Complaining

I write this last reflective post of 2011 on board an SMRT train going to Macpherson from Marymount. Having said that, whoever reads this should know what I'm gonna write about.

But unlike tens of thousands of similar posts, I'm not going to talk about how much SMRT has failed in it's duties during the recent spate of breakdowns of unprecedented severity in technical issues, and especially in service issues. Yes it was bad, but many many other people have already voiced their opinions about this issue, albeit all the same opinions, and so there's nothing much for me to add here.

Interestingly, I'm gonna focus this post on the "tens of thousands of similar posts", because they themselves have started a discussion topic on their own.

Singaporeans have always been known to complain about all sorts of issues, be it big or small. And this SMRT incident was no exception. I have heard of many people saying that Singaporeans are complaining too much, making a mountain out of a molehill. But I personally find the fact that people are complaining, good.

Past incidences coupled with proven research has shown that complaining helps solve the problem, to an extent. That is because when people receive complains, they are reminded of what the consumers want and so will be pressurised to produce higher standards to meet people's expectations, to ensure that they can stay in business. In this specific SMRT incident, both SMRT and the authorities were given a wake-up call by the amount of complains they received. They're now aware that people are unhappy and they need to do something about it. And the decision to set up a public inquiry is evidence of that.

However, I feel that if people didn't complain enough, both SMRT and authorities will take the citizens' tolerance for granted and may not deliver the standards they should deliver. And that of course means the problem will persist. Some may say that Singaporeans are over-reacting over such a small issue. After all, this breakdown only happens once in a long time, and is not a cause for such attention. This is indeed true. But you probably don't want the mrt to become like the london tube, where breakdowns and sudden power outages are a norm. The only difference is, the London tube is already 100+ years old, while Singapore's MRT is only 30+ years old. With it's relatively smaller age and technological advances, for the MRT to brome like the London tube so soon is certainly going to dent Singapore's reputation for being one of the most efficient countries in the world. So by reminding may-be complacent authorities and SMRT of our expectations, it prevents this sort of scenario from materialising.

And also again, they're just complains. At least no one is on strike or protesting in any way. Of course, that's also because the screw up isn't that bad, yet.

However, these comments only refer to those who give constructive complains, and not those who complain just for the sake of conforming to what everyone does. And it certainly doesn't refer to things like "f**k SMRT lah!! *random hokkien vulgarities*". Such comments can never be expected to be taken seriously by anyone. So if there's nothing constructive to say, just rage about it, joke about it, post 1 or 2 statuses to complain, and that's it.

So complain, because you have the right to, and because you want the best everytime, but not because everybody is doing it.

Reached Macpherson =)