UPDATE: MP Seng Han Thong has since apologised.
On the SMRT issue, one wonders why an MP would say on air that some staffs are “Malay(s), they are Indians, they cannot converse in English good, well enough”.
Why did he just stop there? Did he listen to himself speak? He could have added on and said that his English was atrocious too. This is quite obvious the moment he opened his mouth to speak. Clearly, you don't have to speak well to be an MP and draw an obscene salary.
Back to the issue at hand... Why couldn't he have said that the ground staff were largely Malays and Indians and this led to mis-communications between staffs and non-English speaking commuters?
If he as an MP is so insensitive, how can he possibly help residents at the meet-the-people sessions without condescending? As a MP for Ang Mo Kio where train service was affected, he could at least empathise with commuters or say that he was looking to the review as well. MPs have to know that they are public figures, paid by their public and that they cannot simply say one thing today and retract it by means of an apology the next day.
This is what Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC has to say:
Several friends have raised their concerns over MP Seng Han Thong's remarks. I am also disturbed by the remarks which are inappropriate and unfair even though he may be repeating what someone else said. Having worked in the labour movement for 33 years before taking up my present post, I am reminded of how employers in the past sometimes try to pin the blame on the lowest elvel workers as a way of deflecting responsibilty from the management whenever a major problem occurs. Effective communication as we all know requires a properly thought out strategy and plan, putting a system in place, training of employees and testing whether the plan works, among others. It is not right to pin the blame on workers and, what is worse, Malay and Indian workers for the purported lack of English proficiency. So, I can understand your anger and frustration at such a simplistic and insensitive articulation of the probable cause for the communication failure that had occurred. But friends, lets also try to stay cool as we need SMRT to focus on the big, big issue of fixing the defects so that the trains can run smoothly and passengers are not further inconvenienced.
Perhaps Seng Han Thong, together with the SMRT management team should attend PR and public speaking lessons.
Oh, and if only would Straits Times quit making us angry, SMRT tops in corporate governance study.
On the SMRT issue, one wonders why an MP would say on air that some staffs are “Malay(s), they are Indians, they cannot converse in English good, well enough”.
Why did he just stop there? Did he listen to himself speak? He could have added on and said that his English was atrocious too. This is quite obvious the moment he opened his mouth to speak. Clearly, you don't have to speak well to be an MP and draw an obscene salary.
Back to the issue at hand... Why couldn't he have said that the ground staff were largely Malays and Indians and this led to mis-communications between staffs and non-English speaking commuters?
If he as an MP is so insensitive, how can he possibly help residents at the meet-the-people sessions without condescending? As a MP for Ang Mo Kio where train service was affected, he could at least empathise with commuters or say that he was looking to the review as well. MPs have to know that they are public figures, paid by their public and that they cannot simply say one thing today and retract it by means of an apology the next day.
This is what Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC has to say:
Several friends have raised their concerns over MP Seng Han Thong's remarks. I am also disturbed by the remarks which are inappropriate and unfair even though he may be repeating what someone else said. Having worked in the labour movement for 33 years before taking up my present post, I am reminded of how employers in the past sometimes try to pin the blame on the lowest elvel workers as a way of deflecting responsibilty from the management whenever a major problem occurs. Effective communication as we all know requires a properly thought out strategy and plan, putting a system in place, training of employees and testing whether the plan works, among others. It is not right to pin the blame on workers and, what is worse, Malay and Indian workers for the purported lack of English proficiency. So, I can understand your anger and frustration at such a simplistic and insensitive articulation of the probable cause for the communication failure that had occurred. But friends, lets also try to stay cool as we need SMRT to focus on the big, big issue of fixing the defects so that the trains can run smoothly and passengers are not further inconvenienced.
Perhaps Seng Han Thong, together with the SMRT management team should attend PR and public speaking lessons.
Oh, and if only would Straits Times quit making us angry, SMRT tops in corporate governance study.
