SMRT gets 1000 compliments for every 100 complaints?

OK, I feel obliged to respond to this story which has been on circulating on Singaporean social media for the last 24 hours -SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek has made an astonishing claim: For every 100 complaints his organisation receives, there are 1,000 compliments in comparison. Now as someone who has publicly praised SMRT in one of my blog posts in 2011 , I feel that I need to respond to this.

I would like to try to separate two issues here - the transport system and the bad PR pertaining to the statement. In my humble opinion, the public transport system in Singapore is still pretty good when compared to other countries and I am very happy to rely on public transport when in Singapore. When it does work, the MRT network is efficient and very cheap. The MRT and the bus system is also well integrated - unlike in London, where the systems are kept separate (so you pay twice when you transfer from a train to a bus to complete your journey, unlike in Singapore where you pay only a token amount when you make that same transfer). It is well designed and from that point of view, I do stand by what I wrote when I complimented it back in December 2011.

What is your experience like with the MRT?

Okay, I know there are breakdowns and overcrowding - that is the bone of contention which has made many Singaporeans very unhappy with the system. There are also some PRC bus drivers who are not sufficiently trained to do their jobs well. Certainly, the system will be subjected to a lot more pressure as the population increases towards 6.9 million - these incidents of breakdowns will be on the increase as the system really wasn't designed to cope with this many passengers in the first place. A lot of the infrastructure (the stations, the ticketing system, the signalling system, the drainage, the tracks, the trains etc) will be subject to far more stress than they were originally designed for and maintaining them is a challenging task under such circumstances.

I remember my very first MRT ride back in November 1987 - it was a very short ride with my family from Ang Mo Kio to Yio Chu Kang, just one stop within days of opening. I remember how thrilled we all were to experience something so new and exciting, right on our doorstep. Now both stations have barely changed over the years, yet the passenger traffic has expanded exponentially since 1987 - maintaining the infrastructure under such circumstances isn't impossible or even unusual - but it does depend on the management investing sufficient resources to ensure safety and standards are never compromised.  It seems clear from the recent spate of problems that they have clearly failed on that front and that profits were placed ahead of standards for the SMRT.

Remember this?

Let's put things in perspective though - I am not defending the SMRT's record, far from it. I think they have clearly failed the Singaporean public with each major breakdown. Nonetheless, I also want to point out that in other cities around the world, their public transport networks do experience problems from time to time and whilst you may find cities with public transport systems that may outshine Singapore, there are many more which still pale in comparison to Singapore even when you consider all the recent problems the SMRT has had.

In any case, even back in the 1990s, problems on the MRT weren't unheard of - we had breakdowns back then too. However, in those pre-internet days, it was far easier for such problems to go unnoticed by the general public without the means of social media - such news would have been conveniently ignored by the local news anyway. So I put it to you my readers: maybe things haven't deteriorated that much over the years, it is simply the function of social media making everyone far more aware of the cracks in the system. Perhaps it would be foolish to think back to the 'good old days' of the 1990s and the 1980s when we didn't have such problems - perhaps back then, ignorance was bliss and if you don't want to hear about such problems, then don't use social media, don't use the internet and you can choose to believe what Desmond Kuek tells you.

Remember the good old days from the 1980s?

Am I telling you anything new? I hardly think so - in life, we are often presented with a mixed bag of blessings and curses. There are good things and there are bad things we have to deal with everyday - take my job for example. I can spend ages telling you about the things that drive me crazy at work but then again, I can also tell you about the things I do like about my job. Likewise, with the SMRT - it is not perfect, there are problems and you have the choice to either focus on the good things or the bad things. Singaporeans have by default chosen to focus on the good things and they are simply not accustomed to dealing with the bad things in their system. This makes them very uncomfortable indeed.

However, the person handling their PR should be fired - what the hell was Desmond Kuek thinking in making a claim like that which will obviously attract scorn and mockery at best. Such statement belongs in the 1980s, when the government could get away with statements like that and the citizens wouldn't react. But in the age of social media, shouldn't someone have whispered in Desmond Kuek's ear, "Excuse me please Sir, I am sorry but you can't say that, kindly let me rewrite that statement for you please..."

"Sir let me rewrite that for you please..."

I have worked in PR and marketing for a pretty long time and it isn't difficult to figure what one needs to do in such a situation. Firstly, you acknowledge the feelings of the public - they feel disappointed, they feel let down, they feel angry. Simply letting them know that you have heard what they said does not mean that you necessarily agree with them - it does however, let them know that you are willing to engage and listen to what they have to say. This is the vital first step that to reconcile the situation and clearly, SMRT have fucked this one up big time by being so defiant in issuing this ridiculous 1000 compliments for every 100 complaints claim. This is not what the angry commuters want to hear - it makes any kind of dialogue impossible when one party is refusing to listen to the other and it just comes across as downright arrogant. Did they think about how the public would react to such a statement?

A simple statement to appease the public could simply read like this, "We acknowledge that you have felt let down in light of recent events and we have seen the kind of messages that members of public have posted in social media, voicing their displeasure. We want you to know that your experiences and how you feel means a lot to us and we are listening. This is why we have always kept our channels of communication opened with you - please visit our website and go to the 'contact us' section where you can find out how you can get in touch. Voicing your anger on social media may be a way for you to vent your anger, but if you were to bring your grievance directly to us, we may be able to do something about the situation if you were to give us all the relevant details that would allow us to take constructive steps to resolve the problem. We are waiting to hear from you, please get in touch."

Are they really listening to you...?

Yes I have drafted a non-committal, vague statement like that which simply says, "We are listening" in so many words. It doesn't accept any blame, it doesn't admit any fault or wrongdoing - it is simply kept vague enough to try to dispel the tension whilst listening to the other party. Trying to get defensive or even arrogant would only lead to the kind of PR disaster we have seen time and time again from SMRT. Remember the racist gaffe from Seng Han Thong? What is wrong with the SMRT corporate communications department? Surely they must have someone in the capacity of a PR manager to ensure that those in management do not make fools of themselves by saying stupid bullshit like that? How can they possibly get this so very wrong time again? Are you really that clueless or just plain stupid?

There is a saying that comes to mind: when in a hole, stop digging. Yes there are merits to the SMRT, but this is hardly the time to boast in such an arrogant manner.This is more than a matter of bad timing, it demonstrates extremely poor taste and a lack of tact by coming up with a statement like that. So what is going on here? Is it simply a case that no one in the entire organization had the balls to tell Desmond Kuek that his statement was really tactless and ill-conceived - in a "the Emperor's New Clothes" manner? If that is the case, just how out of touch with reality are they?

There is a right way and a wrong way to deal with such a situation.

Hey SMRT, whoever's doing your PR sucks. Sack them and let me show you how it should be done - but you must be prepared to listen to me when I stop you from doing something really stupid. Limpeh knows best. Feel free to leave a comment below - I am off to Austria early on Sunday morning for a week's holiday, I may blog a little whilst I am there but will still be approving and responding to comments as there is free wifi in the chalet where I am staying.