Shanghai. I see this in Paris. And I definitely see this in Singapore. Of cos not saying that we are babarians. But what we did not realise is that, because of our better spending power, we demand more. And in the process of demanding more, we sometimes make the service staff or other people feel like shit. Have you realised how impatient we have become? I hate all the customer service calls they put me on call. Alot of them made me wait. But I realised that I started getting irritated just seconds into the call waiting. You know why? Because in Singapore, we want everything and we want them NOW! And so when we see the service staff not giving what we want, we become impatient, we want things now, we want things our way. we give a black face, thinking without our business, they will die.
I would like to think that the customer and service staff relationship is like a husband and wife relationship. You antagonise each other so much but it takes both parties to show understanding and take the initiative to do something FIRST. You do not have to wait for the service staff to be courteous first before you show a smile. You do it first and hope that people reciprocate. That is how life should be isnt it. Whatever it is, there is no escaping this relationship and so it is up to how both parties decide to work this relationship out.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
really? hmmmm......
but i will never forget that evening when i was packed like sardines in the train. Forceful bodily contact on a panoramic basis .
yes, its very uncomfortable standing in the train with your crotch jammed against a stranger's butt. esp if its female.
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Originally posted by av98m:
yes, its very uncomfortable standing in the train with your crotch jammed against a stranger's butt. esp if its female.
esp if female? haha shouldn't it be male lol. But that can be averted by turning my body slightly sideways. Come to think of it, another auntie held on to my ass as the crowded bus moved along. I was standing on the bus deck while she was just behind me on the steps hehehe.
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Originally posted by av98m:
yes, its very uncomfortable standing in the train with your crotch jammed against a stranger's butt. esp if its female.
I usually whack the guy hard in the ribs with my handbag or better still, if I have a hard folder. 
I have ever yelled at an Indian man on the Melbourne tram to "keep a decent distance and watch it". -
Originally posted by Rhonda:
You calling me babe is ... very very strange and awkward.
Why is it awkward? I call my good friends babe sometimes >.<"