Categories
| Talking Edge: Lessons Learnt |
| Lifestyle | |||
| Written by Kam Raslan | |||
| Monday, 25 January 2010 00:00 | |||
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Winning hearts and minds, be polite to carelines According to The Star and the New Straits Times (Jan 10), the DPM spoke to Jasa and told them that they are in the business of winning the people’s hearts and minds. The people? That’s us! We’re in the news! Some of you older readers might know that the phrase “Hearts and minds” was first coined in Malaya in 1952, at the height of the Emergency, by Sir Gerald Templar (before he became a Tun and a big park). He said, “The answer [to defeating the insurgents] … rests in the hearts and minds of the Malayan people.” If “hearts and minds” was ever a firm policy then you could say it worked in Malaya/Malaysia because the communist insurgency was defeated, but the Americans have been unsuccessful trying to emulate the policy ever since. But now the rallying cry of “hearts and minds” is being heard again in Malaysia. The DPM told Jasa that, “They are the front-liners, the first to be sent to war. If you slack off and don’t know what’s happening at the ground level, that it dangerous.” You aren’t the only happy TNB customer. Last month — and during the last week of the year no less — a power cable to my house broke, disrupting one of three phases (the technicalities are beyond me. I’m only an economist). My electrician suggested I call Tenaga’s 15454 helpline (they really should publicise it better). A pleasant and professional operator (sorry, customer assistant) assured me a team would be on hand within a couple of hours. Surprised, I tried to explain to her that I didn’t live in Bukit-bukit Damansara, Pantai or Bandaraya, but she just smiled (or that’s what it sounded like she was doing on the phone). Lo and behold, two hours later, I was enjoying a nice hot cup of Milo boiled from a kettle powered by free-flowing electrons delivered through a newly-fixed power cable. What’s more, I called the same number this week around midnight to ask how to read my digital meter (don’t ask), and again received clear and polite instructions. I’ve had similar experiences with carelines for Syabas (the water chaps), Maybank as well as TM. I don’t know; maybe I’m blessed. That or I’m in a dream where reactions to the use of deities’ names don’t involve throwing Molotov cocktails at places of worship. The point I want to make is that our services industry is capable of delivering. But they don’t know how to deal with bolshy or irate customers, for example, ones you get in the UK. Be nice in your queries/complaints to them, and they will be nice in their response to you. (A bit sensitif-mah.) A.N. Other Happy Customer Malaysia is famous! The Minister of Information spoke his mind recently. Basically, he reminded us that there was once a simpler time when people were happy and not so easily confused (that is, before the “interwebs”). His comments were so warmly greeted in the Twitterverse that his name briefly became the fourth most popular topic on Twitter. I have been on Twitter for a few months now. I don’t use it very often and I’m still not completely convinced by it. It probably won’t change the world and it is only used by a tiny, tiny percentage of the population, but it is an interesting way to have conversations with people you don’t know. It also helps remind you that you’re not alone. What they failed to recognise was that the rumour was quashed almost immediately on Twitter. The rumour sounded untrue and more experienced news watchers and news gatherers asked for reliable sources and witnesses. There were none because the story was completely untrue. On Twitter, calm was restored within an hour and confusion disappeared. It was a useful lesson that one should check facts from a broad range of sources, and the government is just one source. This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 790, Jan 25 – 31, 2010
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