I was on a business trip for the second half of last week. I was due to depart Shanghai Pudong airport on Friday 7th June at 7.05pm to arrive home at about 12.05am. I reached the airport very early, with a colleague who was leaving on the 6.05pm flight to Incheon.
I spent about 2 hours at the cafe after a very smooth check-in and customs clearance. I was downgraded to Krisflyer Silver status on 1st June. I was therefore not entitled to go to the lounge since I'm on economy class. The 2 hours at the cafe was nice nonetheless. Free WiFi, nice coffee.
I got ready 10 minutes before boarding time. As I was walking towards gate 87, I did something that I usually didn't do. I checked the departure notice board. The gate was changed to 229. I turned around and went down 2 floors to gate 229. I settled in for a wait as I saw that the crew were waiting to board as well. There was an announcement of another gate change 10 minutes later. This time I had to climb 2 floors up to gate 61 without the help of an escalator.
Upon arrival at gate 61, the plane was nowhere in sight. That wasn't a good sign. I settled in for another long wait. The wait turned out to be 3 hours. At first boarding was delayed to 7.40pm but after a while they decided to make announcements without committing a boarding time. All flights were delayed. Meal coupons were distributed and this signaled an even longer wait. An airline was actually distributing meal boxes at the gate!
I met a business associate who was with his client. So the 3 of us went to another cafe for a drink in anticipation of a long wait. All this while the rain was pouring, the light poles were wavering in the wind and crowds milled around the cafes and restaurants. The service staff were hassled and moving non-stop. It was a while before our order was taken. We made our way back to the gate at about 9.10pm and were told that they are not sure when boarding would be. However, they are sure that the flight will not be cancelled as the plane is needed back in Singapore.
So we caved and redeemed our meal vouchers. We walked to Burger King and got in line. By that time it was about 9.20pm. Then the announcement for boarding time of 9.40pm was made. We walked back.....another 8 minute walk. We finally board the plane and departed at about 10.10pm.
All this while, my colleague who was headed for Incheon was in his seat on the plane!! He was in a worse situation than I was. I was grateful that I had the freedom to walk around. It reminded me of the time when I was at Haneda airport waiting for my flight out of Tokyo after the 2011 tsunami.
During my visit in Shanghai, I found out that 80% of China's air space was reserved for the military. This explains the challenges passengers frequently face when flying within China air space. Delays are commonplace. The airlines will normally let you board the plane and hang on for an indefinite wait if delays are expected. I don't think it's intentional. I guess it's just the way things are. If you are ready you can be given the all clear by air control.
A lot of my overseas colleagues tell me that Singaporeans are spoilt. We expect the same efficiency we have at our airport when we are overseas. In reality, delays and cancellations are very common in air travel. I guess we should manage our expectations when we are travelling. It does make me appreciate the efficiency and comfort of our Changi Airport. And honestly, we are spoiled in more ways than one......think about it.
Listen to the voice of a mother of three who would like to share her thoughts and experiences of being a mother of 3 boisterous boys in the small city of Singapore.... Disclaimer: read at your own risk and learn from my mistakes.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Xbox craze
The new Xbox was launched but that's not what I want to write about. A month or so ago my family had its first experience with Xbox Kinect. Since then our lives are not the same.
We resisted Playstation, Wii and Xbox for a few years. Matt gave me his PS (at least that's what I think it was) complete with steering wheel but we never got round to setting it up. (Sorry dude!) One of the reasons for not getting started is the fear that the kids will be addicted to mindless violent games.
I caved when I repeatedly saw demonstrations of dance games at the mall. All thanks to the Gangnam style craze which I'm so sick of. What I saw was a chance for the kids to do some dancing at home. A chance for Keane to get a bit of workout while having fun.
So I bought the Xbox Kinect when I found out that there are more wholesome games available as compared to the other platforms available. Besides Kinect offered a hands free experience.
That turned out to be one of the best things I bought for the kids. We started with dancing, then included fitness and adventures. Their favorites include Kinect Sports (seasons 1 and 2) and Rush (A Disney Pixar Adventure).
They learn to take turns as well as cooperation. They compete in singles games as well as doubles games. They also learn how to cooperate to beat the game by letting each person play the part they are strongest at as required. Talk about strategy. And they do sweat after each session. The only thing missing is the fresh air and great outdoors.
The only sad thing is they don't ask to go to ah-ma's home as often. But it keeps them away from shopping. We must sprinkle our weekends with visits to the zoo to keep them interested in the sun.
There will always be pros and cons with all decisions in life. We just have to learn to manage in order to preserve our sanity. Manage our expectations and manage our reactions. A bit of a dramatic description over an Xbox but very true in real life.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
We need a professional
It's been three months since Keane has started Primary school. He finally stopped calling his dad from school everyday since March. We went to school for a Parent Teacher Meeting in March. We went to school with a sense of foreboding.
Keane is very different from Xavier and all the teachers from their pre-school realized this very quickly. They subsequently learn about Keane's behaviour and generally when you are in pre-school teachers tend to be more tolerant. I guess it is because the kids are still very young and developing. We were very proud that Keane made a lot of development throughout his pre-school days. He changed from a toddler who would run out of class on his own to a kid who is an active participant in class. His tantrum throwing version of bawling and rolling on the floor became a more subdued trembling of lips and occasional silent tears. This transformation took place over 4 years. But he is still not the same as a lot of the other children.
So we went to see Keane's form teacher first. We had an initial overview of his Math work, which is better than average but not among the top in class. The teacher believed that, with more effort, Keane can do well. The teacher then tried to broach the topic of his behaviour subtly by asking some questions. Then a professional counselor came to join us. We had an open discussion about Keane's behaviour so that the counselor can understand him better.
We shared our own observations of Keane. Keane loves to participate and if he is not selected, he is sorely disappointed. And he is unable to conceal his disappointment. He also expresses his emotions through actions rather than words. The teacher had a few incidents where Keane gave her a shock. He walked out of the classroom because he was unhappy, he banged his books very loudly on the table. In fact, Keane is not able to conceal his emotions most of the time. I told the counselor that Keane has not been very good at expressing his emotions through words, hence the dramatic actions. He called me Mummy only when he was three. He developed his speech slower than Xavier and Ryan. In fact I was planning to bring him to a professional if he continues to show difficulty or unwillingness to talk in complete sentences or express his thoughts. The counselor seemed grateful that we were open to the discussion and that we recognized we had to do more investigation. He didn't make a conclusion about Keane as he felt it normally takes at least 6 months to profile a child, even for a professional. Apparently he has been observing Keane during recess and whenever he could to try to establish a profile. He even noticed the difference between Xavier and Keane, which was pretty evident.
Admittedly we were a bit worried after that discussion but we expected something like that. So we went to see the Chinese teacher and English teacher to get more feedback. The Chinese teacher said that Keane has "anger management" issues but he gives Keane a "cooling down" corner whenever Keane shows signs of being upset. After his cooling down session, Keane is fine. Surprisingly, he said that Keane has made a lot of behavioural improvement over 3 months. He just encouraged us to speak to him using Mandarin more often. Our hearts were not so heavy after that. Next was the English teacher. Hubby was worried because English teacher texted him about Keane throwing away his homework before.
After a long wait, we were finally able to meet the English teacher. She said that Keane has made tremendous improvement over the last 3 months and in fact she was very proud of him! He is able to keep quiet during class when the teacher is not around by reading his story book. He is also good at recital and comes up with ideas. The only thing he had to work on was to be able to write his thoughts. He could verbalise his ideas to the teacher but came up with only half a sentence on paper. The English teacher said that children need to be understood and coaxed. Keane refused to go to the parade square for assembly but the English teacher never gave up trying to coax him. He now goes to the parade square instead of sitting on a bench outside the general office in the morning. He used to boycott mass exercise but the English teacher made it a point to do the exercises with him and now he participates with enthusiasm. The English teacher asked us to let him know that he can always look for her if he needs someone to talk to or to get guidance from. Kudos to Mrs Goh!
After meeting the 3 different teachers, we came to a conclusion that the form teacher was not experienced enough. She has probably not come across as many types of children as the other 2. And she came across as being scared and worried about not being able to handle Keane.
It is expected of a child who has not been tainted with false pretences and lies, even white ones, to demonstrate what adults label as "appropriate behaviour". I'm sure all of us have come across a child who said, "Eeee, Daddy farted!" or "Mummy, I need to go bang-sai (poop)" in a crowded lift or department store. The most important is that we do not expect all children to grow up to be the same. I would hate for my kids to be depressed because they have to do and say what the adults expect them to. They would lose themselves in the process.
Of course, Keane is not perfect. He is what I call a sore loser. He gets upset when he doesn't win at games. We are continuously reminding him that he will not win all the time and he has to accept that. But we encourage him to keep trying and not give up. We do this through playing XBox games. Every time he yells or grumbles about not winning the javelin throw or long jump, we tell him that he has to practice to get better. We threaten to cut off the games if he continues to be a sore loser.
That being said, I would still bring him to see a doctor to evaluate whether he needs further help with verbalising his thoughts. In the meantime, we have gotten used to him calling us Dad and Mum instead of Daddy and Mummy like the other 2. We're guessing it's either through reading Horrid Henry or watching too much TV. It's very funny because it is so ang-mo (Caucasian) to us. Not that Daddy and Mummy isn't....everything is a matter of perception, understanding and acceptance.
Keane is very different from Xavier and all the teachers from their pre-school realized this very quickly. They subsequently learn about Keane's behaviour and generally when you are in pre-school teachers tend to be more tolerant. I guess it is because the kids are still very young and developing. We were very proud that Keane made a lot of development throughout his pre-school days. He changed from a toddler who would run out of class on his own to a kid who is an active participant in class. His tantrum throwing version of bawling and rolling on the floor became a more subdued trembling of lips and occasional silent tears. This transformation took place over 4 years. But he is still not the same as a lot of the other children.
So we went to see Keane's form teacher first. We had an initial overview of his Math work, which is better than average but not among the top in class. The teacher believed that, with more effort, Keane can do well. The teacher then tried to broach the topic of his behaviour subtly by asking some questions. Then a professional counselor came to join us. We had an open discussion about Keane's behaviour so that the counselor can understand him better.
We shared our own observations of Keane. Keane loves to participate and if he is not selected, he is sorely disappointed. And he is unable to conceal his disappointment. He also expresses his emotions through actions rather than words. The teacher had a few incidents where Keane gave her a shock. He walked out of the classroom because he was unhappy, he banged his books very loudly on the table. In fact, Keane is not able to conceal his emotions most of the time. I told the counselor that Keane has not been very good at expressing his emotions through words, hence the dramatic actions. He called me Mummy only when he was three. He developed his speech slower than Xavier and Ryan. In fact I was planning to bring him to a professional if he continues to show difficulty or unwillingness to talk in complete sentences or express his thoughts. The counselor seemed grateful that we were open to the discussion and that we recognized we had to do more investigation. He didn't make a conclusion about Keane as he felt it normally takes at least 6 months to profile a child, even for a professional. Apparently he has been observing Keane during recess and whenever he could to try to establish a profile. He even noticed the difference between Xavier and Keane, which was pretty evident.
Admittedly we were a bit worried after that discussion but we expected something like that. So we went to see the Chinese teacher and English teacher to get more feedback. The Chinese teacher said that Keane has "anger management" issues but he gives Keane a "cooling down" corner whenever Keane shows signs of being upset. After his cooling down session, Keane is fine. Surprisingly, he said that Keane has made a lot of behavioural improvement over 3 months. He just encouraged us to speak to him using Mandarin more often. Our hearts were not so heavy after that. Next was the English teacher. Hubby was worried because English teacher texted him about Keane throwing away his homework before.
After a long wait, we were finally able to meet the English teacher. She said that Keane has made tremendous improvement over the last 3 months and in fact she was very proud of him! He is able to keep quiet during class when the teacher is not around by reading his story book. He is also good at recital and comes up with ideas. The only thing he had to work on was to be able to write his thoughts. He could verbalise his ideas to the teacher but came up with only half a sentence on paper. The English teacher said that children need to be understood and coaxed. Keane refused to go to the parade square for assembly but the English teacher never gave up trying to coax him. He now goes to the parade square instead of sitting on a bench outside the general office in the morning. He used to boycott mass exercise but the English teacher made it a point to do the exercises with him and now he participates with enthusiasm. The English teacher asked us to let him know that he can always look for her if he needs someone to talk to or to get guidance from. Kudos to Mrs Goh!
After meeting the 3 different teachers, we came to a conclusion that the form teacher was not experienced enough. She has probably not come across as many types of children as the other 2. And she came across as being scared and worried about not being able to handle Keane.
It is expected of a child who has not been tainted with false pretences and lies, even white ones, to demonstrate what adults label as "appropriate behaviour". I'm sure all of us have come across a child who said, "Eeee, Daddy farted!" or "Mummy, I need to go bang-sai (poop)" in a crowded lift or department store. The most important is that we do not expect all children to grow up to be the same. I would hate for my kids to be depressed because they have to do and say what the adults expect them to. They would lose themselves in the process.
Of course, Keane is not perfect. He is what I call a sore loser. He gets upset when he doesn't win at games. We are continuously reminding him that he will not win all the time and he has to accept that. But we encourage him to keep trying and not give up. We do this through playing XBox games. Every time he yells or grumbles about not winning the javelin throw or long jump, we tell him that he has to practice to get better. We threaten to cut off the games if he continues to be a sore loser.
That being said, I would still bring him to see a doctor to evaluate whether he needs further help with verbalising his thoughts. In the meantime, we have gotten used to him calling us Dad and Mum instead of Daddy and Mummy like the other 2. We're guessing it's either through reading Horrid Henry or watching too much TV. It's very funny because it is so ang-mo (Caucasian) to us. Not that Daddy and Mummy isn't....everything is a matter of perception, understanding and acceptance.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Where oh where is that silver lining
I heard an extremely sad story today. A friend's baby passed away at about 5 months' of age. That is a very traumatic thing to happen to a parent. Losing your child at any age or under any circumstance must be extremely trying for any parent.
There is nothing that I can say to make the healing process any less painful than it is. It is during such times when it is best not to say too much and just share the pain through silence. I mean it is already such a painful time, it seems redundant to say "I know how you feel", "You must be strong". I guess all of us try to help by expressing our thoughts. I think it is also how we comfort ourselves.
When life dishes out a tribulation, it is never easy to always see the silver lining behind the dark cloud. But the silver lining is there. It just takes time to manifest itself in ways we can understand. Why do I believe that? Because I believe that God is merciful. I do not think that He would make us suffer for his enjoyment. I do not believe that He puts us through trials and tribulations for no reason. I believe that He truly wants us to learn.
I encouraged this friend to find a religion he can follow. A religion will be able to carry you when nothing else can. When the going is tough, when things beyond our comprehension happen, when we are totally lost and in despair. I want to share this poem which came into my life many years ago when I first found God. I don't know who wrote it and according to Wikipedia, the author is disputed so I am not giving credit to anyone except God for this.
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
Don't despair, for that silver lining is there.......just let your heart go and you will find it.
There is nothing that I can say to make the healing process any less painful than it is. It is during such times when it is best not to say too much and just share the pain through silence. I mean it is already such a painful time, it seems redundant to say "I know how you feel", "You must be strong". I guess all of us try to help by expressing our thoughts. I think it is also how we comfort ourselves.
When life dishes out a tribulation, it is never easy to always see the silver lining behind the dark cloud. But the silver lining is there. It just takes time to manifest itself in ways we can understand. Why do I believe that? Because I believe that God is merciful. I do not think that He would make us suffer for his enjoyment. I do not believe that He puts us through trials and tribulations for no reason. I believe that He truly wants us to learn.
I encouraged this friend to find a religion he can follow. A religion will be able to carry you when nothing else can. When the going is tough, when things beyond our comprehension happen, when we are totally lost and in despair. I want to share this poem which came into my life many years ago when I first found God. I don't know who wrote it and according to Wikipedia, the author is disputed so I am not giving credit to anyone except God for this.
FOOTPRINTS
One night I had a dream...
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow You,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why in times when I
needed You the most, You should leave me.
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow You,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why in times when I
needed You the most, You should leave me.
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.
Don't despair, for that silver lining is there.......just let your heart go and you will find it.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Primary 1 woes and joys
Keane started Primary 1 by missing the first 3 days of school due to a fever. He had a challenging first week and the second week didn't prove to be any easier so far.
During the first week, he had a buddy to bring him around during recess for 3 days. He bought his own food and played soccer with his buddy. After the buddy was relieved of his duty, Keane started to go for lunch by himself. He was amazingly independent and was able to use the public phone by following the instructions next to the phone. He called his dad and made small talk. This was the start of what we think will be an ongoing habit. He calls his dad everyday during recess and has even started to call him before school starts.
You would think the phone calls are a good sign of father and son bonding. I don't disagree but there is always a BUT. The flip side is that he uses random coins when he makes these calls so a call can cost 10 cents, 20 cents or 50 cents, depending on the coin he picks and not the length of time he spent on the phone. He came back without a penny today. He started the day with $2.60. His lunch cost $0.70. You do the math.
He also lost his water bottle today. He lost it once last week, as reported during his recess phone call to his dad, but found it and brought it home on the same day. We are waiting to see if he can find it again tomorrow. In case you think I did not perform my motherly duty, I did label almost single piece of his belongings.
On the first day he attended school, he came home and told us that he slept in class!!! The only comfort with that was he woke up by himself. I hope the teacher didn't notice! I'm honestly not sure if he really fell asleep, dozed off or was simply daydreaming.
Yesterday his teacher reported that he threw away his worksheets in class. We guessed it was because he made some errors and he didn't want to do more homework. He forgot to bring his workbook home today and was not able to do his homework.
He also had an issue with sitting at the parade square before flag raising. He would sulk and sit on a bench away from the parade square. During a rainy day, he refused to go to the hall for assembly until his teacher brought him up.
These little things are the least of my concerns. When I asked him if he had any friends in school and he said no. He has been eating his lunch by himself. I asked if he liked his friends in class and he said no. I asked if his friends in class were nice to him and he said no. After some probing he said that one of the girls in his class insisted on opening his book despite his protests. I have no idea why the girl was trying to open his book. With Keane, she could have been trying to do something perfectly legitimate which he cannot explain clearly.
Keane doesn't need to be Mr Popular in class but I hope that he will find a friend soon. All we ask is for our son to be able to find one loyal friend. We are asking Xavier to spend time with him during recess so that he will not be so lonely.
I am worried that Keane has the stereo typical middle child syndrome. I am very close to bringing him to a psychiatrist. I hope that I will be proven wrong very quickly. Wish me luck!!!
During the first week, he had a buddy to bring him around during recess for 3 days. He bought his own food and played soccer with his buddy. After the buddy was relieved of his duty, Keane started to go for lunch by himself. He was amazingly independent and was able to use the public phone by following the instructions next to the phone. He called his dad and made small talk. This was the start of what we think will be an ongoing habit. He calls his dad everyday during recess and has even started to call him before school starts.
You would think the phone calls are a good sign of father and son bonding. I don't disagree but there is always a BUT. The flip side is that he uses random coins when he makes these calls so a call can cost 10 cents, 20 cents or 50 cents, depending on the coin he picks and not the length of time he spent on the phone. He came back without a penny today. He started the day with $2.60. His lunch cost $0.70. You do the math.
He also lost his water bottle today. He lost it once last week, as reported during his recess phone call to his dad, but found it and brought it home on the same day. We are waiting to see if he can find it again tomorrow. In case you think I did not perform my motherly duty, I did label almost single piece of his belongings.
On the first day he attended school, he came home and told us that he slept in class!!! The only comfort with that was he woke up by himself. I hope the teacher didn't notice! I'm honestly not sure if he really fell asleep, dozed off or was simply daydreaming.
Yesterday his teacher reported that he threw away his worksheets in class. We guessed it was because he made some errors and he didn't want to do more homework. He forgot to bring his workbook home today and was not able to do his homework.
He also had an issue with sitting at the parade square before flag raising. He would sulk and sit on a bench away from the parade square. During a rainy day, he refused to go to the hall for assembly until his teacher brought him up.
These little things are the least of my concerns. When I asked him if he had any friends in school and he said no. He has been eating his lunch by himself. I asked if he liked his friends in class and he said no. I asked if his friends in class were nice to him and he said no. After some probing he said that one of the girls in his class insisted on opening his book despite his protests. I have no idea why the girl was trying to open his book. With Keane, she could have been trying to do something perfectly legitimate which he cannot explain clearly.
Keane doesn't need to be Mr Popular in class but I hope that he will find a friend soon. All we ask is for our son to be able to find one loyal friend. We are asking Xavier to spend time with him during recess so that he will not be so lonely.
I am worried that Keane has the stereo typical middle child syndrome. I am very close to bringing him to a psychiatrist. I hope that I will be proven wrong very quickly. Wish me luck!!!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Another new year
Another new year has dawned upon us......the end of the world didn't happen. Perhaps it was because Psy didn't obtain that magical 1,000,000,000 hits before 20-12-2012. Perhaps it was because the Mayans made a slight error in their calculations. Whatever it is, we are now in 2013. What does the new year herald for us?
Towards the end of 2012, a lot of people I knew commented that time passed so quickly and the end of the year came upon us like a tsunami. It seems that as the years went by, time flew faster and we are running out of time to do all the things we wanted. Is it just because we are getting older? I have a theory why time passes so quickly as the years go by. I blame it on man and its by product technology. Let me explain.
Many many years ago, communication was probably restricted to verbal channels. If you had a message for someone, you had to see that person face to face. It might have taken a couple of days to visit a relative from the next village to say hello. With the invention of paper, it might have taken a couple of hours to write a message on paper and have someone deliver it for you. With the invention of the telephone, instantaneous, provided your relative was at home. With the invention of the mobile phone, it is instantaneous, provided your relative answered the phone. Hey, with SMS, who cares? Just text the hello across!
You save the few minutes previously taken up with going to the printer to collect your printout, walking to the fax machine, punching in a few numbers, waiting for the fax transmission to be completed and going back to your desk, by using email. And the response may come back in a matter of seconds, depending on the typing speed of the opposite party and the Internet speed he/she has access to.
With the reduced amount of time we need to conduct such activities, we can actually squeeze more in a day. With more activities, time would seem shorter. But does it do us any good?
When I used to write letters to my friends, although they were few and far in between, I would spend time to compose the letter carefully to make sure that my message is delivered properly. Nowadays with email, I spend less time with my draft. With SMS or Whatsapp, it is not even complete sentences! My written language has definitely deteriorated. I do not use any more flowery descriptive sentences. My writing is allegedly more concise. I cannot even write a poem anymore. I have lost my rhyme!
I have decided not to make new year resolutions since many years ago. I am not a resolution keeper. In fact, resolutions backfire on me more often than not. Say if I want to lose weight, I will end up eating more. How about making backward resolutions I hear you say. Nah, I tend to keep those. It's selective resolution keeping. So I just do what I want to do when I feel like it. I live for the moment. Not very good in the general scheme of things but very convenient!
Here's wishing one and all a fantastic 2013 with good health and happiness!
Towards the end of 2012, a lot of people I knew commented that time passed so quickly and the end of the year came upon us like a tsunami. It seems that as the years went by, time flew faster and we are running out of time to do all the things we wanted. Is it just because we are getting older? I have a theory why time passes so quickly as the years go by. I blame it on man and its by product technology. Let me explain.
Many many years ago, communication was probably restricted to verbal channels. If you had a message for someone, you had to see that person face to face. It might have taken a couple of days to visit a relative from the next village to say hello. With the invention of paper, it might have taken a couple of hours to write a message on paper and have someone deliver it for you. With the invention of the telephone, instantaneous, provided your relative was at home. With the invention of the mobile phone, it is instantaneous, provided your relative answered the phone. Hey, with SMS, who cares? Just text the hello across!
You save the few minutes previously taken up with going to the printer to collect your printout, walking to the fax machine, punching in a few numbers, waiting for the fax transmission to be completed and going back to your desk, by using email. And the response may come back in a matter of seconds, depending on the typing speed of the opposite party and the Internet speed he/she has access to.
With the reduced amount of time we need to conduct such activities, we can actually squeeze more in a day. With more activities, time would seem shorter. But does it do us any good?
When I used to write letters to my friends, although they were few and far in between, I would spend time to compose the letter carefully to make sure that my message is delivered properly. Nowadays with email, I spend less time with my draft. With SMS or Whatsapp, it is not even complete sentences! My written language has definitely deteriorated. I do not use any more flowery descriptive sentences. My writing is allegedly more concise. I cannot even write a poem anymore. I have lost my rhyme!
I have decided not to make new year resolutions since many years ago. I am not a resolution keeper. In fact, resolutions backfire on me more often than not. Say if I want to lose weight, I will end up eating more. How about making backward resolutions I hear you say. Nah, I tend to keep those. It's selective resolution keeping. So I just do what I want to do when I feel like it. I live for the moment. Not very good in the general scheme of things but very convenient!
Here's wishing one and all a fantastic 2013 with good health and happiness!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
SMRT.....So Many Ridiculous Traits
Recently the SMRT made the headlines for the wrong reasons.....again. How many things can go wrong in a company? Apparently many by the standards set by this one.
The recent fiasco was when 102 foreign SMRT bus drivers refused to turn up for work on 26 November 2012. These foreign workers were PRC workers. They were unhappy about their salaries and living conditions. Apparently they were unhappy about the increments they were given in comparison to their fellow foreign workers from Malaysia. There were also complains about cramp living conditions provided by SMRT. Bed bugs was also another example of poor living conditions given to journalists.
At the end of the day, the strike was illegal and 5 PRC workers were charged in court. Another 29 were repatriated. This is Singapore....where you have to give 2 weeks' notice if you want to organize a strike. I guess none of these PRC workers were given this information during their orientation.
I wonder if SMRT has a hot line for employees to call if they have grievances. I wonder if they practise an open door policy. I also wonder if any of the PRC workers actually submitted a formal complain to voice their unhappiness.
Apparently the strike affected the bus service provided by SMRT. They had to call in relief drivers from other public and private bus operators as well as deploy their trainers. It is amazing how many things can go wrong for a company. First it was the train delays and now employee relations. I wonder if it will truly be third time lucky for SMRT.
It is never easy to manage employee relations. But that should not stop employers from continuing to try. Employers can never take employee relations for granted. That being said, managing employee relations involve more than just having an open door policy, having a grievance hot line. Employers must always be proactive. Talk to your employees, not just listen, for they sometimes don't speak.
Many Asians are non-confrontational. Voicing unhappiness may be deemed as being confrontational, not giving face, being disrespectful, etc. Many just choose to leave the company if they decide they cannot continue to accept the company culture which they do not approve of. They would not go up to their boss to tell them that they are unhappy and demand a change. They would choose a more subtle manner to express their displeasure or to avoid confrontation. Obviously this does not apply to some Chinese.
If you want to know what's truly going on in the minds of your employees, you need to do more than just wait for feedback. Ask questions. Make observations. Walk the floor (or in the case of SMRT the buses, trains, terminals and stations). More importantly you have to make your employee feel that they belong to the company. Granted that the company is huge and it is very difficult to organize any sort of event where all the employees can be together (who will drive the buses and operate the trains?)......I'm sure that there can be things the company can do. Corporations have to stop thinking about how every dollar spent on employees will contribute to the bottom line directly. There are many intangible benefits of spending money to improve employee relations. Of course that does not mean that every whim and fancy of every employee can be met. Balance is the key.
The funny thing is that I saw 2 more incidents being reported after the SMRT strike. 2 PRC workers alleged climbed construction cranes to protest over a wage dispute with their employer on 6 December. On 7 December, a China worker arrived at a construction work site and refused to leave until the police were called because he was unhappy about a site re-assignment. What do the reports of these incidents mean? Are PRC workers causing more trouble in Singapore? Or is the media trying to subtly lessen the impact of the SMRT strike on SMRT's reputation?
The recent fiasco was when 102 foreign SMRT bus drivers refused to turn up for work on 26 November 2012. These foreign workers were PRC workers. They were unhappy about their salaries and living conditions. Apparently they were unhappy about the increments they were given in comparison to their fellow foreign workers from Malaysia. There were also complains about cramp living conditions provided by SMRT. Bed bugs was also another example of poor living conditions given to journalists.
At the end of the day, the strike was illegal and 5 PRC workers were charged in court. Another 29 were repatriated. This is Singapore....where you have to give 2 weeks' notice if you want to organize a strike. I guess none of these PRC workers were given this information during their orientation.
I wonder if SMRT has a hot line for employees to call if they have grievances. I wonder if they practise an open door policy. I also wonder if any of the PRC workers actually submitted a formal complain to voice their unhappiness.
Apparently the strike affected the bus service provided by SMRT. They had to call in relief drivers from other public and private bus operators as well as deploy their trainers. It is amazing how many things can go wrong for a company. First it was the train delays and now employee relations. I wonder if it will truly be third time lucky for SMRT.
It is never easy to manage employee relations. But that should not stop employers from continuing to try. Employers can never take employee relations for granted. That being said, managing employee relations involve more than just having an open door policy, having a grievance hot line. Employers must always be proactive. Talk to your employees, not just listen, for they sometimes don't speak.
Many Asians are non-confrontational. Voicing unhappiness may be deemed as being confrontational, not giving face, being disrespectful, etc. Many just choose to leave the company if they decide they cannot continue to accept the company culture which they do not approve of. They would not go up to their boss to tell them that they are unhappy and demand a change. They would choose a more subtle manner to express their displeasure or to avoid confrontation. Obviously this does not apply to some Chinese.
If you want to know what's truly going on in the minds of your employees, you need to do more than just wait for feedback. Ask questions. Make observations. Walk the floor (or in the case of SMRT the buses, trains, terminals and stations). More importantly you have to make your employee feel that they belong to the company. Granted that the company is huge and it is very difficult to organize any sort of event where all the employees can be together (who will drive the buses and operate the trains?)......I'm sure that there can be things the company can do. Corporations have to stop thinking about how every dollar spent on employees will contribute to the bottom line directly. There are many intangible benefits of spending money to improve employee relations. Of course that does not mean that every whim and fancy of every employee can be met. Balance is the key.
The funny thing is that I saw 2 more incidents being reported after the SMRT strike. 2 PRC workers alleged climbed construction cranes to protest over a wage dispute with their employer on 6 December. On 7 December, a China worker arrived at a construction work site and refused to leave until the police were called because he was unhappy about a site re-assignment. What do the reports of these incidents mean? Are PRC workers causing more trouble in Singapore? Or is the media trying to subtly lessen the impact of the SMRT strike on SMRT's reputation?
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