SBS
Transit 22 Frontline Staff Receive Star Award
11 July 2006 He waits patiently for the elderly to be seated and
greets every single passenger who boards his bus, even if they dont
give him a second look. These little gestures have won him praise
from many of his customers and now Bus Captain Ong Sze Err has much
to smile about.
He is one of 22 SBS Transit staff who were honoured as "STARs" at a
presentation ceremony today.
The STAR Award is given annually to outstanding SBS Transit
frontline staff who consistently provide good customer service,
demonstrate good product knowledge and show a strong commitment to
safe driving for a period of three years.
To date, 252 frontline staff from SBS Transit have received the
STAR awards. This year, another 21 bus captains and 1 traffic
inspector will join this hall of fame.
Each STAR award recipient receives $500 cash, a 22k gold STAR
pendant and a STAR collar pin to be worn as part of his
uniform.
In further recognition of their excellent services, SBS Transit
specially painted two double-deck buses featuring these STAR award
recipients. The buses will ply on SBS Transit Services 23 and 74.
Posters on these 'STARs' are also produced for display at SBS
Transit bus interchanges and major bus terminals.
At the STAR ceremony today, SBS Transit chairman, Mr Lim Jit Poh,
said he is confident the numbers of STARs will increase over the
next few years, even as the demands on our frontline staff
grow.
He said: Every day, our frontline staff meets hundreds and
thousands of people. Most times, these commuters are in a hurry to
get to work, to school, to an appointment, or to a place of
interest. Sometimes, unfortunately, they are not in the best of
their mood because something had happened or had not happened
earlier. Because of this, they do not realize that they are
unknowingly passing their frustrations to our staff. As service
personnel, we have a duty to remain patient and show our
understanding even when confronted by the most unreasonable of
customers."
In conjunction with the STAR Award, Mr Lim also presented Zero
Accident and Safety Performance Awards to 5 workshops and 1
warehouse. They were rewarded for not having any industrial
accidents during the year. In addition, they had fewer than 20.5
cases of safety non-compliance cases per million man hours
worked.
