To Yeoh Siew Hoon, there's only one basic rule to good service.

An Indian journalist friend of mine visited Singapore recently and stayed at one of its five star hotels.

She left, unimpressed by the service. I asked her why. She said, "In one word, impersonal."

Service was efficient, she said, but "without any personal touch".

Last Friday, I took a visitor to one of the city's new, designer hotels for  drinks. We arrived at the bar at 6.30pm.

Staff were so busy moving things they didn't even look at us let alone find us a place to sit. We finally caught the eye of one boy who looked clearly irritated that he had made eye contact with a customer. We asked if we could sit in a particular section and he said, "Sure", gesturing in the general direction.

We sat down and waited to order our drinks. When no one came, we called a female staff who was hovering with a vase in her embrace. She came by, still embracing the vase. When we asked if we could place our drinks order, she said, "Oh, I am sorry. We are not open till 7."

We had spent 20 minutes wandering around a bar teeming with staff and no one had thought to tell us, when we entered, that it wasn't open. And even when they saw us looking lost, no one had bothered to help.

I am relating this episode because Singapore is in the midst of soul-searching what it takes to be a world class city – a destination that offers quality, personal service and high value experiences.

The government has just launched a programme called GEMS – Go The Extra Mile for Service – designed "to encourage all Singaporeans to take the initiative to improve service levels and work towards achieving an excellent service culture in Singapore".

Last week, the Straits Times, which recently conducted a shopping survey comparing Singapore with Hong Kong, Dubai and Bangkok rated Hong Kong the top shopping city. "There is a sashay to Hong Kong that any city would envy; an indefinable halo of worldliness, a surefootedness in what it wants and has to offer and a hedonistic glory in being consumerism's poster girl," the report said.

I think what that means is Hong Kong dares and those who dares, wins.

Hong Kong is bold and brash and dares to flaunt it. Singapore is torn between wanting to be bold yet not wanting to overly-flaunt it in case …

Hong Kong dares to charge high prices, and customers pay without complaint. Singapore wants to charge high prices but doesn't dare to in case …

But here's my take on what is the trick to good service, anywhere and everywhere – serve the person, not the process.

I know. You were expecting a list of service commandments but I am afraid I know only one basic rule.

See, the staff at the five star hotel my Indian friend was staying in were probably too busy trying to fit her into their processes they forgot to look at her as a person.

And the bar staff at that designer boutique hotel were too busy preparing for a 7pm opening they completely forgot that they might actually have to deal with people before that time.


The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection".

She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'.

Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460

Check out Siew Hoon's new website, www.shy-connection.com, which features a newly-launched e-zine with a difference.