Punctuality in place of friendly service?

Image by Ex-Smith via FlickrThis is the reply from one reader.

Now, the thing to note here is that I have moved to a place where it is a very short distance from the train station. But the bus servicing our area goes on a loop. And it takes about 20-25mins coming out of our place.

And while the frequency is 5mins, there is nothing to compensate for the long travel time just to come out into the faster train service. Should I say, more predictable train service?

But that is nothing at all. I am frequently showing up late for work these couple of weeks, but my wife would tell me otherwise. Your own personal benefit of getting in late can't be the reason for the ignoring of the greater good's welfare.

Bus driver can't simply speed up and leave others waiting for their ride.

Train service can't simply not stop to make time for the train service turning about to ferry a full load of passengers.

And so, what's the solution to my problem? Just wake up earlier, and get a ride earlier. Sometimes the solution doesn't come from the government, but from the people.

Think so?
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Punctuality in place of friendly service?

Letter from Dawn Lee

I REFER to the commentary "Hold bus services to higher standards" (Dec 3).

Sometimes living in super-efficient Singapore can cause us to lose some perspective. Buses are subjected to traffic conditions, accidents and roadwork that all motorists have to deal with. You can stand at a bus stop with a watch and a clipboard and audit your bus arrival times all you want but what does that tell you? That the traffic situation was okay.

I have lived in cities where buses were on time and strict adherence to a schedule can actually compromise service standards. If you stress your drivers out by insisting they have to be on time no matter what, they will have less emotional capacity for kindness.

As for those schedules? Where I lived in Germany, there was only one service I could take to work. It left the interchange every 20 minutes at peak hour and every 40 minutes on weekends. I have many memories of being only 10 seconds late, running alongside the bus, waving frantically and yelling and being completely ignored as it zoomed away.

I have lived in Melbourne, where tram drivers have shut the doors in my face and gone off down the road. Schedules, you see.

I love the buses here at home. I do not even care if they are not on time. It is not like we have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus anyway or that we do not have alternative routes and connections.

In a city like Singapore, where people are not naturally friendly, it is so nice to have bus drivers who look in the rear-view mirror and wait for that old lady or the schoolboy lumbering along with his heavy schoolbag.

My experience is that most drivers are polite, friendly and patient.

It was such a joy to come back to this.

Strike a balance and do not insist on strict punctuality at the expense of people skills and flexibility and judgement to respond in different sets of circumstances.


Taken from TODAYOnline.com; source article is below:
Punctuality in place of friendly service?

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Hold bus services to higher standards

I am putting up this article, since it is the basis of another noteworthy reply from a reader. Read this one first, then the other one next.
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Hold bus services to higher standards

Let's also employ more technology, set up high-level task force to effect real improvement

by Richard Hartung

Everything seems fine with the buses here, according to the Public Transport Council (PTC). SBS Transit "complied with all the standards," the PTC said in October, while SMRT has only "been fined for three failures" for late departures in the six months until May.

Tell that to commuters, though, and you may hear far different accounts as their stories come gushing out.

One commuter I know taking Service 75 during peak hours in mid-October, for example, waited for 20 minutes one day and then had two buses arrive together as soon as he reached the bus stop the next morning. It is an experience commonly echoed by many.

Another commuter I spoke to compares bus drivers' stop-and-go driving techniques to the rides hurtling people around at Universal Studios. More stories like these abound.

With over three million passenger-trips on buses every day, the impact of small delays or other problems is huge. Not unexpectedly, the Singapore Management University's 2010 Q2 Customer Satisfaction Index found that "customer satisfaction scores for both the Mass Rapid Transit Systems and the public buses sub-sectors have been declining since 2007".

So what can be done? Several steps could make commuting by bus better.

For one, Singapore could start using best practices. Research last year by Imperial College's Mark Trompet, for example, showed that New York set a standard where buses must arrive within three minutes after their scheduled arrival time and buses in Paris must arrive within two minutes. Where schedules in Singapore do exist, he said, buses are supposed to arrive within five minutes before or after their scheduled time.

That 10-minute window can cause dissatisfaction, or worse. As research by University of Arizona Professor Ryan Johnson mentions, a "bus-bunching phenomenon has frustrated passengers in cities around the world". Other research cited by Mr Trompet showed that bus arrival irregularity "discourages commuters' use of public transit".

If we're going to get people to ride the bus and like it, moving to the levels of New York or Paris could help. While the PTC does measure 11 standards, tracking others like "regularity" or "customer satisfaction" as is done in Sydney and setting higher targets such as arriving within three minutes of the scheduled time - rather than "at least 80 per cent of bus services to operate at headway (frequencies) of not more than 10 minutes during weekday (excluding public holidays) peak periods" - could lead to higher service levels.



THE TECH IS OUT THERE

Another step would be to leverage leading-edge technology fully. In the United States, University of California Professor Alex Bayen's research group is merging radar, lidar, detectors embedded in roads and video with input from GPS devices to "detect patterns and build a prediction engine".

One initiative in Sydney, according to the New South Wales Auditor-General, is a real time bus monitoring system that "can also provide traffic light priority for late running buses". While technology is used here, too, bus companies still have staff standing at bus stops monitoring bus arrivals with a watch and paper!

Steps like changing bus priority real-time, using better prediction models for scheduling and using technology to help enforce bus priority in bus lanes could result in higher service levels. While usage of some of this technology may already be in the pipeline here, employing more of it and communicating the results could also be beneficial.

Improving bus transport is important for reducing commute times, raising productivity and increasing usage of public transportation, among other reasons. Despite efforts to do better, Land Transport Authority data until 2008 showed that bus commuting times had remained static at about 42 minutes for a decade. Even though it turns out that SMRT is a member of the International Bus Benchmarking Group that shares global best bus practices, data still indicates that arrival times and other results lag best-in-class standards.

Actually solving the problems may take more focus than what has been the case so far. For example, the situation in Singapore may be serious enough to warrant an independent and high-level task force to develop and implement strategies that lead to real improvement. Setting and achieving higher standards as well as taking steps to leverage technology even better could also make a big difference. There are a multitude of other opportunities.

Public transport here has the potential to be world-class and improvements will benefit productivity as well as commuter satisfaction levels. The critical next step is to make the change happen.


The writer is a consultant who has lived in Singapore since 1992.



Taken from TODAYOnline.com; source article is below:
Hold bus services to higher standards

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This family counted their blessings!

Image via Wikipedia

I was fascinated as I read how this family made it through, or simply, pulling it through, the hard times in their life, even as the husband lost his job and had to stay home as what they call 'househusband' - a complete and opposite expectation from the local communities family structure, where the man works and the wife stays at home as the 'housewife.'

No, that isn't even the message that I wanted to point out here.

My point to make is that it doesn't matter anymore what others are saying, what your neighbours (especially if they can't help you) may think and say about the 'changes' that you apply in your family structure is irrelevant, so you can continue with your life - through the hard times.

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the adjustment you make.

Perhaps, it is time to 'open up' the mind, instead of the mouth.

I say, they are still a respectable family, in that the husband and wife will do even the 'unusual' to raise their family - and still keep being respectable.

Read on.....

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Adapting as a househusband

Letter from Zhang Lianguo

I REFER to "Count your blessings" (April 23) and would like to share my story as a househusband.

Similar to Budget Tai Tai's friend, Househusband (myself) was told by his boss that his services were no longer required by the company on an otherwise normal day in 2008.

All he received for his immediate release was two months' pay in lieu of notice.

After going through the "anger-denial-acceptance-frustration-calm-down" psychological process, Househusband decided to move on and start again despite being in his mid-40s.

Times are hard. It is tough for a middle-aged man to get back on the professional track.

Househusband cast his net wide to secure a job. However, he saw all his applications come to nothing.

As with many unsuccessful cases, he was categorised as either over-qualified or not experienced enough.

At a walk-in interview, he was told politely: "Sir, I am afraid this is a mis-match for the job which you are applying for."

Looking around the function hall teeming with young job-seekers with black hair prevailing over those with grey hair, Househusband left without questioning the rationale of the statement.

If not for a "Corporate Wife", Househusband would have probably been a taxi driver now. After weighing all factors, Househusband opted to be a househusband. (Actually there weren't many options left.)

Mine is a typical Singaporean family: Husband and wife were full time employees. The children attended school, while a foreign domestic helper (FDH) attended to the household chores.

With household reduced to a single income, the priority was to tighten daily expenses.

With a full time Househusband installed, the post of FDH seemed to be redundant. When the incumbent FDH left for home after her work permit expired, another was not hired.

My situation was a challenge to the family, as it totally "derailed" the traditions of the society we live in.

Well, as change becomes the norm in today's life, adapting is the way to go.

You might have noticed that even the taxman had rephrased the phrase "Dependent Wife" to "Dependent Spouse".

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Taken from TODAY, Voices - Tuesday, 27-April-2010
Adapting as a househusband
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Soyjoy to the world

Japanese snack succeeds with quirky campaign and distinct sense of humour

by Shermaine Wong | Updated 10:49 AM Jun 09, 2009

TRUST the Japanese to incorporate their signature kawaii (cuteness) culture into everyday life.

One advertising campaign which has borrowed heavily from Japanese culture has managed to enjoy success with the public with its quirky visuals and memorable catchphrase.

The Soyjoy campaign - which began last June and is promoted via traditional and online media platforms - has been tickling audiences with its humorous take on weight watching and a memorable tagline, "Much Effort, Little Effort!"

Earlier efforts of the campaign include a series of television commercials (TVCs), and print and bus stop ads. It is currently in its second phase, in which promotional efforts have been moved online.

Soyjoy is positioned as a new healthy snack from Japan with a low glycemic index (GI) count. GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Generally, foods with low GI are viewed as healthier options.

As such, the campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M), revolved around the concept of GI.

For TVCs and print ads, O&M's trio comprising creative director Maurice Wee; regional creative director Takuya Matsuo; and group head copywriter Troy Lim created ads which played up the extreme methods women employ to keep trim.

In the Soyjoy ad titled Office, a woman is shown at work on her computer, while struggling to maintain a squat - hence, "much effort". This is juxtaposed with the "little effort" method another woman is seen using: Eating Soyjoy.

Mr Matsuo said: "Office was shot entirely in Tokyo since Soyjoy is 100 per cent Japanese. We're riding on the Singaporean fascination with Japan and its products. The result is a memorable, quirky campaign that carries a distinctly Japanese sense of humour."

The campaign's current effort, conceptualised by Ogilvy PR and its 360° Digital Influence team, is a five week-long blogger challenge which started on May 25.

Five local bloggers will go head-to-head in a series of tasks, which include writing the most informative blog post on GI and its benefits; and capturing the best way they like to enjoy Soyjoy in a picture and blog post.

Through these tasks, the bloggers will educate readers and raise awareness about Soyjoy in an interactive way. The public can vote by visiting www.gi-joy.com. Two winning bloggers - one a judges' choice, the other an audience's choice - will walk away with a trip to Japan at the end of next month to visit the Soyjoy factory.

On why Soyjoy decided to incorporate social media into their campaign, Mr R Suhendar, product marketing manager of Soyjoy, said: "In the online world, consumers no longer just receive messages, but also respond to them. That prospect excites us. The channel provides us with opportunities to engage with our consumers on a deeper, more intimate level than ever before."

While more people may be turning to digital platforms, Mr Suhendar acknowledges that "despite the soaring success of social media, organisations need to recognise it isn't a silver bullet solution".

He added: "Any effective outreach programme can and should employ a mix of both social and traditional media."

Future outreach programmes Soyjoy has planned include another round of TVCs and workshops to help the public understand more about the concept of GI.

From TODAY, Business – Tuesday, 09-Jun-2009

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Getting tougher with eateries

IN PARLIAMENT

More hygiene checks, bigger fines expected

Leong Wee Keat, weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

THE Government will wield a bigger stick to ensure there won't be a repeat of last month's mass food poisoning, which left two dead and 152 ill.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim told Parliament that the National Environment Agency (NEA) will step up inspection of food establishments and raise the penalties for lapses.

From next April, the agency will halve the ratio of food establishments inspected from 800 to 400 per officer. These businesses will also be inspected between four to eight times a year, up from the current three to six.

Stalls at hawker centres and markets, however, will see more of these checks. Centres will be visited twice a week, up from once every seven days, while individual hawker stalls will be inspected once every two weeks, instead of the current once every six to eight weeks.

Those who flout hygiene standards will face stiffer fines as the minimum penalty will be doubled to $200, while a $100 incremental fine will also be introduced to differentiate between minor, serious and major offences.

Offenders will be required to attend and pass a food hygiene course upon suspension. Repeat offenders will be charged in court. The revised penalty will come into force next January.

Last month, Indian rojak seller Sheik Allaudin Mohideen was suspended following a bout of alleged mass food poisoning traced to his stall in Geylang Serai temporary market. A rodent infestation, not related to the food poisoning, was also found in the incident's aftermath.

To tackle hygiene issues at temporary markets and food centres, Dr Yaccob said the NEA will issue guidelines specifying the expected standard of cleanliness and upkeep. A licence will also be issued for the operation of a temporary market or food centre with effect from Monday.

Market operators to be responsible for lapses

The NEA will also require operators of temporary markets or food centres to be a registered society or professional managing agent to ensure clearer accountability.

Calling this "unfair", MP Inderjit Singh questioned if "NEA is trying to pass the buck", adding: "Most of the markets in our constituencies are not run by officially registered organisations. So, (it) looks like the CCCs (Citizens Consultative Committees) and town councils will have to bear this responsibility."

In response, Dr Yaccob pointed out that temporary markets and food centres are built on the request of grassroot organisations. There had been 35 temporary markets being managed by CCCs and town councils.

"It does not mean NEA will not be responsible. We will still be enforcing hygiene standards. We will still go down and check to ensure there are no lapses. But someone has got to be responsible."

Dr Yaccob acknowledged there was a lapse on NEA's part in issuing grading decals to foodstalls at the Geylang Serai temporary market. It has since tightened procedures and all grading decals issued will now be valid for a year. Following reassessment, temporary grading decals will be issued on the spot.

Hawker Nur Muhammad raised concerns whether he would "always be under scrutiny" when the new rules kick in.

Although the NEA will deploy more inspectors, Dr Yaccob stressed that "they cannot be everywhere all the time".

He urged food establishments to play their part in maintaining standards of hygiene.

Canteens, food courts and coffeeshops would also be required soon to have at least one employee trained as a food hygiene officer to conduct daily checks.

The NEA would also require all food handlers to undergo a refresher course in food hygiene once every three years.

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.

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Call for a review of foreign worker policy

What do I say about this?

That in the past… (1) Locals can be so choosy in their jobs, (2) Anytime they don't like anything in their current job, they can quit, (3) They are so spoiled in that they can easily find a new job right after quitting from the previous one, (4) They can demand for their salary, (5) They don't like getting barked at or 'coerced', or 'pushed' in their jobs, (6) Anytime they feel they are the underdog, they quit! And finally, (7) Locals are so arrogant that they are afraid to 'lose face' – they don't take jobs that are low-down, dirt-level, and menial – especially the service sectors.

With the influx of foreign workers, and mostly workers who will work their bones out no matter what, and remain in their jobs no matter what, this posed a 'great distress' to the locals' arrogance and self-conceit: many talented and persevering foreigners can do the job at a lower pay, with none or less complaints, more compliance than murmuring, security to the employer with less turnover, better output due to better skills, less cost with less trainings needed for new employees every now and then… name it – they don't have it!

This is my view. My opinion. And again, it is based on my experience and observation. They are threatened, but wake them up by what they fear most: doing the low-down, dirt-level, menial and 'serving-others' job, and they'll keep mum and whimper like a beaten dog that will go away with its tail between its legs.

It is more of a culture than a personal trait… born to be arrogant… proud… NOT ALL, but most… and cannot even deliver!

Anyway, if this should come, let it be. They will rule their country in a way that they deem best – for their countrymen.

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Should Singapore tighten its "liberal" foreign worker policies? Some Members of Parliament think so and have called for a Government review.

Jurong MP Halimah Yacob urged for a review of foreign worker quotas to reflect today's situation of higher unemployment and weaker job creation. She warned of a "hollowing out of skills" among locals, should large numbers of foreigners occupy jobs in a particular sector.

"There are now so many foreign workers even in the services sector that Singaporeans are beginning to feel squeezed out," she said. For their part, Singaporeans must be prepared to work in new sectors or work further away from home.

Ang Mo Kio MP Inderjit Singh believes Singapore needs more pro-active measures such as a minimum-wage system to make some jobs more attractive to locals — a call the Opposition has made in the past — as well as reserving certain jobs for Singaporeans.

Middle- and lower-income groups here will be worse off over time with the current liberal policies due to "artificially depressed" wages — a result of "competition for low value-added jobs from foreigners", he said. NEO CHAI CHIN

From TODAYOnline.com, Top News – Tuesday, 26-May-2009; see the source article here.

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Do more to curb ‘red light jumping’

Letter from Martin C Conisbee

I WITNESSED yet another case of “red light jumping” along East Coast Road on Thursday morning. In this case it was a taxi and it was at the Siglap Park Connector junction.

This is the third case of “red light jumping” I have witnessed in a week and I cannot understand the mentality of drivers who would risk either killing a pedestrian or causing a vehicle collision just to save a few minutes at a traffic light. Surely these offenders can be identified from camera footage and charged by the police accordingly.

I have driven in some “colourful” countries around the world but have to say the red light jumping in Singapore is the worst I have ever seen.

Maybe the offenders need a refresher course on how to drive with safety and consideration for others in mind. It could be that a countdown system at traffic signals would discourage red light jumping. It has certainly been effective in Bangkok.

From TODAY, Voices – Monday, 18-May-2009

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ROAD TO A SOLUTION?

This person has a point. Whether it is the pedestrian or the driver at fault, could it be that Singapore, in its 'safe-as-a-vault' environment, has made the people lax and relax, with lowered guards every time, and to raise their voice to summon the higher authorities' help when in distress? I could be generalizing, but I am also making my point here. This is my opinion, based on my observation…

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More analysis needed to the root cause of pedestrian deaths on roads.

Letter from Chen Khin Wee

I refer to "7 in 10 killed on roads were jaywalkers" (May 13). I find this baffling.

In less developed countries with relatively few pedestrian crossings and overhead bridges, the act of crossing a road is routinely performed by tens of thousands of people, including school children, with relatively few untoward incidents.

To them, it is a matter of common sense to look left, right and left again, and to cross only when the way is clear.

It would be helpful if the authorities provide details as to who the people getting killed on Singapore's roads are, and the circumstances surrounding the accidents.

Were they children who were not properly trained in road safety?

Were they young people distracted by conversation with their friends or plugged into their music players, rendering them oblivious to their surroundings?

Were they impatient office workers trying to beat the lights at signalled crossings in order to catch a train?

Were they elderly folk with failing eyesight and hearing?

Or perhaps they were those who failed to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer as agile as they used to be, and dodging traffic was not as easy as when they were younger.

We require a more sophisticated analysis to the problem to find an appropriate solution.

Imposing a fine or a blanket ban on jaywalking is an easy way out, but is unhelpful if the problem is to be solved meaningfully and effectively.

From TODAY, Voices – Thursday, 14-May-2009

DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

Talk about the end of the crisis could be premature — dangerously so

PAUL KRUGMAN, xtra@mediacorp.com.sg

BEN Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots”. President Obama sees “glimmers of hope”. And the stock market has been on a tear.

So is it time to sound the all-clear? Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.

1 Things are still getting worse. Industrial production just hit a 10-year low. Housing starts remain incredibly weak. Foreclosures, which dipped as mortgage companies waited for details of the Obama administration’s housing plans, are surging again.

The most you can say is that there are scattered signs that things are getting worse more slowly — that the economy isn’t plunging quite as fast as it was. And I do mean scattered: The latest edition of the Beige Book, the Fed’s periodic survey of business conditions, reports that “five of the 12 Districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline”. Whoopee.

2 Some of the good news isn’t convincing. The biggest positive news in recent days has come from banks, which have been announcing surprisingly good earnings. But some of those earnings reports look a little... funny.

Wells Fargo, for example, announced its best quarterly earnings ever. But a bank’s reported earnings aren’t a hard number, like sales; for example, they depend a lot on the amount the bank sets aside to cover expected future losses on its loans. And some analysts expressed considerable doubt about Wells Fargo’s assumptions, as well as other accounting issues.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs announced a huge jump in profits from Q4, 2008 to Q1, 2009. But as analysts quickly noticed, Goldman changed its definition of “quarter” (in response to a change in its legal status), so that — I kid you not — the month of December, which happened to be a bad one for the bank, disappeared from this comparison.

I don’t want to go overboard here. Maybe the banks really have swung from deep losses to hefty profits in record time. But scepticism comes naturally in this age of Madoff.

Oh, and for those expecting the Treasury Department’s “stress tests” to make everything clear: The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, says that “you will see in a systematic and coordinated way the transparency of determining and showing to all involved some of the results of these stress tests”. No, I don’t know what that means, either.

3 There may be other shoes yet to drop. Even in the Great Depression, things didn’t head straight down. There was, in particular, a pause in the plunge about a year-and-a-half in — roughly where we are now. But then came a series of bank failures on both sides of the Atlantic, combined with some disastrous policy moves as countries tried to defend the dying gold standard, and the world economy fell off another cliff.

Can this happen again? Well, commercial real estate is coming apart at the seams, credit card losses are surging and nobody knows yet just how bad things will get in Japan or Eastern Europe. We probably won’t repeat the disaster of 1931, but it’s far from certain that the worst is over.

4 Even when it’s over, it won’t be over. The 2001 recession officially lasted only eight months, ending in November of that year. But unemployment kept rising for another year and a half. The same thing happened after the 1990-91 recession. And there’s every reason to believe that it will happen this time too. Don’t be surprised if unemployment keeps rising right through 2010.

Why? “V-shaped” recoveries, in which employment comes roaring back, take place only when there’s a lot of pent-up demand. In 1982, for example, housing was crushed by high interest rates, so when the Fed eased up, home sales surged. That’s not what’s going on this time: Today, the economy is depressed, loosely speaking, because we ran up too much debt and built too many shopping malls, and nobody is in the mood for a new burst of spending.

Employment will eventually recover — it always does. But it probably won’t happen fast.

So now that I’ve got everyone depressed, what’s the answer? Persistence.

History shows that one of the great policy dangers, in the face of a severe economic slump, is premature optimism. Franklin D Roosevelt responded to signs of recovery by cutting the Works Progress Administration in half and raising taxes; the Great Depression promptly returned in full force. Japan slackened its efforts halfway through its lost decade, ensuring another five years of stagnation.

The Obama administration’s economists understand this. They say all the right things about staying the course. But there’s a real risk that all the talk of green shoots and glimmers will breed a dangerous complacency.

So here’s my advice, to the public and policymakers alike: Don’t count your recoveries before they’re hatched. THE NEW YORK TIMES

WEEKEND XTRA

From WEEKEND TODAY, Business – 18, 19-April-2009

Something extra is brewing at Han’s

EXPANSION PLANS

It aims to open two new outlets and invest in training and upgrading equipment 

 

Valarie Tan, valarie@mediacorp.com.sg

Han’s managing director Han Choon Fook hopes to raise the standard further. Wee Teck Hian

 

DESPITE the recession, something’s brewing at Han’s Cafe and Cake House.

The 28-year-old chain is investing over $900,000 to expand its operations. This includes new gourmet coffee machines for its 21 outlets across Singapore.

Mr Han Choon Fook, Han’s managing director, said: “We’re hoping that if we can raise the standard further, we can one day make gourmet coffee a strong beverage in Han’s.”

It already sells about 3 million cuppas each year.

The chain said the recession has not significantly affected business so far, but its management warned turnover could fall by about 5-to-10 per cent should the economic situation worsens.

In the meantime, it is tapping on government subsidies to seize new opportunities, including upgrading staff skills.

It is taking advantage of subsidies from the Workforce Development Authority and SPRING Singapore to engage consultants for in-house customer service training for some 300 frontline staff.

Its courses, conducted in two phases, will cost the firm about $300,000. Training started even before the recession kicked in late last year.

“We know that in the competitive market we have got to raise our standards,” said Mr Han.

To maintain staff morale, the company plans to pass on to its workers money it receives under the Jobs Credit Scheme.

Under this scheme, the Government is providing cash grants to employers to help them preserve jobs by subsidising their manpower costs.

Employers are receiving a 12 per cent cash grant on the first $2,500 of each month’s wages for each employee on their CPF payroll. Few firms have been passing this on.

Han’s business is growing organically with plans to open two new outlets by May, each costing about $250,000. A new outlet in Buona Vista will open by the end of April and another in Jurong in May.

Its main challenge right now is finding young, qualified Singaporeans to fill frontline and operations positions. Even though half of its current 360-strong workforce are from overseas, Han’s hopes the government can be more flexible to allow them to hire more in the future.

Han’s annual turnover grew 16 per cent last year to $28 million.

It is no stranger to recessions, having survived the Sars crisis in 2003 when it saw turnover fall by about 10 per cent.

Looking into the future, it is working on new concepts to reach out to a younger market to cater to younger people’s food and drink tastes.

It is also not ruling out expanding into overseas markets, like China and Vietnam. Han’s has sent officers to franchising exhibitions to further explore the idea.

CHANNEL NEWSASIA

From TODAY, Enterprise – Wednesday, 15-April-2009