Service Level in Singapore??

PM Lee recently talked about the poor service level in Singapore, and I couldn't agree more. So just as usual, when the PM says IT, IT becomes the truth in Singapore, and all the media and people start discussing it like it is a newly discovered gospel. Man ... people (like me!!) have been lamenting about it for ages (Just ask those "quitters" who have left Singapore!! Well maybe not the main reason they left, but I am sure it certainly contributed ;P hehehhe) ....

So the recent talks on the media (specifically, a certain newspaper that sounds like "Ass Tee") was where do we learn from? Japan was cited, Hong Kong was cited, Korea, Thailand etc. They went into analysis of how different the level of services were offered, and even characterizes them. Like Thailand's service is like these, and Japanese are like that etc. Then they asked "What should Singapore's own style of service be?? If the attitude is how to create a service level that is unique to Singapore, I say we are just screwing ourselves once again. What is this problem with our people??? Trying to reinvent the wheel again??? Even with service level??? We are behind every cited country above in service level and we wanna talk about reinventing the wheel?? WTF!!? Maybe we should start by acknowledging our weakness, and learn from the leaders in these aspects! Then other than the good countries, we also put in the bad examples?? Why?? To make ourselves feel better?? Geeze!!!

And the article written, not just praises but also finds the flaws in the each of the country's own brand of service. So let's look at the criticism on Hong Kong's customer service - "Overservice", "Those smiles and all that attention - sometimes it feels a bit too fake, like they do not really mean it". What the hell?? Am I hearing it wrong?? Are Singaporeans so used to bad service, that when they do get it, they think it is overdone??? Would you rather have "Eh, Allo, What you want?" over "Hello, Good afternoon, How may I help you?". If the attitude of humility is not adopted among Singaporeans, always finding excuses for themselves, we will never ever improve!!!

What is Singaporean's main obstacles?? Our Ego! We are so bloody used to the Government pouring praises of our "great" our nation are, we refuse to admit our mistakes. And even when it comes down to talking about flaws, we must draw in some bad examples along so as to "pat ourselves on the back" and feel that "we're not that bad lah". Hey Wake up Singaporeans, we are pretty damn bad, and we should start with that angle so we can be more critical of ourselves, and thus change for the better. Drop the ego, admit the wrongs, and change for the better. And that goes with not just the people providing the service, but the people who are receiving it too. We are a rude nation, and we are ugly. We should stop finding excuses, and stop using "buts". If we don't look at our own behavior and improve, we should not expect courtesy from either side of the fences -customers and the service provider. The mentality has to change, and it everyone's job for the the better of our country.