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Good Service, Bad Service

A common topic of discussion on which I have written before is the strange and disappointing nature of customer service in Singapore.  Examples abound.  But let me just give one mini-example to set the stage.

To get a Singapore driver’s license I had to register for classes online.  The webpage registration failed.  But not before the charges were deducted from my checking account.  When I called the support number they told me I would have to go to the main office to ask for a refund.  The office is 30 minutes away by cab and much longer by public transportation.  I do not have a car (as my pursuit of a license makes obvious).

Despite my requests, my pleas, and ultimately my screaming, they had no better way for me to get my money back.  They said there was not even a phone at the office that could help with a refund.  They screw up, I lose 90 minutes of my work day.  End of story.

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Buying a Phone in Singapore

I love the Samsung Galaxy Note I purchased a few weeks ago.  It was not an easy product to buy.  Despite its general “First Worldness”, there are a whole bunch of things that Singapore has not yet figured out.  You cannot use any ATMs in Singapore except for the one that issued your ATM card.  Taxis are unavailable in the rain.  Customer service is frequently bad.  And its not so easy to buy a phone.

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Cebu Pacific Air: Worst Airline Ever

Yesterday I returned home from a blissful five days in Boracay in the Philippines.  The trip was perfect, bookended a painful travel experience on Cebu Pacific Air.  A few years ago I lost my patience with the crap to which budget airlines subject us. I am now prepared and financially comfortable with parting with S$50 for a better experience.  But in this case the travel reservations were made by my girlfriend’s friend.  So, I summarily lost my right to bitch.  Nonetheless, here I am.

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BlackBerry v. Android

I have been griping about my BlackBerry for years now.  How did it come to this?  How did the little magical device with the unidimenstional scrolling wheel capture my heart and show me the wonders of constant communication?  How did the company that makes the BlackBerry so totally fuck up their ownership of the market?  I am not going to spend much time thinking about it.

But now that I have a new phone, I will take a moment to give a spin-free assessment of the relative merits of my previous and current phone.  The previous phone, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry “Tour” 9700 was in my possession for about two years.  Its successor, Samsung’s “Note” GT-N7000 has been in my sweaty hands for about a week.  Let’s compare the two.

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Indirect Language in Asia

In May of 2010, my first week in Singapore, my manager PB* gave me a friendly warning about communication in Asia.  “Be indirect,” he said.  I have been pondering that thought and occasionally writing about it for a year and a half.  A couple weeks ago PB sat down with me to discuss a variety of aspects of my first Asian tour.  He again kindly and firmly repeating his warning: be indirect.

We all have good days and bad days with email.  In the same week my boss gave me this friendly nudge, a colleague of mine complemented my patient and kind emails.  PB has much more experience in Asian business than this colleague and I put together.  But I could not figure out how one person could think I was writing well while the more Asian-savvy PB saw room for improvement. So I started to mull over what I might be missing.

On this week’s plane flight to Sydney I developed a lead in this mystery. I heard a common flight warning and connected a strange characteristic of Singaporean English with PB’s advice.  I had been laughing to myself about this weird facet of the local English.  But now I realize it is likely deliberate and not something to laugh at.

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A Life Without Driving

It has been 16 months since I moved to Singapore. One of the unexpected benefits of this move is the loss of a car. It is a joy to live in a town where I can walk to grocery stores, malls, restaurants, and public transportation that will take me nearly everywhere else.

Half a year ago I realized that not having a car was a big part of my happiness here. And that made me think about the US infrastructure that has made people addicted to cars in all but a handful of cities. My Mom in Gallatin, not far from Nashville, TN, recently asked me where I would recommend she live if she wanted to abandon driving.

To be more specific, what cities in the United States meet the following conditions:

  • Have a dense living quarter that supports (urban) residences, shops, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.
  • Is reasonably safe.
  • Has a functional public transportation system.
  • Does not get too cold (no ice or snow).
  • Is not too expensive (not NYC or SF expensive, I mean).

The only city Mom and I think might meet these conditions is San Diego.  Maybe Portland, but I am not sure.

Can you help us find this ideal home for a new stage of my parents’ life?

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Forfeiting US Citizenship

Yesterday I spent an hour at the US Embassy here in Singapore.  I am requesting their help replacing a lost social security card.  Where mine went in the decades that have passed since I last saw it I do not know.  But I need a replacement for some tax documents.  While I was in the embassy, I overheard a man forfeiting his US Citizenship.  I was fascinated.

The embassy here is a strange looking fortress on a hill.  Its intimidating design reminds the viewer of medieval castles.  Among Singapore’s shiny adolescent buildings it is completely out of place.  The building’s exterior properly advertises the security throughout.  Doors that seem to carry man-crushing mass swing slowly open for visitors.  Multi-inch, bulletproof glass separates the staff from visitors.  That glass was responsible for me overhearing the conversation I am about to relate.

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Communication in Asia

A Facebook friend recommended to me Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers, a book I finished on a flight to Korea last week.  This is the second of Gladwell’s books I have read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first, The Tipping Point.  One part of Outliers, a discussion on Asian communication, seems to offer a piece in the puzzle I am trying to solve on how to be successful in Asia.

Western communication has what linguists call a “transmitter orientation”–that is, it is considered the responsibility of the speaker to communicate ideas clearly and unambiguously…But Korea, like many Asian countries, is receiver oriented.  It is up to the listener to make sense of what is being said. [Emphasis from Gladwell.]

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