When we are in a group, we think what others will think.
When we are experts, we think we no longer need to think. When we are by ourselves, we don't want to think. I was reading a newspaper article of an interview with Bernard Harrison, the man who founded world's first Night Safari in Singapore. In commenting some of the latest tourism attractions in Singapore, he said spending $1 billion to build Gardens By The Bay is too expensive. The project was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2005 National Day Rally and set to become Singapore's premier urban outdoor recreation space, and a national icon. An international competition for the design of the master plan was held and attracted more than 70 entries submitted by 170 firms from 24 countries. Mr Harrison said the project took its inspiration from and was influenced by The Eden Project in UK, which cost only $270 million to build in 2000. Well, you could argue that Gardens By The Bay sits on a prime location within the central business district and the land itself is expensive. Furthermore, one was built in 2000 and the other completed in 2011 and you have to factor in inflation. Add to that the different type of materials used, the designs, construction methods and sourcing of exotic plants and faunas, direct comparison is impossible. However, more important than that is The Eden Project was conceived by a person, Tim Smit, while the other is by the government. In the course of fulfilling his dream, Mr Smit had to keep revising his plan, control and cut his budget and simplify the design in order to raise fund for the project. On the other hand, there's no limit on how much the government will and can spend on Gardens By The Bay. Mr Harrison said Gardens By The Bay is a competition right from the start. When you are competing for project of such a scale and significance, you will pull all stops to WOW the panel of judges. And when you win, it is going to be very expensive to bring it to fruition. It becomes a matter of face issue. I visited Gardens By The Bay when it opened. As with anything new, there were many people. And it's free, except for the two domes. I'm not a person into horticulture and so didn't pay the exorbitant price (to me) to go into the two domes. I'll probably be out in 15 minutes looking at a bunch of weird plants with names I couldn't pronounce (which I will soon forget). The only thing that attracted me about them is the air-con that's so welcoming after walking under the hot sun to get there (couldn't find many shelters there). One day, I was lucky enough to win two tickets to one of the dome to watch the Tulip exhibition. Now I got a reason to go in without paying. In the end, I passed the tickets to my mom (she loves gardening and flowers) who went with my sister. I was expecting her to come back singing praises of the giant domes, the beautiful flowers and supertrees she saw. Instead, they were back in two hours (including traveling time). The first comment my mom made was "The flowers weren't that nice and interesting." The worst part was she had to walk so far from the mrt train station to the dome under the hot weather. They didn't even bothered to stop and enjoy the scenery along the way. And I don't think they will be interested to go anymore. For me, that was the one and only time I went. I'm not sure if I would ever go again. Probably yes if I'm bringing some foreign friends to tour around, provided that is what they want. But not by myself. The food outlets there are also expensive and I'm better off spending my money at cheaper places with tastier food. Its chief executive, Dr Tan Wee Kiat said they are developing a garden for people who don’t normally come to gardens. Well, he has successfully got me to go to the garden as I don't normally go to garden. I was WOWed when I saw it. On hindsight, my wow was more because it was huge. Just like when I went Marina Bay Sands (MBS) when it opened. Wow, there's a pool spanning the top of the three hotel buildings. Wow, the shopping mall in MBS is huge. And that was it. I find no reason for me to go again. There is a Benjasiri Park in Bangkok, just next to Emporium Shopping Mall. It's a small garden with a lake and a fountain. Not many seats (cos most people are sitting on the grass) but lots of shades. It's like a little neighborhood park. There's no wow factor to speak of. No huge structure and sculpture, no exotic plants and no beautifully and carefully crafted landscape. Yet, it offers a sense of peace and serenity. You could sit there doing nothing and watch the world goes by. You'll see some students practicing their dance steps in the pavilion. There's the little toddler learning to walk unsteadily with his mom watching over him. And some couples just lying there chit chatting. It's an oasis of tranquility. Nothing so loud screaming out for attention. No need to rush from one attraction to another. Wow, there's still a place so quiet and peaceful in central Bangkok. Isn't this what we need in a big city? Sometimes, it's easy to create wow factors. Build the biggest, the most expensive, the weirdest, the smallest, the tallest, the most iconic and you're sure to wow someone. When the wow factor wears off, what else is left? Think what your customers really need and want. Photo Source : YourSingapore Many years ago when a person who owed money could be thrown into jail.
A merchant in London had the misfortune to owe a huge sum to a mean moneylender. The moneylender who is old and ugly fancied the merchant's beautiful young daughter and he proposed a bargain. He said he would cancel the merchant's debt if he could have the girl instead. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by this suggestion. So the cunning moneylender proposed they let providence decide the matter. He told them he would put a white pebble and a black pebble into an empty money bag and the girl would have to pick out one of the pebbles. If she chose the black pebble, she would becomes his wife and her father's debt would be cancelled. If she chose the white pebble, she would stay with her father and the debt would still be cancelled. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail and she would starve. Reluctantly, the merchant agreed. They were standing on a pebble stone path on the merchant's garden at the time which they talked. And the moneylender stood down to pick up the two pebbles. As he did, the girl surprised with fright, noticed that he picked up two black pebbles and put them into the money bag. He wasn't taking any chances. He then asked the girl to pick up the pebble that was to decide her fate and that of her father. Now imagine you were standing in that path in the merchant's garden, what would you have done if you had been the girl? If you had to advice her, what would you advice her to do? A - The girl should refuse to take a pebble. B - The girl should show that there are two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat. C - The girl should take the black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from prison. If the girl does take a pebble, then she has to marry the moneylender. If not, her father goes to prison. The girl in the story put her hand into the money bag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the path where it is immediately lost among all the others. Oh, how clumsy am me, she said. But never mind. Let's look into the bag. You would be able to tell which pebble I took by the color of the one that's remaining. Since the remaining pebble is of course black, it must be assumed that she has taken the white pebble since the moneylender did not dare to admit his dishonesty. This was a question posted by someone for discussion online.
A number of answers were thrown out by various customer service specialists, managers, operations staff, business consultant, business developers, etc. Individuality, love, passion, empathy, listening, grace, loyalty, integrity, communication, ownership, care, resolution, humility, genuine, understanding, excellence, trust, compassion, attitude, reliability and the list goes on. Of course all these are important. In fact, they are important in any job that you do, not just customer service. If you are in sales, you need to develop a listening ear, be clear in your communication, take ownership for your job, be genuine, gain trust, have a positive attitude, be reliable and help customer to resolve his or her problem. Most big corporations have a customer service department to take care of customers' feedback and complaints. For smaller companies, the admin or HR department will cover customer service duties. I thought about the question for a while and answered "Shit." I certainly hope no one thinks that I'm trying to play punk or referring to something else or trying to get attention. But often than not, most of us view customer service as an unpleasant job. Customer service staff often have to deal with a bunch of irritating hags who have nothing better to do than to complain about being overcharged for 1 cent. Dealing with customers yelling the lung out that the machine is not working because they didn't read the instruction booklet as instructed. Getting an earful from customer because the delivery man was 20 minutes late and the problem is still not fixed. Marketing department screwed up a promotion and the customer service people get it. Billing department forget to refund a customer's account and the customer service people get it. And all things that are never the fault of the customer service staff. Every problem in the company becomes the problem of the customer service department. When a company has a customer service department, what do you think staff in other departments will do? If there's anything related to customer issues, refer them to customer service. Anything, call the hotline. Having a dedicated team of people to take care and look into customers' issue is important. It is more efficient and makes it easier to track and analyze the kind of problems most customers face and develop long-term solutions to such recurring issues. It also makes it easier for customer as there is one point of contact. Customers do not have to be directed to the various departments and round the building just to resolve an issue. But it is also not uncommon to see customers being directed to contact the call center or customer service department because there's somewhere they can point their fingers to. Could it be due to their work processes that makes no sense (customers must write in for all feedback) or makes their work easier (please call our hotline)? Could it be an attitude issue (this is not my job)? How often were you asked to send in your feedback after complaining to a staff for one hour at their shop? And when someone left a complaint on a company's Facebook Page, he or she is asked by the staff to send an email. Why can't the staff send a private message to the person to find out more and follow up from there? Why ask customer to call hotline for waiver of credit card annual fee when he or she is already at the branch? When companies recruit new staff, they look at skills and experiences. What if they focus on the mindset of the candidate instead? Not just for customer service positions, but all jobs within the company. A staff with a service mindset will take into consideration how different customers will react to whatever processes, new product/service, project, marketing events that they are developing. The delivery team will understand the frustration of customers taking leave to wait at home for the delivery and device better delivery solutions to resolve such problem or better manage customers' expectation. They could put in place a system to update customer on the delivery status in case there's an unexpected delay. Customer service is not just for the people in customer service department. What is the attitude of your staff? - Ignore education and qualification unless required by law.
- Forget about work experience unless you are looking for someone to fill the slot. - Have a reverse scoring system. Those with the most experiences will get the lowest score compared to newbies. Those with greatest and most failures will get the highest score versus those with greatest success. - Look for someone who does not fit in your company's culture (not cannot get along with colleagues). - Ask thinking questions, not standard interview questions. (If you are tempted to ask what are thinking questions, think) - Stop asking about strengths and weaknesses. They are interchangeable. - Talk about movies, books, travels and hobbies. - Stop asking questions that you know what the answer will be (for example, can you work overtime? What qualities a leader should have? What do you look for in a leader? What you look for in a job?). - Look for someone who wants to do the job, not can do the job. There are many who can do the job, but very few who want to do the job. - Get the candidate to talk about a topic or something that he or she likes. - Talk less, listen more. - Listen for emotions, not rationalization. - Listen with your heart, not your head. So everyone knows that Mother's Day falls on second Sunday of May.
But is it really the case? You do not have to look very far to know that this is not true. The Thais celebrate Mother's Day on 12 August, which is the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. If you need more proof, you can check out the various dates that countries around the world celebrate Mother's Day (click here). I used to think that there's one and only Mother's Day celebrated, which is the second Sunday of May. And it's all because there are more countries celebrating it on this day and there's no internet to search for such information. Mother's Day wasn't such a big thing in the past. As our society progress and develop, with the influence of the western culture and businesses hyping up this occasion in order to make more profits, Mother's Day has become so commercialized that some of us feel that not celebrating it is a sin. If your economic condition permits, it's perfectly alright to lavish expensive gifts to your mom. She deserves the best. But don't ever allow the price tag becomes a measure of your love for her. This Mother's Day, how about cooking up a meal for your mom instead of dining at 5-stars hotel? How about giving her a handmade card? And you can do it once a week or month. There's no need to wait till Mother's Day to express your love and gratitude. So when is Mother's Day? It's every day and it lives in your heart. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in the world, every day. For many of Singaporeans, the long weekend is over. You're probably lamenting why the holiday is always so short and gone so fast as you drag yourself to work. However, 5th May is another holiday in Thailand. It is the Coronation Day, which marks the coronation anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. According to this website (http://www.soravij.com), His Majesty had a royal coronation ceremony performed in the Grand Palace on 5 May 1950, four years after he actually assumed his kingship in 1946. At the traditional coronation ceremony, His Majesty pronounced the traditional oath of accession: “We shall reign with righteousness for the benefits and happiness of the Siamese people.” The Thais love their King. I was in Bangkok last Dec during His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday on 5th December. It is also a public holiday. In the days leading to 5th Dec, there are photos of His Majesty placed everywhere. On the streets, along the highways, inside shopping centers, at shops, hotels and temples, etc for people to offer well wishes to His Majesty. There were programs on TV showing His Majesty's work in improving the lives of His people and top artistes coming together in a song as a tribute to His Majesty. At that time, His Majesty was staying (and is still staying) in Hua Hin. The TV station telecast the event live and you can see people lining the street that His Majesty will pass by, to send their well wishes to His Majesty and to catch a glimpse of His Majesty, even if it's just a second. Everyone is in yellow, the Royal color. In Bangkok, there were various events held to celebrate His Majesty's birthday, the largest at Sanam Luang. In the evening, shopping malls, hotels and all places will have people lighting candles and hold their own prayers. I was at Yaowarat in the morning on 5th Dec 2013 and saw many Thai-Chinese wearing yellow polo-tee with a embroidery of the Royal Crest on the pocket going about doing their business and daily work. My uncle got all so excited and asked where can he get one as well to join in the celebration. Later in the afternoon, I was at Siam Paragon and there were a lot of people out to what looked to me as another public holiday for them. Most of them were in their clothes, though there were still quite a lot of people in yellow. In the late afternoon and towards evening, suddenly everywhere I looked is a sea of yellow. Many people have brought their yellow polo-tee along with them and changed into it. There's a video of His Majesty's birthday celebration in Bangkok in 2012. People were camping outside the Royal Palace many days ahead just to secure a good location to see His Majesty. Many of them traveled from the rural areas and other provinces. The crowd literally stretched for miles and miles. It's rare to see a monarch of a country being so well loved by its citizens. His Majesty is an inspiration to us on the influence and good that you can do with the power you have. It's also proof that you receive what you give. And you can start at anywhere you are now, even if you think you have no power. Photo Source : http://www.soravij.com/coronation.html An Emperor in deciding who to select as the wife for the Crown Prince, asked this question to the three finalists.
"I've a doubt. I'm Emperor of the country. If you exchange what I'm valued into cash, how much will it be?" In other word, how much am I worth? What's my value? The first girl answered, "Millions, No billions... Please pardon me. I'm not good with money. I do not know how much is considered big enough." Next, the second girl answered, "Your Emperor's benevolence is as high as the highest mountain, as wide as the widest ocean. How can it be measured and exchange for cash? I implore Your Majesty to ask this question the day when it come possible to measure the weight of the sky and depth of the sea." The Emperor was impressed. He then turned to the last girl. The last girl said, "Since Your Majesty asked, your humble servant shall answer." "It's one coin." The Emperor was surprised. She went on to explain. "To the poor subjects of Your Majesty, nothing is more important than one coin. To the wealthy with millions, they will not understand how valuable one coin is. But to the poor who have nothing, they are very clear how important and precious is the one coin. To the poor, Your Majesty is as precious as this one coin, please rule the world with your benevolence for the good of your subjects." Many times, we often complicate things that are simple. In the process, we overlook the most fundamental and important things. |
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May 2020
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