NOTE: THIS IS NOT BASED ON FALSE ACCUSATION BUT OF REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE.

A few days back on Saturday,my dad encountered some problems with his Sony Ericsson Naite phone. So, he called Singtel Customer Service hotline to check for the nearest service centre in the West area. So, the customer service officer(CSO) told him it is at CJ GLS building 20 Toh Guan Road.

So today, early in the morning we went to CJ GLS building. At the entrance of the building, we were stopped by the security guard as the car park was full and we will have to wait for one car to come out before we can go in. Not wanting to wait for so long, I decided to walk up to the service centre first to save time. I approached the security guard to ask for the directions to the Sony Ericsson Centre. To my surprise, the service centre has shifted to Jurong Point.

What?! So I called the customer service hotline again for verification and the CSO insisted that it is still at the CJ GLS building. I requested that CSO to double check with his colleagues and he got back to me that the information is accurate. My dad had to call his friend to ask around where the care centre has shifted. It was confirmed by his friend that the current care centre is located at Jurong Point.

This is what they exclaimed on their official website:

SingTel’s Core Values underpin our desire to create a unity of purpose across the Group. They reflect our common aspiration to foster a performance-based culture that is open and innovative, and that promotes mutual trust and engagement.

Customer Focus

Our success is based upon our customer focus. We listen to, and connect with, customers and treat them with dignity and respect. By understanding and anticipating their needs, we make it easy for our customers to do business with us. We aim to offer them value and quality services to enrich lives and enhance business success.
-extracted from the Official Website

Isn’t this a slap in the face? Is this the kind of “value and quality services” that they are trying to deliver to customers? They do not even have the updated details in their database and their customers can actually get accurate information from their friends? So why then do we need 1688?

Alright, headed all the way to Jurong Point and waited for the customer service centre to open at 11am. Meanwhile, I went FairPrice with my parents to buy some groceries. At 11am, I was second in the queue, and then sent the phone.

Next, I walked to the Singtelshop to remove my dad as the guarantor for my mobile plan. Ok, I need to bring all of you guys back to what happened 6 months ago when I went to re-contract my phone plan and got my Iphone. The reason why my dad’s name was reflected in my phone bill(together with mine) for the past few years was because I have not reached the age of 21. But when I re-contracted my phone plan in December 2009, I was already 21 and has the eligibility to be an applicant instead of having a guarantor.  So in December 2009, I requested to remove the guarantor’s name but up till now (after 6 months since I re-contracted my plan), my dad’s name is still appearing in the phone bill. Not only that, I could not log in to MyMobile page using my own identity card number to apply for Value Added Services.

So, I queued up at the counter for the staff to get a number for me. The staff asked for my and my dad’s identity card and keyed in some details. I spent fifteen minutes seeing her keying this and that, and I thought she could just easily remove my dad’s name from the system. Yet, I was issued a queue number. So I waited for my queue number to be called out. It was 1120AM. Then, I went to Counter 7. Guess what? The staff was horrible. What kind of “value and quality services” this company is trying to give? This guy did not even want to entertain me at all despite telling him what was my problem. He told me and showed me his system that my dad’s name was already removed from my account. But then, why do I still see my dad’s name in my phone bill right? This guy did not even want to entertain me at all and he just sent me off by asking me to call Singtel Billing Hotline. HUH? What for do I need to spend the bloody twenty minutes waiting for the staff to give me the queue number and wait for my queue number to be called out?

Pissed, I called 1688 again and talked to one of the CSO in the Billing department. Then, my call was transferred to the Sales department. Are they trying to practise some taiji here? Ok, finally, I managed to talk to this CSO named James and told him my concerns here. I was put on hold for ten minutes while James went to check for me (and I was still waiting outside the singtel shop, not wanting to take my ride back home). When this CSO James got back to me, he explained to me that my dad’s name is still on my phone bill because I’m subscribing the Singtel Youth plan. And if I need to remove my dad’s name, I will not be entitled to any benefits from the Singtel Youth Plan such as the unlimited smses and he told me that they will need to re-contract me again. I totally lost my coolness and told James what kind of logic was that? Can’t I be a student who reached the eligible age of 21, who is studying in eligible institutions i.e. any ITE, Junior College, polytechnic, NTU, NUS, SIM or SMU? Is it that once I get my dad’s name to be removed from the bill, I’m not a student and not eligible for any Youth plans? Why do I need my dad’s name to be included in the plan for me to enjoy the benefits? This means that my dad is a youth, that’s why I can enjoy my privileges? And how come my friends who are students and above 21 have no problem with that? I’ve checked through the terms and conditions for the Singtel Youth Plan and it did not state anything about it. James will give me a call back tomorrow.

Throughout the whole conversation, I can really sense that James is very sincere and wanting to solve my problem. Hopefully he will give me a satisfied reply.

I have recently received notification via the comments of your intentions to sell the tickets to the upcoming Jay Chou Concert. In a situation whereby you are no longer able to make it for the concert, it would be appreciated if the prices are retained at the original cost. Please do not try to exploit the interest of others and attempt to make a quick profit instead; I do have knowledge of other individuals out there who attempt to sell their tickets at sky-high prices- approximately triple the original cost.

If you are an individual who would like to post information about sales of these tickets on my blog via the comments, it would be appreciated if the prices are reasonable. However, if you’re an individual who is simply out there to make a quick buck by quoting ridiculous prices for these tickets, you are not welcomed and your comments will not be published.

To other Jay Chou fans out there, this is my stand:

It would be best if you do not get tickets from individuals who are out there to make a quick buck, by purchasing from them, you would only be encouraging the following actions- These people more often than not, are the ones who are not sincerely interested in attending the concert but just out there to snatch priority over the tickets and sell them at a much higher price to make a quick buck and exploit the interest of serious concert-goers.

Sign off,

True-blue Jay Chou’s fan – Jassy

Vetting through some of the comments irritates me to some extent.

Let’s take a look:

From Andrew: I’m selling a pair of 198 tickets for 600 cos i got e 228 tickets already.
From Jassy: ($198+$3)X2= $402. [Profit of $198]

From HT: Single Ticket for Jay Chou Singapore Concert 2010 (Cat 1) selling at minimum price $328
From Jassy: ($228+$3)= $231 [Profit of $97]

From Whitepolo: Jay Chou concert 2010 singapore tickets for sale (Cat2) at $280 each
From Jassy: ($198+$3)= $201 [Profit of $79]

哭, 不代表脆弱, 也不代表软弱. 它是一种吸引别人注意的方式.
哭, 不代表伤心, 也不代表痛苦. 它是因为开心,而流出.
哭, 只是一种发泄情绪的方式.
不哭, 不代表坚强, 也不代表勇敢. 那是因为眼泪已经哭干了.

..counting down 1 more day to 7 December 2008..

Why Kiasi? Why Kiasu?

People on the platform (into the cabin)

If you are in the MRT cabin and ready to go out(since you are alighting there), you would see people crowding  at the doorway and anxiously waiting to rush into the MRT as if there’s a GREAT SINGAPORE SALE of 90% off! Even though lines are drawn clearly that passengers waiting to board the train to stand behind the two diagonal lines, people just dont follow. Instead of waiting to rest to leave the cabin, people from the outside RUSH into the MRT. OH MY GOD!

Or when the cabin was already packed, some people just dont care and join the squezzing with you.

People in the cabin (alighting at the station)

Even say a simple “Excuse me” is so difficult from them. These people stand behind you and when they want to alight, they just try their means to get through – squezzing, pushing. If you really couldnt alight on time, just wait and alight the next one. Why is so difficult for this?

Monkeys in the train 

Worst still, there are people behaving like  MONKEYS in the MRT. Children can be forgiveable for behaving like a monkey. But there are some adults, behaving like monkeys. Let me give you a better illustration so that you have an idea why I used the word “MONKEY“. 

Of what I’ve observed, there are two different types of monkey.

1) These are people who cling to the whole pole to themselves – either leaning the pole as if they are doing pole dancing or hugging the pole as if the pole is their bolster. This is extremely sickening especially when the whole train is packed like sardines and the train is extremely jerky and we need to grab something to maintain our balance. These type of people just couldnt sense that their act has caused inconvenience to many people. Worst still, when your hands are already there, they pretend not to see it and lean on your hands. Where are these thick-skinned people still live on this earth?
 
2) Another type of monkey is people who grab two handgrips to themselves and doing some stationary Monkey-bar exercise. Their arms are swinging here and there, their body swaying left to right (like nobody business). Are they missing their childhood? I remember Monkey Bar infrastructure locates in primary school.

Really wish that these commuters can WAKE UP..! We should put up this sign beside the “No Eating and Drinking”, “No carrying of flammable objects”.

NO MONKEY IS ALLOWED ON TRAINS.

What’s 377A?
The Penal Code of Singapore, in Section 377A, provides for a jail sentence for up to two years should a man be found to have committed an act of “gross indecency” with another man.

Here, are we talking about equality? or values? Ruth Nanda Arshen once cried out, “Even as the cell is the unit of the organic body, so the family is the unit of society.” Family is the most fundamental block of society that provides love, emotional and financial support.

Recently, there’s a lot of argument on whether should be keep Section 377A or to abolish it. To get a better understanding of both sides of the argument, you can go to www.technorati.com, and type in “Section 377A” in the search box. The bloggers showed their point of view on this issue.

Some aruged that we should lift the ban as everyone has his own rights. Any state should give its citizens justice and the same human rights.

While some may argued that if we remove 377A, it threatens the foundation of the family. Traditionally, the idea of family is to have a mother, a father and a child. Government stand firm on Section 377A as Homosexuality Issue is against one’s culture, religion.

For , they made this video on the issue of Section 377A.

Like what our General Paper teachers told us, we must not be biased and should give both sides of view. So, besides showing you the website on repealing 377A, there’s also a website, Keep 377A @ http://www.Keep377A.com

So, what’s your stand? For those who are lost, perhaps, you can try reading this website. A balanced report to show why people support/oppose 377A. View here and here.

Disclaimer: Above is just my sharing of information i saw. =)

In this SG blogosphere, there are potential bloggers like Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi who gained their popularity through their podcast.

Some people, in order to gain their popularity, will post their sexy photos and videos while some create stir in the blogosphere by starting some controversial arguments. (By now, you should know who i am refering to)

I was chatting with my friends about ways to be famous as a blogger. I joked with him and told him this “why not we start something arguable and debatable like criticising people? In this case, we can be famous like you-should-know-who. Isnt it wonderful? We can see our blog hits increasing everyday”

I feel that criticism on blogs to gain popularity wouldnt allow the blogger to go far. Instead, they are just “smearing” mud to their faces, marking down your own reputation.

So, for all bloggers out there, if you want to be famous, I’ve come out with some ideas about how to “Blogging to Famous“.

1. Besides writing about your own life, you can write about things happening around you like news issues, what’s happening in the blogosphere. Something that can interest people. This case, you can gain hits as people will be searching keywords of one issue through search engines.
2. While leaving tags in your friends blog, attach your blog url.
3. If you have forum, you can have your blog url in the signature, so can you put it as your email signature.
4. Write food reviews, movie reviews, album records as you can attract those food, movie, music lovers. Attach nice and “seductive” food photos. Having good reviews allow you to attract back your regular visitors.

Let the list goes on.. Post your ideas of “Blogging to Famous” by leaving a comment here.