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"Not Such A Great Way To Fly"... continues

In the same article (27/1/07 ST Life! pg 6),Ms Janine Karen remarked,"Many girls join the airline because they consider wearing the sarong kebaya glamorous,and not because they love to serve people".
Now, who can sincerely tell me they love serving other people. Come on, lets not be naive. 99% of human beings loved to be served and not to serve.
"To serve others" come with a price. If the price is right, the service may be better but not necessarily "sincere".
Do not for moment think the airline loves you.Its the bottom line they are after and that matters most.
My 35 years of flying and training/checking experience had taught me that.
So for Pete sake, don't whine and don't blame the crew if you feel discriminated or that the
"Singapore Girl image has done SIA in" because no one has done anyone in.
May I ask you, if a product is overpriced but the sales girl is warm and sincere, would you buy it? If your answer is yes,then you are just being an emotional sucker thats all!
Come in here more often and uncle boh tong could teach you a thing or two! and I am sincere...hehehe.

"Not Such A Great Way To Fly"

Please refer to 'Life' section page 6 of the Singapore Straits Times dated 27 Jan.2007 ( Saturday)regarding the above article.
The following is my personal opinion and view and may not necessarily reflect SIA's.
Khoo Kah Liang's,one of the writers of the article,long list of complains against SIA cabin crew do not seems justifiable.
SIA foreign stewardesses are employed to look after all passengers on SIA flights,regardless of race. More than that, they are also employed to communicate with their own country folks in their own languages when our local crew could not.
So what Khoo saw was the frequent interaction between the foreign SIA girls and their own kind.This could have made other passengers as well as Khoo to conclude that these girls "take better care" of their country folks.
As for taking "better care" of Caucasians, this has been an old and ancient complaint from Singaporeans.
With 35 years of cabin crew experience and as an ex-trainer/checker, I am quite qualified to comment on the topic of the so called racial discrimination by our SIA cabin crew.
I do not say that there is no racial discrimination at all. There is and will always be, wherever you go.
The whole issue of the SIA girl discriminating against her own kind is blown out of proportion.
Let me explain what seems to be the so-called "discrimination".
Often, you may notice that the crew interact more with the Caucasians than the Singaporeans.
The Caucasian passengers are, by and large, a lot more extroverted than their Singaporean counterparts. For example, they greet the crew when they board the planes,even before the crew could greet them. As for our local passengers, some of them do not even return the greetings,let alone greet the crew first.
The Caucasians speak and ask more questions than the locals. In return, the crew are seen to be attending more to them than the quieter Singaporeans, at least from a distance.
They,the Caucasian passengers are generally more generous with their compliments but not our Singaporeans.
When the Caucasian passengers compliment the crew, from the good service rendered to the beautiful Balmain's sarong kebaya,it is only natural that the crew appreciate them and smile more to them in their response.
The Singaporean passenger is one who is demanding and arrogant. He or she would at the slight thing threatened the crew with legal suits or complaints.
We all,as SIA crew ,understand the Singaporean 'culture'.

As a trainer, I had always taught my crew to be aware of the above situations.
"Be more aware and sensitive to the feelings of our local passengers" was the thing I always told them.
Besides, I had always taught them not to overly react and get carried away by the compliments given them by the Caucasian passengers. "Always be conscious of the fact that other races are watching you".
To cut the whole story short, my advice to Khoo and the other like-minded passengers, is for you to be at your best behavior wherever you may be and people will reciprocate and treat you better.
We should ask ourselves why people like Mr. Robert Kuok or the late Mr. Yap and Tun Mustapha and others are well- liked and respected by the crew as compared to other wealthy passengers.( refer to my earlier posting on "Cocky PPS Passengers")?

Let me introduce............

The lady in the picture is Beh. She is a friend of mine and was an ex-stewardess. She had asked me to link her blog to mine so she could share her past flying experiences with my readers.
Beh does not want to divulge which airline she worked with because she is afraid of being sued.However, the staff could remember her as the girl who was 'chauffeured' to training in a 'Mercedes'.
I respect her wish for privacy but would like to add that when she relates her experiences,one would able to guess who was her ex-employer.
Beh is a little cheeky here by adopting her URL as close as mine. Its quite similar to mine and so be careful not to type the wrong URL. Her blog is at http://behtong.blogspot.com
So pay her a visit and feel the 'thrill of flying' from an ex-stewardess's perspective.
Good luck to you,Beh and all.

The closure of my forums.

Hi and good morning to all!

The forum page at http://siia.mywowbb.com has been shut down due to its poor response from partcipants.

The other forum http://bohtong.mywowbb.com is going suffer the same fate in a week's time unless some miracle happens.

Should the S'pore girl stay?

The debate is still going on in the Straits Times ( 23/1/07 Life section Pg. 5),forums,coffee shops,makan places etc. about whether the SIA Girl should stay or not.
Global branding whiz Tyler Brule says SIA should watch that the Singapore Girl does not become "just an object". He went on to say "when your stewardesses are from 17 different countries because labour there is cheaper, the SIA Girl is no longer the polished young woman who got a good education in Singapore".
Well ,whether the girls are from 'cheaper wage' countries or not, SIA has stressed that," We won't jettison what's worked and worked very well in the past"
So my bet is,there is a good chance the SIA Girl would stay.

Replace the SIA Girl Icon?

There had been talks about SIA quitting Batey Ads. as its most important customer and partnering someone else. There are also talks about replacing the SIA Girl Icon (refer Sunday Times page 3 & 4) which many people are opposed to.
I do not think SIA is going to totally do away with the SIA Girl Image. SIA would, in my opinion,upgrade the SIA Girl Image to keep up with the times.
The SIA Girl need to change her hairstyles and get rid of the red lipsticks. Wearing of 'buns' are no longer fashionable years ago. A makeover is reasonable but to get rid of this icon is far too risky.
I always believe SIA management is extremely capable and successful. It has that Midas touch, who knows, maybe able to turn the present icon into a golden one. So lets leave this crucial task to SIA.

Survey

My dear readers,

Do you prefer my future postings to be:

1)Videos from YouTube,MySpace and Google.

2) More SIA cabin crew stories.( if I don't have enough,I make them up ok?)

3) More cabin crew training stories.

4) Some B/S stories which I can make them up ( not including SIA stories)

Please post your opinion in the comment box ( I have made it easy for you,no more need for word verification.Just comment,click on 'anonymous' and 'publish'

Away from airlines talk for a while.

My Top 10 Beauties

Tired of my airlines posting?

Some people have written to me saying that my stories are not exciting anymore. The stories aren't juicy ,they are 'ancient news',' history,' I 'made them up', I 'wasn't from the airlines',so on and so forth...
My dear good readers, what do you want to hear actually? Please don't ask me to tell you about my personal life ( thats for sale only,... hehehe).
There are more than 100 postings on cabin crew matters and I can understand you are very 'jelak' or 'sein' ( Malay and Chinese slang for being tired...I got overseas readers also ok,so must interprete for them lor) already. So maybe I should retire from blogging also right? Wrong!!!
I will continue to blog but maybe on something else. Any suggestions from you my loyal,sometimes wavering readers....hehehe??
Shall wait for your comments and suggestions in the comment box or in my email ok? (email address is bohtong@yahoo.com)....Thanks!

Short stories from boh tong.

The inflight supervisor who marries.....

This guy is not all that handsome but he probably has a way with women.
He drove around in a Mercedes Benz.
Believe it or not, Alex has married and divorced 10 stewardesses. He is now
in his mid-50s and is a property agent.
So watch out female property agents and female clients!

The Pilot Who foolishly Killed himself

Bert was the quiet and reserved sort of person. He rarely mixed around much with his colleagues.
He had a lovely stewardess girlfriend but he was a married man whose family lived in New Zealand.
Bert's affair with the stewardess went on for almost a year. They lived in opposite blocks of flats facing each other.
One day,when his girlfriend decided to leave him,Bert phoned her and asked her to appear at her bedroom window facing his flat.
The girl did what Bert instructed her. To her horror, Bert jumped down from his 12 storey flat right in front of his girlfriend's eyes.

The Harley Davidson Bike.

Brian loved motorbikes and the last one he owned was a Suzuki. He didn't have much savings like his colleagues in SIA. He gambled away most of his money.
During his days off from flight, he would bring Fatimah his stewardess g/f for long bike rides and visit eateries on his old Suzuki. It wasn't always comfortable for the pillion rider because the seat was partially worn off and the engine was noisy.
One day when Fatimah can't take it anymore,she used all her savings and bought Brian a brand new Harley Davidson, an awesome looking bike. Harley Davidson is the Mercedes of motorbikes. It would probably had cost Fatimah $35,000 for the HD.
It was a few weeks after the purchase of the HD that photos of Brian and another girl riding the HD was posted to Fatimah. The shots showed the girl hugging and kissing Brian. They were more than friends by their behavior seen on the photos.
Fatimah confronted Brian and he admitted he was in love with Elaine,the stewardess in the photos.
Fatimah was broken hearted and disappointed with Brain who had cheated on her all these whiles. She demanded the 35 k which she paid for the HD. Brain refused. They had a fight over the matter and finally Fatimah brought the matter to the office.
Fearing it would a be a scandal which might affect his chances of a promotion, Brian compromised with Fatimah and paid her by installments over a two year period.
However, the installments were never paid back in full. Brain and Elaine were killed in an accident while riding in Malaysia.

Ad Giants queue up to give SIA Girl a Makeover.

In the Singapore Straits Times last page,published on 10 January 2007 was the above topic.
SIA or Singapore Airlines,one of the world's finest airlines if not the finest is looking for a breakup with its old advertising flame, Batey Ads.

The iconic SIA Girl brand was created by Batey Ads some 35 years ago and now SIA is tendering out its advertising businesses to the ads giants around the world.
"The decision to embark on a market review is to procure the best services available in the market at the most competitive price," said SIA in a statement.

According to industry players, at least 10 agencies are throwing themselves into the game. These are big boys,both in the international and local scenes.
Some industry players like Ogilvy & Mather Asia co-chairman Tham Kai Meng said the airline's ads which used to be "a class-act," have become "pedestrian" in the last couple of years.
Other says, the current ads are "old fashioned" and "one look and you think you are in the 90s".
Mr. Jorg Dietzel,a branding consultant chipped in:"Batey knows the brand well,it has delivered some great work in the past...If it ain't broke,don't fix it.The risks are too high."

When Malaysia Singapore Airlines (MSA),the predecessor of SIA split up in 1972, Singapore side wanted to keep the then famous brand name of MSA.It was doing very well in terms of service and everything.Unfortunately (or fortunately)the Singapore Govertment and its Malaysian counterpart could not see eye to eye on the running of MSA. Hence,the breakup.

The Malaysian side did not agree to either side retaining the MSA logo and brand and it was a great loss to Singapore.
However, after almost 35 years,Singapore has built up another great brand name in SIA. Was Singapore lucky or was it due to hard work?

What about this time, the advertising thing? Can SIA be lucky or its management and staffs' decision be right and precise to tender its ads. business and part with Batey?
I tend to agree with Jorg Dietzel.....if it ain't broke,don't fix it. That is my 2 cents worth after 35 years with SIA.

The Trainee Steward Who .................

It was one of those things,if an employee lied in his job application details and if discovered later on,the said employee would be fired!
This was an example of a case in cabin crew.
Mark was undergoing his training as a steward, when HR department discovered he lied in his filling up his application forms. He did not declare he was convicted of a crime when he was a young teenager. He was convicted of taking drugs.
Now at age 25, Mark was fully rehabilitated and never thought of taking drugs.
All he wanted was to excel as a steward with SIA. He topped the class and was a young man with pleasant personality.
Mark was summoned to the Director of Cabin Crew office,one afternoon,during his training.He had shocking news. He was sacked because he had lied in his job application.
Being sad was an understatement. Mark was severely depressed over the next few days.
His instructor appealed on his behalf but to no avail.
Three days later, Mark jumped down from his HDB flat.

Ex SIA Stewardess Jailed for Kicking Policeman

Katherine was a tall and no-nonsense looking leading stewardess. She looked better whenever she flashed that wide smile across her face.
If one were to know her background,one would understand the reasons for Kat being such a spoilt brat.
Before joining SIA,Kat used to have a boyfriend by the name of Eric. He was a professional horse punter,making as much as $1 million a weekend, on horse racing and this was in the 1980s.
Kat was treated like a celebrity wherever she went with Eric.
The horse racing fraternity respected Eric,including the underworld who depended on his horse tips.
Those who were closely associated with Eric prospered,including his girlfriend,Kat.
Eric showered Kat with cash,Rolex watches,diamond rings,cars and beautiful apartments.
The only thing lacking, as far as Kat was concerned, was time spent with Eric. He was always busy with his 'business' associates and spent long hours away from Kat.
He would often travelled to Malaysia to arrange and plan his oncoming weekend races during the weekdays.
On weekends, he would be extremely busy punting on horses with his syndicate colleagues.
Kat was a teenager at the time she was with Eric. She, being young, loved dancing,bowling, karaoke, fashion and all the things a teenager would
loved doing.
Kat was a very demanding person and often,Eric would give in to her.
She would very frequently disrupt Eric's business schedule by nagging him into taking her on holidays overseas.
Kat's frequent nagging and fights with Eric eventually cost him his downfall.
Eric began losing control over his syndicate and suffered big losses at races.
As expected, Eric lost everything that he had,including Kat.

Kat broke off with Eric and joined SIA as a flight stewardess. She worked hard and earned her promotion as a leading stewardess in less than five years.
During her flying days, Kat gambled high stakes at casinos overseas. She loved Blackjacks and Baccarat.
Kat would wager anything from US$1,000 to $50,000 per bet,over 10 to 24 hours at a stretch at casinos in London, Melbourne,Sydney and Las Vegas.
Kat was a high roller like Suwah.
Whenever, Kat night stopped in LA,she would take the South West 45 minutes flight to Las Vegas and stayed at Caesar's Palace. There ,she would gambled until the night before her flight back to Tokyo.
Her turnover at the gambling table per night would easily be around US$500,000.

At the end of her flying contract with SIA, she joined a security company in Singapore as a reminsier.
Kat brought in multi millionaire clients to the company. They were mostly the Datoks and Tan Sris from Malaysia and they punted real big ,often to the tune of ten of millions of dollars.
When the financial crisis hit Asia in the mid 1990s, most of Kat's wealthy clients went bankrupt.
Kat was stuck with huge debts and was sacked by her company.
That was,it seems the last we would have heard of Kat.

It wasn't long before I read in the newspaper that Kat had a big fight with her boyfriend.
The police was called in to settle the domestic quarrel.
Unfortunately, Kat was so mad with the police interference that she kicked and hit a police officer.
Kat was charged with causing hurt to a police officer and was sent to prison.
At the time of serving her sentence,Kat gave birth to a baby whose father is anyone guess.

Boh Tong Forum is back!!!

Click http://bohtong.mywowbb.com/ to participate.....anyone can post,reply,advertise etc in my forum for Free...no need to be members.....never b4 can non members post any topics or subjects or advertise in any forum in the whole world.

Captain Lim

Someone asked me whether I know a Captain Lim recently. This Captain Lim has a blog of his own.
Well as far as I know, that Captain Lim is not from Singapore Airlines (SIA).
There are many Captain Lims in SQ but none of them has a blog,as far as I know.
Some of the readers are still not convinced I was from SIA. Well, tell me what is the use of me lying?
For the time being,at least, I don't want to expose myself as my ex-employer isn't happy with some of the articles I had posted.
SIA, in its email to me expressed appreciation for my 35 years of loyal service and at the same time demanded that I remove all images and logos of the company from my website. They told me my articles do not represent their views.
So, I complied albeit reluctantly.
Now, I believe they would go to any length to stop me from publishing more articles concerning the company.
I do hope our readers understand my situation.

On a lighter note:
Who knows maybe I am Captain Lim Goh Tong..oops I mean Boh Tong..hehehe.
( Btw is it true Lim Goh Tong is the big boss of Genting Casino,anyone)?
Thanks a million!