On Service and Graciousness

last SG · 2005-09-26T10:11:49+00:00

Disaster Some customer they are really rude I heard from a ex-classmate, in the retail sector, the worst are the chinese tourist, they have a habit of thro...

Rhonda SG

I passed by a ward recently, and saw this newspaper copy of a quote by PM Lee pinned up on the notice board :

"If customers treat you like dirt, you are not going to serve with pride.

"And customers have to know that the person is serving you, it doesn't mean he or she is a slave or a servant.

I am in total agreement with this sentiment!! I am also mighty glad that our PM has brought this up!

Too many times, I've seen local customers abuse their status. I entered the healthcare sector, not realising that in Singapore, healthcare is interpreted to mean 'service'. Which means, instead of us prioritising our tasks depending on who is more critically ill and needs the medical / nursing attention more, we end up apportioning a great deal of our time towards pleasing demanding and unreasonable relatives. Evil or Very Mad

I heard of a recent incident too, where a newly-graduated nurse was reprimanded badly by relatives who were angry that she didn't know the Consultant of a discipline that's totally different and unrelated to the nurse's ward discipline. They went overboard, shouting, "If you don't even know the doctors in your hospital, you might as well don't be a nurse! You're not fit to be a nurse!" What the!!! Evil or Very Mad

There are HUNDREDS of doctors in the large public hospitals here. It is impossible to know ALL of them, especially if their discipline is not related to your ward's! Besides, the poor girl had just started her job as a nurse, it takes time to get to know her job well, much less know all the in's and out's and the nitty-gritties! Give her a break!!

I think when we're in the queue where a trainee cashier or trainee customer service staff is at work, we should also be a bit more patient. It takes time for newly-employed staff to get to know the ropes. Don't make life harder for them by making rude remarks, showing your impatience, being grouchy and verbally abusive!

And I feel we should stop complaining and demanding, "I want to see your supervisor / manager!" so often! Rolling Eyes No service personnel wants to deliberately make a customer displeased but sometimes, it's the customer who's obstinate, unreasonable, and unruly. I think we have to stop being selfish, and start being more reasonable and gracious.

Just because we're purchasing goods / services, doesn't give us the right to lord it over the poor staff!

We should start seeing this issue for what it is - abuse. Abuse of a perceived 'power' that isn't really justified.

Let's give the customer service folks a break! Let's bridge the gap between education and civilised behaviour for contrary to popular delusion, the two sure don't automatically go hand-in-hand in the local context! Razz

sbst275 SG

Read yesteday's ST,

it is not ppl dun wanna smile or what

Our Singaporeans are just bo chap or rude

Rhonda SG

Well, a lot of times, at work, I don't smile either, especially when I'm busy. Smiling is often construed as a 'go ahead' to the visitors to come and talk to you and bug you for little things that can wait, whereas the IV infusion I'm preparing now for a very ill patient, cannot wait.

So, I don't smile, which I hope they'll interpret to mean that I'm busy, which I am. Razz

A lot of locals are quite 'buay zhi dong' (Hokkien, meaning 'inconsiderate'). They see that we're busy with a patient who had just collapsed, and nobody's around to give them an extra blanket / towel / whatever, they get angry and they complain. Rolling Eyes Would they rather we leave the resuscitation to bring them their whatever???

The reality is, you have X no. of staff. When a patient collapses or is admitted or turns critically ill, as many staff as possible will rush there to help, because it is necessary.

I'm sure if it was their relative who turned ill, they would want to see as many staff as possible helping in the resuscitation effort.

So, it boils down to this - total selfishness and a lack of consideration for others. It is the "I, Me, and Myself" devil rearing its ugly head.

sbst275 SG

Well, because we have never meet emergency disaster... So ppl either just dunno what to do or just bo chap

Rhonda SG

Actually, let me share a few heartwarming incidents where our locals proved to be very gracious.

There have been two or three encounters I've had, where the relatives were so nice, that they would actually tend to the other patients in the room when they realised that we were shorthanded! Very Happy I mean, that's soooo rare, but sooo sweet!!

They do stuff like help us to feed an elderly patient, or they'll buy extra food for the other patients in the room, especially those with no visitors, or they'll bring them a cup of water when they ask. They would even sit beside the lonely patient and comfort them. Very Happy

Hmm... coincidentally, on these rare occurences, the people who helped out were all Buddhists. (I'm not a Buddhist myself - it's purely an observation! Wink )

Rhonda SG

I shudder to think what will happen in a mass casualty scenario!

I guess we would have to deploy precious staff to do PR work because I'm sure the first reaction most Singaporeans would have is... COMPLAIN. Rolling Eyes

There's a perfect Chinese word to describe this unbecoming behaviour - ye3 man2! Laughing

The man who was death SG

buddhists got ci pei xing mah. they need to build up their meritious services so can attain nirvana faster

sbst275 SG

I think they should get woman to do civil defence training

Rhonda SG

Whatever it is that drives them, I feel that the rest of us, different religions or otherwise, have a lot to learn from them when it comes to being 'ci2 bei1'. Very Happy

Compassion and graciousness... those are truly lacking in our society.

Rhonda SG

I think you're off the topic.

We're talking about people's tendency to complain instead of rolling up their sleeves to help or cooperate and be understanding in emergencies. Because in an emergency, there's no more Me and Them. It becomes an US. And if we fail to realise that, woe to us when we have to deal with a casualty! Razz

So where does your point come in? Beefing up manpower doesn't help if the crowd is going to be unruly and uncooperative and selfish.

But, if the crowd's understanding and cooperative, you can achieve much even with less staffing. Wink

sbst275 SG

I mean just my thoughts

But seriously, I think PM Lee's 2 movie is good enough to show... Esp that Tau Gay Never Enough

Rhonda SG

Eh... sorry, what are you talking about?? Razz

sbst275 SG

That Rally, that short movie Tau Gay Never Enough

Good enough to show rude customers... Prob also comes from them Evil or Very Mad Expect the staff to do everything

The man who was death SG

but must also understand that ppl pay so much for medical services u know not like in other welfare countries. so ppl expect service lor

Rhonda SG

I didn't get to watch that movie. Razz Was probably at work.

the Bear SG

there is a limit to what "service" means...

just like i'm not working in the "service industry" and yet, the morons keep harping on about "service standards"

sbst275 SG

So? Welfare country they demand give them more pension benefit...

Each country has its prob

The man who was death SG

then the govt should subsidised more on medical care lor

sbst275 SG

Sub more? Then pay more taxes...

The balance equation...

Of course, their reserve lots of $$

Rhonda SG

Excuse me! You are HIGHLY SUBSIDISED!!! Rolling Eyes

Do you think welfare countries really give you FREE medical service? You're taxed through your nose!

And, there are glitches in their medical system that you don't hear of. For instance, do you know that in the US of A, their ER services are crumbling, and more and more hospitals are shutting down their ER's? Those that remain are bursting at their seams!

Even if you DID pay a lot, know what you're paying for... you're paying for the use of the equipment, the doctor's expertise, the medication, etc. You're not paying THAT much anyways, and even if you did, you do not have the right to treat the staff like slaves!!

I've seen VIP's come in through our doors acting very graciously and humbly. I've also seen middle-class Singaporeans bulldozing their way through, grumbling and complaining about anything and everything.

It speaks a lot for the individual's character.

Money does NOT give anyone the right to treat someone else like a slave! And that's the bottom line.