Shop A may charge you more for the same product than Shop B for a variety of reasons. If Shop A provides air-con while Shop B doesn’t, shoppers may still buy from them. If Shop A has spent more on renovations and made their environment more pleasant and attractive, buyers may still flock there. Even if Shop A had splurged on salaries and employed the ladies from Deal or No Deal to be their shop assistants, they might be able to price their products higher than Shop B which employs study mamas.
But what if Shop A has no clear advantage over Shop B? What if they provide exactly the same service but Shop A charges higher because:
1. They renovate 2 times a year.
2. They throw away their perfectly functional equipment and upgrade/update them every few months.
3. They have a $3000 pm manager in charge of toilet rolls.
When a competitor is able to provide the same standard of service for much less (say about 80% less), we would all be curious to find out how they manage to do it. We would all want, not only to learn from them, but to find even more cost-effective ways to run our businesses and beat the competition. A business in the real world has to keep changing and restructuring to remain competitive. It has to trim fat and cut wastage. A business can only continue to go about its cost-ineffective ways and insist that consumers have to live with its system and pay more if there is no Shop B around.
There are many Shop As in Singapore. And their continued presence is an indication of what a forgiving, compassionate socciety we are. If we were really Singapore Inc, we would have abolished all the cost-effective systems, convoluted corporate structures, wastage and overspending. Judging from our silence and tolerance, we are clearly not Singapore Inc. Such nice people we are. Does anyone know how I can set up a Shop A?
Somebody who was very impressed by the uncles and aunties’ show of strength at Speaker’s Corner wrote an interesting verse of some sort in forum:
“Older singaporean,
they build singapore,
they spoiled the gov,
now, they are taking the lead to show us how we should run our future… ”
Some of us would like to believe that the latest happenings at Speaker’s Corner show that we the citizens are finally fighting for our rights and the older folks are leading the way. However, being the cynic I am, I have this to reply.
Faces of the lost, the worried, the angry
Gathered at the once peaceful park
A meanigful protest in Singapore?
Oh what a promising start.
Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder
Minibond to minibond
Is this a ray of hope for Democracy?
Or is each man concerned only about his own money?
Alas it all ended in a massive stampede, a violent act …
When govt says: “The first 10 to kiss my toes will get all his money back”.
The fastest way to disperse the crowd and make everyone dump his comrade is start an “amazing race”. $1M (maybe even less) for the first protestor to reach home. This is uniquely Singapore.
Some years ago, a representative from a business directory approached me to place an ad in their publication. The cost of the ad he proposed was in thousands. I asked if they had an installment scheme. He quickly replied that I could pay for the fees in 6 installments. I agreed, signed the papers and not long after the directory was published, I received an invoice for the full amount outstanding. I happily paid a part of it and waited for the statement of account. But what arrived was not a statement of account. It was in fact, a reminder. As I was busy, I didn’t call up to ask. I just sent them another installment. The next “statement” I received was a warning. They told me payment was overdue and asked me to settle the outstanding amount immediately or else …
I called them up and you may have guessed it already. The company did not have any interest-free installment scheme for their advertisers. The sales rep who sold me the ad lied to me, there was no agreement on the installment scheme in writing and the sneaky little fellow was no longer with the company. I’ve managed to pay up and put eveything behind me, but I do feel sorry for the nasty things I say to presumably innocent, persistent reps from that company who call me up to sell their listings after that.
But such things are happening everywhere. Big companies are hiring lots of temp staff to sell their products. Many of these companies don’t really care how their sales staff do it. They just want to see sales, period. The more unpopular a product (and it may be unpopular for a good reason), the more the staff will be pressured to sell it. Desperate people may resort to telling lies and giving fake promises to make the sale. After all, they won’t be around for very long. When the customer discovers that he has been missold a product, it’s not too difficult for the company to shrug its shoulders and point to the fine print and disclaimers which the average consumer would never understand even if he had bothered to go through it.
Imagine a doctor buys a certain medicine and finds that it is not moving. He prescribes that medicine even to patients who don’t need it so that the medicine won’t expire on him. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? But any doctor who does such things is sure to get into trouble very quickly. At the least the authorities won’t need to wait for the cue from Hongkong.
In contrast, some people in the financial sector are doing the equivalent - “prescribing” unpopular products to unsuitable clients just for the sake of making sales targets. Why aren’t financial advisers regulated as tightly or punished as swiftly as doctors are? Is it because the loss of one’s life savings is not life threatening?
The normally quiet Speaker’s Corner has finally come alive with angry investors. Their petition has been handed over to the MAS. Investors in the same sinking boat (同病相怜) got to know one another with help from Mr Tan Kin Lian. It was hoped that as a group, these fellow sufferers would be better able to employ some lawyers and squeeze the financial institutions for some answers (and money). Meanwhile, SM Goh has told everyone to be “realistic” and “put their losses in perspective”. I guess that’s a pretty strong hint to the outcome of the petition.
Meanwhile, in the healthcare industry, doctors are no longer allowed to call themselves “aesthetic physicians” or “aesthetic surgeons”. They are also not allowed to perform “unproven” procedures. Compare that with financial institutions blatantly calling structured products “minibonds” when they are not real bonds. Aunties and uncles who are FD clients with low risk appetites are advised to “convert” their low-yielding FDs to minibonds and high notes. Still no evidence of mis-selling? Why? Again, is it because the loss of one’s life savings is not life threatening? People who are scared of dentists and suspicious of them when they indicate crowns and implants obviously don’t know that there are far more dangerous (and well-protected) people/institutions out there.
Before you can teach them to sing Majulah Singapura, Shuttlers Zhang Beiwen and Gu Juan had left the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) in April and July, respectively.
The two players, who are both 18 years old, were part of the 10-member youth team — consisting of five boys and five girls — who beat Malaysia to win an historic bronze for Singapore at the 2007 World Junior Championships in New Zealand last October.
Gu was also a member of the silver-medal winning women’s team at last December’s SEA Games in Korat, Thailand. Graduates of the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme, the two players had received their citizenship in May last year.
Very impressive achievements, but what happened after that? According to sources (unwilling to be identified as usual), Gu has returned to China to further her studies, while Zhang’s whereabouts remain unknown. It has been reported that both women had some issues with their coach. It would be nice if NSmen can quit if we have issues with our commanders, but no. We are a different kind of citizens.
Our fellow citizens from China do us proud in the international sports arena. People want to hug them (sweaty after a game), shake hands with them (sweaty after a game), get autographs from them. Nobody wants to give our sweaty NSmen a hug. We’re a dime a dozen. These folks are gems. Sure, I would be honoured to have a fellow citizen like them. Sure, I would like to be inclusive and accommodating, but is all this just 一厢情愿?
