Best Internet Service in Singapore

When discussing the best internet service, I’ll definitely recommend Starhub. They not only have very good expertise, but they are also very polite. Before this Chinese New Year, my pc was invaded by a virus and it would automatically shutdown every 20min, as well as being super slow. I had Windows XP reinstalled by myself. After installation, I couldn’t access the internet. Can you imagine for that holiday we stayed at home for 4 days. Apart from New Years Eve, I had nothing much to do. So without the internet, life would have been extremely boring. So I called Starhub for help. The manager very patiently answered all of my questions. He told me as long as the other pc can serve, then the internet service had no problem. The problem lied with my pc. I asked him how to solve this problem as my pc was no longer under warranty. He was himself unfamiliar with the problem, but would try to help by consulting one of his colleagues and would call back later. He did call me as promised the following day. He explained that I would need to install a driver before connecting to the net service. Then we found out that we did not have any driver software. I told him I would need to go back to my company to get the software. I hoped that he would call again after the holiday was over. Again he called. My software was not yet ready, because my colleague and I were not sure how to download it. That was on the Wednesday. My colleague told me that he would go back and find out the next day and then save it on my thumb drive. Next day I went to see him. He still hadn’t done it yet due to his tight work schedule. At night, Starhub staff called again. I again apologized for not being ready with my software. He rest assured me that the following day, he would arrange somebody else to call me as he would be on leave. In the end I got my software on Monday. During this period, he had called me many times. It is very difficult to find a company who would do the same thing here in Singapore. On a previous occasion, I had signed up with Singtel, and the staff seemed not to be very well trained. They failed to solve most of the problems and worse still, they would simply answer that such problems were not covered by their service. So for quality service, I would strongly recommend Starhub.

Service in Singapore / 新加坡的服务水平急剧下降

新加坡的服务水平越来越差。大约两个星期前，我去位于Ang Mo Kio的NTUC Hub四楼的Foodcourt吃饭，发现桌子上一片狼藉，根本没人收拾，我期待着我吃着吃着便会有人来，可等我吃完了都还没来；而且他们很少擦桌子，除非你要求，但即使你要求了，擦得也不干净，如果你让他们在擦干净点，他们马上就不高兴，一块脏抹布到处擦，从不见他们洗。但如果是在十多年前，情况截然不同，那时候的新加坡比其他国家好多了，十分注重卫生，我记得那时候的中国跟新加坡比起来差很远，那时候经常会发生服务人员与顾客争吵的情形，有时他们也会以次充好；但现在的情况则完全不同，中国有了大幅度的提高，而新加坡却止步不前。昨天我去Bukit Batok地铁站边的NTUC买nectarine，一盒中居然发现已有5个烂了，我觉得如果政府不及时想办法的话，新加坡很快就会落人后了。

The service in Singapore is getting worse and worse. About 2 weeks ago, I went to the Foodcourt inside Ang Mo Kio NTUC Hub. The tables were so messy with the plates and leftovers from previous people because the staff there are so slow. I had to clear some space for myself meanwhile waiting for the staff to clear the table for me. But no one came, even after I’d finished my eating. And this in fact happens in every Foodcourt in Singapore. Even though they clear the table, they don’t even wipe them. You have to make a request if you want them to wipe your table. But even if you do make a request, they simply wipe with the same piece of cloth again and again without washing it. Even if they do wipe it for you, you are still able to see the stains on the table. But if you insist that they clean it further, they will soon become very annoyed with you. So disgusting!
Yesterday, I went to NTUC near Bukit Batok MRT station to buy nectarines. After I got back home, I found 5 out of one box were already rotten. Ten years ago, if you compared Singapore and other countries, you would find Singapore was much better. But today, other countries have already caught up. Singapore is getting worse. For example, it used to be that if you went to China, you would find that the standard of service was quite poor and you might even get cheated. But today, I find that customer services in China are even better than Singapore. Can the Government please do something? If not, I believe we will be left behind.

Why Must Be So Cold? / 为什么这么冷？

If you come to Singapore, you will find lots of places are extremely cold. What? I thought Singapore was a tropical country? How come it's so cold? Yea, lots of places, for eg, hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, schools, offices and so on. You will feel very uncomfortable sometimes. There was a newspaper report of one restaurant being so cold, diners could not stand it, so the waitors and waitresses gave them shawls to wrap arround their shoulders. Is this due to the cold weather? Absolutely not. It's due to the technology -- air conditioners. In Singapore, people like to set the temperature at a very low level. To me, I feel the only reason is to show off. You see, we are rich enough to enjoy this technology. We are used to it, because since we were born, the technology has been affordable enough to maintain a cool temperature. Those who feel uncomfortable dare not make noise for fear of being made to look foolish and being laughed at. "How come? You can not afford the aircon? That's why you are not used to it?" So they have to pretend to be "highclass". For me, it's absolutely silly. Why consume so much of energy to make yourself uncomfortable? Besides, aircon is very bad to health. It will make your skin dry. As a result, you will develop more wrinkles and get old faster. It's one of the main causes of rheumatism. It will worsen the environmental problem. In fact, it's not at all high class to set the temperature so low. It simply shows that you are a frog in a well-- never getting a chance to experience the outside world, never able to see how people from non-tropical weather live. My friends from France and Japan always complain of the strong aircon here. One of the Japanese men, not able to handle the temperature in the office, bought a stove from Japan to keep himself warm. Doesn't that sound ridiculous to you?

在新加坡，很多地方多冷得令人无法忍受。“有没有搞错？新加坡不是热带国家么？”当然不是自然冷啦，是冷气开的超足造成的。很多地方例如酒店，商场，饭店，学校，办公室均其冷无比。曾有一次报纸报道某餐厅的顾客是在冷得受不了，无奈餐厅只能每人发一条披肩给他们‘御寒’。你说着荒不荒唐。那到底为什么新加坡人喜欢把冷气体调到这样低呢？依我看，这无非是好炫耀而已。他们想给人一种印象他们出身于富人之家，自小条件优越，能够过着夏冬颠倒的生活，那些怕冷得也只能静静不出声，生怕别人嘲笑：“你自小家里就没有冷气的么？所以不习惯？”因此上也只能假装喜欢的样子。在我看来，这简直是愚蠢，冷气其实对身体并不利，它使得皮肤干燥，从而加速皱纹的产生和加速老化的过程，而且它也是造成风湿病的最主要罪魁之一；而且对环境的伤害极大。上述炫耀者其实只是井底之蛙而已，如果他们有机会走出去看一看就会发现发达国家的冷气使用量其实很小，我的一位法国朋友家里根本没有冷气，几位日本朋友也很少使用冷气，他们都抱怨新加坡太冷了。一位日本男士无法忍受办公室的‘严寒’，自己从日本买了一支暖炉保暖，你说荒唐不荒唐？