Is a Customer Always Right?

I took a ride from my brother to work yesterday. On the way, I heard him making several phone calls to resolve a problem with a difficult customer. A family of seven were on their way for a holiday but ended up having a big fight with the airline at the airport and were offloaded by the airline.

Apparently they had already checked in for their flight only to discover that their return tickets cum ticket jackets were missing. First they blamed the check-in counter for misplacing them then they tried to accuse my brother’s company of not issuing them with the return tickets. The airline verified that if they did not have the return tickets, they would not have been allowed to check in in the first place because the country they were embarking required all visitors to have return tickets otherwise they will be refused entry. Obviously someone in the group misplaced the return tickets after they had checked in, then tried to point their finger at someone else.

My brother found it most ridiculous that this family wanted to go on a holiday but chose to create a big commotion at the airport, refusing to board the plane unless the airline re-issued them with the return tickets on the spot. Well, the airline said that was possible provided they pay an extra $30 per ticket as administrative fee. Guess what? They refused. They insisted that their tickets be re-issued without any extra fees. Seven tickets at $30 each is only $210 in total. You know what they were forgoing? Not just their flights during this peak holiday season but also bookings for a five-star hotel which had cost them $4000! Mad right? Definitely insane.

Any sensible traveller would have just compromised and paid for the meagre administrative fee, go for a nice holiday then come back and dispute it with the airline, right? But no, they chose to create a stir in public, shouted and abused the staff of the airline, caused the flight to be delayed until the airline had no choice but to offload them and their luggage from the plane.

Customers today think they have their rights. When they don’t get what they want, they demand a refund, or be compensated. They will not hesitate to threaten reporting to the police or take legal actions if their demands are not met. This is the kind of customers my brother has to deal with day in, day out in the travel trade. Poor guy!

Is a customer always right? Some people seem to think so.

Oh…by the way, the airline did a check on that family and records showed that they have been blacklisted on some airlines for other incidents. If you plan to travel often, don’t get blacklisted, the airlines will know.

Earthquake wreaks havoc…but not in Taiwan

Thank goodness the earthquake in southern Taiwan did not cause much damage to Tacobee’s hometown. Her family is safe and sound. But it definitely turned the lives of Singaporeans and many Asians upside down. The cables in the ocean that link people like me to the rest of the world via the cyber highway were damaged by the tremors. Until now, many of my friends have no access to their emails and MSN messenger.

The lapse in internet service must have caused great discomfort to cyber addicts. I for sure was frustrated all yesterday morning, trying to figure what was wrong with my internet. No access to my Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo, Google etc. All not working at the same time? How can that be?

Can you imagine how much money was lost because online trasactions were inaccessible? I wonder how many of you suffered from internet withdrawal symptoms yesterday. Honestly, did you? I did. Luckily, I was able to access my MSN from late afternoon. Big thanks to my service provider aka Lee Junior No.2 and company. They seem the most efficient of the lot. I understand that Pacnet is still down. :((

My shoutbox definitely is not back to normal yet. I posted but message got thrown back at me…posting failed. I tried again and again. Next thing I know, the same message got posted four times!!! Aiya…when can everything be normalised?

The news this morning said we’ll still encounter a slowdown in the speed. It would take a few more days for everything to be restored. Sigh…we are so dependent on the cyberworld…so scary. Let’s pray and hope that such disasters don’t occur too frequently.

ps: If you’ve been waiting for my Berlin pictures, you’ll have to wait a few more days. It’ll take me forever to upload them with the internet speed I’m getting now!

Winter Solstice 冬至

今天是冬至，大家都多一歲了
祝大家生日快樂！

When I got up this morning, I momentarily forgot it was the festival. How can I? Have to help my mum make those glutinous rice balls every year on this occasion without fail. I remember during my younger days, I would be all grouchy and impatient when I had to help with such tasks. I’ll be asking myself, “Why me?” But nowadays, I look forward to doing it. Not sure why, perhaps it’s age.

I’ve grown to enjoy rolling those little white and pink coloured balls (湯圓) and chatting with her while we go about with the task. I asked her this morning the significance of this festival and she said we all become a year older on this day. Hmmm…is that it? I thought it had something to do with the end of a harvest or whatever. A lot of people don’t bother making 湯圓 anymore but buy the frozen ones from the supermarket. They come in different flavours and fillings like peanut, sesame paste, red bean etc. Those do taste quite good but to me, 冬至 is not 冬至 unless we make those pink and white balls ourselves! Hmm……I’m really becoming an oldie huh?

Anyway, I should say, happy belated birthday to everyone, since it’s already past 12 midnight!

True Religion

I’m still struggling to put together the pictures for my next post on Berlin so please be patient with me. In the meantime, here’s something a bit serious and thought provoking again from Krishnamurti. His definition of religion. It’s the most beautiful definition that I’ve come across and I just have to share it with all of you.

Religion is the feeling of goodness, of love. Life itself is the religion.

I have a religion and I am enjoying every momen of it. I hope that everyone of you do too.
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True Religion - J Krishnamurti

Do you know what religion is? It is not the chant, it is not in the performance of puja, or any other ritual, it is not in the worship of tin gods or stone images, it is not in the temples and churches, it is not in the reading of the Bible or the Gita, it is not in the repeating of a sacred name or in the following of some other superstition invented by men. None of this is religion.

Religion is the feeling of goodness, that love which is like the river, living, moving everlastingly. In that state you will find there comes a moment when there is no longer any search at all; and this ending of search is the beginning of something totally different. The search for God, for truth, the feeling of being completely good - not the cultivation of goodness, of humility, but the seeking out of something beyond the inventions and tricks of the mind, which means having a feeling for that something, living in it, being it - that is true religion. But you can do that only when you leave the pool you have dug for yourself and go out into the river of life. Then life has an astonishing way of taking care of you, because then there is no taking care on your part. Life carries you where it will because you are part of itself; then there is no problem of security, of what people say or don't say, and that is the beauty of life.

The Book of Life - December 16

Loneliness and Aloneness

Have not been contemplating on Krishnamurti’s teachings for quite a while. Just read his explanation of loneliness and how it differs from aloneness. He says by living as a recluse in the mountains doesn’t make us alone because we will still have with us our ideas, our experiences, our so called knowledge. I’ve been asking myself, what do I really want? At times I want to be alone. But how? By going away?

I live in a state of separation that brings about conflict and yet want to attain my aloneness. The great guru has done it again. Hit me at the right moment.
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Knowing Loneliness - J Krishnamurti

Loneliness is entirely different from aloneness. That loneliness must be passed to be alone. Loneliness is not comparable with aloneness. The man who knows loneliness can never know that which is alone. Are you in that state of aloneness? Our minds are not integrated to be alone. The very process of the mind is separative. And that which separates knows loneliness.

But aloneness is not separative. It is something that is not the many, which is not influenced by the many, which is not the result of the many, which is not put together as the mind is; the mind is of the many. Mind is not an entity that is alone, being put together, brought together, manufactured through centuries. Mind can never be alone. Mind can never know aloneness. But being aware of the loneliness when going through it, there comes into being that aloneness. Then only can there be that which is immeasurable. Unfortunately most of us seek dependence. We want companions, we want friends, we want to live in a state of separation, in a state that brings about conflict. That which is alone can never be in a state of conflict. But mind can never perceive that, can never understand that, it can only know loneliness.

The Book of Life - December 3
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Only in Aloneness Is There Innocence - J Krishnamurti

Most of us are never alone. You may withdraw into the mountains and live as a recluse, but when you are physically by yourself, you will have with you all your ideas, your experiences, your traditions, your knowledge of what has been. The Christian monk in a monastery cell is not alone; he is with his conceptual Jesus, with his theology, with the beliefs and dogmas of his particular conditioning. Similarly, the sannyasi in India who withdraws from the world and lives in isolation is not alone, for he too lives with his memories.

I am talking of an aloneness in which the mind is totally free from the past, and only such a mind is virtuous, for only in this aloneness is there innocence. Perhaps you will say, “That is too much to ask. One cannot live like that in this chaotic world, where one has to go to the office every day, earn a livelihood, bear children, endure the nagging of one's wife or husband, and all the rest of it.” But I think what is being said is directly related to everyday life and action; otherwise, it has no value at all. You see, out of this aloneness comes a virtue which is virile and which brings an extraordinary sense of purity and gentleness. It doesn't matter if one makes mistakes; that is of very little importance. What matters is to have this feeling of being completely alone, uncontaminated, for it is only such a mind that can know or be aware of that which is beyond the word, beyond the name, beyond all the projections of
imagination.

The Book of Life - December 4

Deventer in the Netherlands

Gee…it sure is easy taking digital picures, just snap, snap, snap. But try organising them when you return from a long trip and you have more than 2000 pictures to go through! LOL! I’m going bonkers! Have been trying to sort them out for days and I’m still struggling with it. Anyway, I’ve managed to pick some out for Deventer to go with my write-up. Hope I make sense in my writing. Read on if you’re interested.

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Deventer, The Netherlands

Me and E arrived in Schipol Amsterdam Airport before 6am. The usually busy airport was like a ghost town at that early hour. While waiting for our train to Deventer, we stepped out of the airport to test the weather. As it turned out, the weather wasn’t as cold as we expected.
Deventer was the only city we visited in Netherlands. Well, we did drop by Rotterdam and passed by several other big cities like Den Haag (The Hague) and Utrecht on our way back from Brugge but we didn’t get the chance to tour them due to poor planning or should I say no planning! Anyway, having visited Amsterdam before, I wasn’t keen to travel too much just to see ornamental windmills or Dutch ladies in traditional costumes nor visit shops that make stiff and uncomfortable looking wooden clogs.

Ok, back to Deventer. My friend C has been residing there for 10 years. During my short stay there, I basically saw only the residential estate where she’s staying and the city centre. With just a population of almost 100,000, it is known for it’s schools and education centres, as well as the oldest house in the country. Apparently, it also hosts the largest book festival in Europe held in August every year.

The city centre is made up of rows of small houses lining both sides of the streets giving its visitors a pretty warm and cosy feeling. As with the character of European houses, there are many beautiful cast-iron signages and aesthetic wall paintings for me to photograph. The houses in the city centre looked small from the outside but step into them and you’ll realise they actually house huge departmental stores within!
Nice right…those paintings and signages…why can’t we find them in Singapore???

The city by night…the sky starts to get dark at around 4.30pm.

The pace of life in Deventer seems leisurely, in fact slow by Singapore’s standard, making it highly ideal for retirement. According to my friend, during summer, the sidewalk cafes at De Brink (the town square) would be packed with people basking in the sun enjoying their cappuccinos, lattés or wines. As it was already winter, business was brisk only at the indoor cafes. I however, almost suffocated at the cafe because smoking is still allowed in them. High time to ban smoking in F & B outlets worldwide! A tea set comprising a slice of cake and coffee cost less than two Euros…very affordable.

The Dutch eat mainly dairy products. Meat is expensive there so bread, cheese, sandwiches are what they normally eat in the day. Many kinds of cheese can be found there. Walk into any of the cheese shops and you’ll be amazed by the wide variety of cheese available. We actually tasted sambal cheese at one of them! But be warned, you gotta be prepared for the strong smell if you were to visit the shop.

The Dutch are basically very thrifty people whom rarely eat out so we didn’t see that many restaurants in town, neither did we eat out while we were there. A single-item Chinese takeaway costs around 11 Euros (S$22) so I can imagine how much a sit-down Chinese dinner will cost there. Anyway, we brought a lot of local food, condiments and cooking sauce over for my homesick friend so we cooked all our meals at the apartment.

The Dutch buy their groceries mainly from the supermarkets. There are no wet markets there but mobile markets move from place to place throughout the week. The biggest market is probably the one at De Brink on every Friday. You can get all kinds of things there such as fish, meat, sausages, cheese, pickles, vegetables, fruit, Vietnamese spring rolls, Oliebollen (oily balls) clothes and bags etc. I find it strange that the workers spend the whole of Thursday setting up the stalls but the market operates only for a few hours on Friday morning and then the stalls are dismantled again right after that. Tedious right?
This is what the market looks like…mobile stalls which are always on the move.

Flowers can be bought in the market even in winter…dried fruit and vegetables are often used as ornaments outside Dutch homes.
The traditional way to eat Oliebollen or ‘oily balls’…just kidding! My two friends were having some fun posing for me while I was taking pictures.

Cycling is a common mode of transportation for the Dutch. Because Holland has one of the flattest terrain in the world, 85% of the population cycle. To discover the country on the two-wheelers is easy, especially when the country has separate lanes allocated for cyclists’ usage. Everyone, young or old cycle and in all kinds of weather…yes, even in winter. So when you walk along the streets, you need to be on the lookout for cars as well as speeding cyclists.

The Dutch also seem to be animal lovers. I saw people walking all kinds of dogs there. Big ones, small ones, you name them, they’ve got them. The climate there is definitely suited for dogs with thick fur like the Chow Chow and Saint Bernard. Singaporeans with such dogs, if you really care for your pet, do consider migrating to Deventer. I was quite frustrated that whenever I bumped into a Dutch walking his/her dog, my camera would be in my backpack. I thus missed many opportunities to capture the pictures of the happy dogs of Deventer. When I actually held my camera in my hand, I somehow don’t see the dogs…duh! :(

Besides the dogs, we also saw many animals there. Ducks and swans are aplenty along the rivers and canals. The Milieu Centrum located behind my friend’s apartment houses all kinds of animals. It’s supposed to be an educational centre for kids. We also saw some free-roaming animals such as chickens, ducks, peacocks etc at the small park located opposite the train station in the city centre. The chickens there were fat and fluffy with their thick feathers and looked very prepared for winter with their bell-bottom feathered pants…hehe! It was certainly a joy to see and touch those animals at such close range.
See how happy I looked when I’m with animals…Clio will definitely freak out when she sees this. ^_^
ps: I forgot to mention an observation I made. I really liked it when I saw the Dutch acknowledging each other wherever they go. Whenever we entered a shop, the staff or owner would greet us in a friendly manner and when we leave, they will also acknowledge it. Even on the buses, i noticed that most passengers would acknowledge the driver with a greeting or a wave when they board or alight. This is something that I find lacking in Asian societies. Hmm…why are we so aloof?