[Un]Handicapped

As I walked past Spinelli's on the pathway to my Office Lobby I noticed an old lady standing about several metres away from the escalator leading up to my Office Lobby. She was waving several packets of tissue paper and calling out to the people walking asking them to buy tissue paper from her.

As I walked past her, she approached me waving the several packets of tissue paper in my face and spoke to me in vigorous Hokkien requesting me to buy the packets of tissue paper from her. I swerved away by natural instinct, not with disgust but with a slight tinge of disappointment.

Recalling an incident about several months ago, I was having lunch with some friends at the Food Centre called Chomp Chomp located at Serangoon Gardens when this lady who looked to be in her late thirties wheeled an old lady who was sitting on a wheelchair and looked like she was only half-alive. I wouldn't be surprised because the sun was so hot that the heat stung our skin like some heat ray weapon designed to fry our brains alive. One of my friends was practically perspiring like he just ran some 20km marathon.

But the middle-aged lady was simply wheeling the old lady on the wheelchair around asking people to buy tissue paper from her, stopping at almost every table and waving the tissue paper in their faces. Admist the sweltering heat.

I was tempted to commit murder.

When the lady approached our table and spoke to us in Chinese asking us, "Xiao Di Di buy tissue paper from old lady? $1 a packet for old lady?"

As I gazed upon the old lady in the wheelchair who was looking nowhere with a glazed expression a sudden surge of sadness arose and when I looked up to the middle-aged lady there was an intense expression on her face - Almost bordering on demanding us to buy tissue from her because she had taken the trouble to wheel her mother perhaps? Out on this little sympathy crusade to sell tissue paper?

Without hesitation I took out what must have quite a few ten-dollar notes and even a blue fifty dollar note and shoved it into the lady's outstretched palm [like a beggar] and told her in crisp tones, "Give me your basket of tissue paper and take your mother home now. If I ever see you around here again I will report you for parental abuse, now get lost."

The middle-aged lady looked at me speechless for a while, my friends as well. I looked back at her with a stern expression - Firm but not fierce. She looked at me for a few more seconds before handing over the basket of tissue paper packets and left slowly.

She hailed a cab. I guess she got the message.

I simply do not believe a middle-aged lady with four fully operational limbs could resort to taking her wheelchair-bound mother out on her little tissue paper sales outing. I didn't have much appetite subsequently, even my friends were silent for a while as they sipped their sugar-cane almost sheepishly. The very thought of a mother who had raised a child till that age only to have the child use the mother as a "sympathy motivator" for her sales irked me to the core. Out of the respect that the mother probably needs this daughter [which I highly doubted] I managed with a considerable amount of effort not to end that lady's life right there.

A similar scenario assails me for every morning outside Ang Mo Kio MRT another old lady would be sitting on the wheelchair calling out to passengers walking by, calling out to them to buy the packets of tissue paper from her. Sometimes the occasional passerby would stop and buy a packet from her but most people would simply breeze past. I stopped by a few times to buy tissue paper from her till I realised that this is not helping her much, and I would stop and wonder - Why is she doing this? Have her children abandoned her as well? Or perhaps like the similar case of the Chomp Chomp Centre her children have left her to fend for herself. Just about a few weeks ago she did not appear again, I wondered if some kind soul had taken care of her food and shelter. I sure hope so.




Mighty is the compassionate heart, for they are the stuff of Kings and Emperors.
~ La voix de l'Inarticulé.

Uniquely Singaporean

I was browsing through the Straits Times today when a writer who wrote into the forum had her letter published. It caused me great amusement and the occasional wry smile and chuckle as I pondered over her thoughts and could not stop agreeing with her. These is an excerpt from her article ~

Why is jaywalking a crime when cyclists can ride with impunity on footpaths and endanger pedestrians? .... Why are dog owners not fined for littering when they allow their dogs to defecate, without cleaning up the mess? ..... Why are smokers given such a hard time when motor vehicles and jet airliners spew more voluminous quantities of carcinogens and chemicals into the air around us everyday? .... Why am I required to wear a seat belt in my own car when our public buses do not even have one fitted for the driver? ..... Why are employers still rejecting and retrenching people over 40 years of age when the birth rate is so low that the number of young people joining the workforce is insufficient to replace the older workers?

Which actually brings to mind another email my sent me, written by a Mr George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.



I should consider being a hermit, I'm sure I can sort out more problems that way.

Latin and Modern

The recent DanceSport Federation held at Ngee Ann Polytechnic a few weeks back had my jaws dropping quite a few times when I witnessed National Standards for Latin and Ballroom.



The first impression that I always had was Latin was simply a dance meant to seduce and Ballroom was meant for aging couples who simply couldnt shake their hips anymore and was thus reduced to these last choices of dance.

I had to hung my head quite a few times in shame.



These two couples are barely 16 years old but the amount of finesse and energy that they channelled into their dance routines are definitely performances that puts most full-grown adults to shame. For I have witnessed Polytechnic and NTU categories and I stand by my testimonials that these two young couples dance much better than some couples I have seen in the previous two categories.

I swear if I ever have kids I will send them for jazz and latin classes to build up their foundation for dance.




The Horvath Evening Dance Performance by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts was chereographed by Krisztina Horvath from Germany, using music from J. S. Bach and W. F. Bach Phillip Glass the piece that caught my attention was "The Last Supper."

The pieces were very formal and the opening pace was slow which made it actually difficult to focus just like a trainer attempting to teach a fast-paced dance routine at "Tai-Chi" speed. It gets very tiring after a while. However, when the dancers simultaneously formed the picture of The Last Supper everything suddenly became clear. It was interesting to note that Ms Krisztina shifted her perspective of The Last Supper in her chereography at a later part which only increased our attention of where this dance was heading. In my personal opinion she viewed The Last Supper in a very negative perspective like it was simply a ritual to emphasise the impending doom of Jesus and he was going through this ritual just exactly like he knew he would be meeting his doom. This perspective might be hard to swallow for some christians I guess.

Techniques were pretty impressive but.. I just felt that I could not connect with the dancers. Like.. I could not sense their emotions clearly when performing the chereographed pieces. Perhaps it was the culture involved. After all Ms Horvath was from Germany and most the students graduating were from China based dance trainings so I was inclined to believe they would not have a problem grasping the technical aspects of the dance but feel.. perhaps I'm not in strong position to comment for I'm not afterall a seasoned dance performer myself.


A new crossroad in my life - And I'm not prepared to make such a decision so soon.

Focus

Of late it appears I'm not having enough focus on the things that I want to do. I want to start on thorough revisions for my upcoming exams in May yet I'm still constantly bogged down by work. I want to give myself sufficient time to re-arrange my room so that my notes can readily available yet I'm constantly messing it up every now and then.

To make a headstart I made a decision - I tendered my resignation. My official last day will be 12th April 2005. Yes finally after a period of 3 years of slogging part-time studies and full-time work I have thrown in the towel. To some friends who have known since the day I started my studies were presently shocked because I've been like a role model to them. Juggling studies and work and dance all at the same time. But things have taken a new direction. I'm no longer just a trainee in my dance class but a senior whom juniors have looked to me for directions and advice when they are in doubt. I've taken a more active role in the recent 4 months where I would be performing in concerts, taking juniors for basic classes and helping to develop a junior hiphop group. In short, my role in my dance activities have increased almost two to threefold. With an upcoming performance in June rehearsals have already started and soon preparations will be made for the August Competition as well.

Some days I can hardly wake up without feeling dead-beat and dragging myself to work. Like an automobile that has already emptied its main fuel tank and simply drags itself along the journey using fuel reserves. On some days I would get so tired that I would simply take some fruits and take a nap instead. Firstly I get to replenish some rest back into my body. Secondly I get to have some peace from the daily chaos due to our seasonal peak period where not one day passes without having at least one nasty customer who starts yelling at the top of their voices demanding their requests to be fufilled. The tranquility of the Mail Room suddenly seemed immaculate and zen-like.

Recently I have started using my MP3 player to play soothing music while I nap, it helps a great deal and I do believe just living on fruits for lunch actually contributed to a certain amount in making the body refreshed. Friend of mine once told me that the daily consumption of our food is filled with toxins and hence anti-oxidants like water and fruits help to cleanse the body of these toxins so that the body feels refreshed once again. So by reducing the amount of food intake I'm actually cleansing my body thoroughly [I hope]. At least I ensure I take a well-balanced breakfast of eggs, bread, milo and cheese.

Dinner's freeplay - Sometimes I meet friends for dinner and sometimes I go home for dinner but I always ensure that my bedtime is at least 2 hours difference from my dinner. So despite me having extremely late dinner sometimes [like reaching home after midnight due to rehearsals] I would wash up, read some newspapers and listen to some lounge music either from my PC or from FM 99.5 Radio Station.

Hopefully with the additional free hours I can ensure that productivity gets maximised and reflected in my grades. I'm approaching my final year - I do sincerely hope that this sacrifice gets paid off.

Some friends have offered me recommendations to take some young kids for tuition, I'm still considering. Afterall I'm not sure I'd be a good teacher for I'm not strict by nature. I had the honour of coaching 2 brilliant students who would push themselves constantly and insisted on having me for their tuition instead of others for my classes are stress-free and I only guide them but I'd never push them. They're hardworking enough on their own. So if I were to be faced with an obnoxious and lazy student I might not be as effective as the other tuition teachers.

And this post is a perfect example of how unfocused I am for my flow has no specific purpose but has a more apparent impression of incoherent ramblings.





Perhaps I should take a holiday.

Aterballeto

An evening of modern and contemporary dance [6th March, Esplanade] with the Italian Dance Company Compaigna Aterballeto with the internationally renowned Artistic Director Mauro Bigonzetti brings to mind dance forms and contortions only possible in digital animations.

His chereography is mainly drawn from inspirations from the music of Bach with some variations and slight modifications to the forms of expressions after working with the dancers on each individual piece for different ranging periods of 1 - 6 years.

The evening opens with the highly acclaimed dancers in Omaggio a Bach, a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. This bleakly beautiful interpretation of Bach's musical universe explores the geometric and structural perfection of Bach's compositions.

An exuberant second half features Cantata, a powerful piece where Bigonzetti fully exploits his dancers' agility and strength through raw physical expression. Traditional Italian folk songs sung by live musicians provide a perfect setting for an exuberant end to the evening.

There was a Question and Answer session after the performance with the Artistic Director Mr Mauro himself on how his inspirations for these 2 pieces were drawn. Due to his lack of familiarity with English a translater was present to act as the communicating medium. It's interesting how his movements - looking strikingly similar to a certain Japanese Dance called Butoh - were present in some of his movements. It pleased him to referenced to this dance for Butoh, translated as Dance of Darkness in Japanese dance theatre lingo, was actually believed to have some origins from European dance theatres when a lot of Japanese dancers went to Germany in the 1920s to study ballet and later returned home to set up ballet schools but infused the two dances into what we know as Butoh today. For more details on the dance you might want to check out this article here.

Of how his inspirations for the movements were drawn, it would be interesting to note that these movements can be present in our everday lives. Like the pattern of a falling leaf, the ripple of tides under a full moon even just the leaves whirling around each other reminise of a twister in micro-form.

I feel humbled.

Quality Service

We often hear it on the radio, see it on the television even read it on the newspapers. Bouquets and Brickbats, Compliments and Complaints. The big question that looms in our head is - What makes Quality Service?

I have been in Customer Service for almost 3 years, by this 1st April it will be a full fledged 3 years. Exactly 3 years, 0 months, 0 days.

I don't really talk much about my job - even to my family members but I guess this post is not so much about my job but a heavier emphasis on the scope of my job which
is Customer Service.

To some people, customer service involves anticipating the needs of the customers & providing them with solutions even before it is requested. A thin line therefore exists between knowing what is good for the customer and knowing what the customers wants. What happens if you know of a certain method as the most direct method & while it provides some inconvience to the customer, the customer still benefits in the overall aspect. What happens if the customer simply refuses to acknowledge the slightest form of inconvenience and stubbornly insists on the scenario being handled by the method they suggested. Would a Customer Service Officer knuckle under pressure & do what the customer wants? Perfectly knowing that the proposed action might set off a series of chain reactions even inconviencing the customer in the near future? The key word here is "Might" as in might inconvience the customer, might have side repercussions and might have further follow-up scenarios.

Quite a number of my colleagues have left their jobs in Customer Service to delve into sales or simply events management. So I am not condemning the role of a Customer Service as a slave, I am providing double sides of an issue - The Customer Service Officer and the general public. To attempt categories of both sides of the transaction scenarios would require more than just a simple blog entry. Seminars, studies and even textbooks have been compiled all attempting to provide logical answers to the actions of either sides. But for today, I'll provide an avenue for some of my colleagues to voice their frustrations of dealing a certain selected category of public - which some of us have termed as "Black Sheep"

Case Scenario 1 - Group of 8 students goes to a cafe and occupies abt 3 tables but only orders 2 drinks. Starts to pile textbooks and notes and occupies the 3 tables for the whole day from 10am till 6pm. Quality Service Manager requests the group to give up their tables for the dinner crowd is pouring in and there is insufficient space. Group refuses but offers to buy 1 more drink as 'compensation' but QSM politely declines. Groups turns sacarstic and taunts which QSM defends and politely demands group to leave which group starts to hurl abuse at this point. QSM calls in police, group leaves but atmosphere is throughly shattered.

Anyone has a better suggestion?


Case Scenario 2 - Man comes to Service Counter to apply for permit, Counter staff realises documents are not valid [they require original but he produced photocopied sets] and politely requests for man to come back another day with valid day. Man informs Counter Staff when he called the Service Hotline they did not specify such requirements and starts to scold Counter Staff for their lack of clarity. Counter defends herself stating she cannot do anything. Man demands to see Customer Service Manager, CSM steps out, takes documents and processes the documents while calming man down. Man proceeds to berate Counter Staff for inflexibility. Counter Staff quits few weeks later.

Would you have advised a different approach?


Case Scenario 3 - Lady is fined for late payment, goes to Office Counter to appeal for waiver. Was informed not possible unless there is a written appeal, says she's willing to write the letter on the spot. Says she needs to produce valid documents to support her claim, claims she won't be able to spare the time. Was promptly replied that no further assistance can be rendered. Starts to scold loudly that she took off her precious time to come personally for an appeal and now she feels that she is being brushed off. Berates Customer Service Officer for a full 15 minutes in public view before walking off saying she will post this lack of humane treatment in Straits Times.

Do you think the Cust Svc Officer would be able to offer alternative solutions?



Lastly, a short quote on what I would deem as professionalism

"When the Boss asks for how much the watermelon costs at the shop downstairs, a pro-active salesman would reply that it costs $1 within 5 minutes. A professional salesman would reply however that the fresh ones cost $1 while the not-so-fresh ones left at the side about are open for bargaining and if we purchase for every 5 watermelons he would be willing to offer $0.10 less for every watermelon."


Well my dear friends, leave comments if you would but for more detailed discussions please do forward emails to me instead.