I just wanna say one thing - don’t go to Double O’s pool bar. It sucks. The service sucks. I had to order my beer three times before it’s fulfilled.
You’ve got to pay before you get your drinks. It’s even worse than a Kopitiam. At least at a Kopitiam you pay when you get your stuff, not before. Worst part, you can’t drink in the pool area. It’s a damn bar for crying out loud!
And drinks at Pool Bar at happy hour - twice the price of Double O right next door. What’s the logic in that?! So they throw us all the disincentives in order NOT to play pool, and instead encourage us to NOT enjoy ourselves and put all the restrictions on us.
Which brings me to my larger point. Singapore has a GEMS campaign going on right now (like everything else in this country - improvement by campaigns), but I think it’s just not working. What this campaign brings to this country is just a perpetuation of “I do this because I’m told to do so” kind of attitude that we just don’t need right now.
I think what we need is a dramatic, drastic and change, not draconian. You know what… let the waiters survive on tips. At least they’ll be forced to be nice to earn your tip. Just too bad that Singaporean customers are so damn stingy.
Better yet… how about something totally taboo? Something that Singaporean companies (especially in the service industry) shudder to think about? Something so culturally shocking that the very foundations of Singaporean society will be shaken to the core? Something like….
Treating employees with respect and paying them what they’re worth.
Here’s what I suspect is the real reason why I got the treatment I got in Double O. The Emerald Hill Group (who owns Double O among others I think…) or other Singaporean companies wanna get the best of everything and everyone… including employees and customers. They pay shoddy pay… hire the cheapest of the cheapest… and then abuse them as if it’s the employee’s fault. Employees then in turn blame the customers for that treatment because, hey, it’s just a job and the customers are just making life difficult for us.
Damn you customers!!!
Think about that the next time you meet your customer - whether you’re in the service line or not. And think about whether we need a change…
