Was emailing to both Ivan Chew and Siva, when the idea for this blog post struck me. After all, in the age of digital democratization, time is probably the most scarce resource. We only have 24 hours a day, and there is only this much you can do.
Here are some modern day Weapons of Mass Distraction:
With the democratization and increasing portability of information, people’s attention span and capacity for reading has dimished at an astonishing rate. I must admit that I am one of those who suffer from this affliction.
In the past, we used to be able to plough through thick tomes of knowledge, fantasy, religion and whatever else captures our fancy. I could dawdle for hours and hours in libraries, picking up one book after another and devouring it with relish. I especially loved reading encyclopedias, and occasionally, I could read from cover to cover.
Not any more it seems. With the lure of easy information on the web, and the quick availability of bite-sized information on blogs, book summaries, wikipedia, and the like, I have become a scanner rather than a delver. Information now gets delivered to my cranium in small, often miniscule bite-sized pieces, instead of elaborate and complex frameworks.
I believe that I am not alone in this. Many have remarked that youths and teens nowadays tend to multi-task and acquire information from varied sources rather than a singular one. They do not have the stamina or patience to sit in one spot and read line after line. Short cuts, acronyms and abbreviated words seem to be the order of the day.
I came across this post from marketing guru Seth Godin about service on an airline. Thought it was interesting enough to share.
Joel Spolsky shares this great story from a flight attendant:
Alright, I am gonna dote on my company for a few minutes. As most everyone on here is probably familiar with, last night was a nightmare for people travelling to and from the Northeast. We currently have 5 flights a day from CMH, 4 to/from JFK and 1 to/from BOS. Last night, out of CMH alone, Delta cancelled 3 flights, American cancelled 2, and Continental cancelled 1 and those are just flights that I know of. After we found out that our flight was delayed until 2223, the captain and the rest of us station employees decided to pool our money and we purchased pizza for all passengers on board our aircraft. Since the pizza place wouldn’t deliver to the airport, one of our crewmembers volunteered to go pick it up. Once the pizza was brought back, the passengers were boarded, our live tv and xm were turned on and the pizza was served by ALL the crew, not just the flight attendants. The Captain, FO and other airport crewmembers went above and beyond. Granted I may be a little biased, but I was glad to be here last night. The feeling of seeing that plane take off and those people get to where they are going, even if they were late was pretty darn good. Not too many other airlines that I know of will do that for their customers.
It’s not just “not too many other airlines…”, it’s, “not too many employees.” Wanna bet she had more fun than most flight attendants that day?
I wonder if we will ever encounter this in Singapore? It would be great to have char kway teow or chicken rice delivered to us on a delayed flight!
Took half day childcare MC this pm to help take care of my son Ethan, who is ill with high fever in the 38 to 39 deg C range. My maid is also ill with vomiting and shivering spells, which is why both my wife and I have to knuckle down to help out. This is the 3rd time in as many weeks where Ethan came down with fever. Hopefully, it wouldn’t stay for too long.
I noticed that Ethan has become a lot more eloquent recently, and am not sure if its a consequence of his illness. In fact, he is now able to articulate fairly complex sentences and thoughts. He is also able to maneuver the mouse on the PC and to double-click and open his favourite applications. I have noticed then whenever he was unwell, he tend to be more erudite in his speech.
When I spilled some sweet syrup in his room on Sunday, he retorted rather indignantly (despite the daze induced by the high temperature),”Why did you spill the syrup on my chair and floor? The ants will come and eat the chair you know.” After a pause, he added emphatically, “This is my room you know. Later very dirty and difficult to clean.”
Ethan has also been a lot more attentive recently when listening to his favourite story books. I have just read him about 8 books at one go – courtesy of the National Library Board’s excellent double loan holiday service! He has also learnt to self medicate and could “inject” the syringe full of paracetamol into his mouth to bring down the fever.
Went on a recent tour of 3 Singapore Biennale sites with a couple of board members – Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, Sri Krishnan Temple and City Hall. It was quite inspirational and magical. Here are some highlights.
Our intrepid guide Yishan explaining Tsai Charwei’s work Lotus Mantra, which is inscribed on the lotus leaves.
Are we losing out to Hong Kong?
The recent news about Singapore’s service standards further slipping to 26th position according to the World Economic Forum proved particularly sobering for me. What is especially ironic is that it comes just after we have practically pulled out all the stops to improve our customer service. Everybody would have heard of the national GEMS movement, as well as the ubiquitous four million smiles campaign, timed to coincide with the recent IMF-World Bank meetings.
Certainly, I don’t think that we have failed for lack of trying. We have an entire smorgasbord of service enhancing main courses on our national platter – Singapore Service Class, Excellent Service Award, Tourism Host Award, Model Workers of the Year etc. In fact, we now have a stunning 13,000 Excellent Service Award winners from nine industries, compared to a measley 377 from three sectors 11 years ago.
Took half day this afternoon to spend some time resting plus bonding with the family. Brought Ethan down to Hong Lim Complex (near one of my favourite turtle soup hawkers) and bought him a set of his favourite lion dance gear, namely a set of authentic Chinese drums made with pigskin and a real (well almost) lion dance costume, complete with eyes that blink.
Ethan was stunned at first, or perhaps awestruck would be the more appropriate word. He gazed with mouth open and eyes wide at the interesting array of toys initially, and simply nodded his head vigorously when we asked him to select his favourite dancing animal. Later, he warmed up to the act and strutted down the toy shop, selecting party hats, bags and other merchandise for his upcoming birthday celebrations on 27 November. That’s when Ethan will be 3 years in age.
He has certainly started working on his drumming skills – and this included inflicting his first “lion dance” induced injury on his little thumb. I just hope that he doesn’t tear the lion head apart before his birthday, which is about 3 weeks away!
