The VItal Link

Singapore Airlines is my personal favourite and one of those unique corporates which has worked magic in delivering both world class customer service and financial outcomes to its shareholders.

Last night, I had the opportunity to once again experience its service as a passenger, on both a short haul and longer haul flight sector. In all these past years, its ground crew at departure lounges had always impressed me as being top notch in ensuring an orderly entry of passengers to its aircraft, whether for full capacity of travelling passengers, to ensure compliance with requirements of foreign airports or under extreme customer handling pressure during festive and holiday periods. So it was interesting to observe the handling of two full flights on entry to the 915pm Penang to Singapore flight on 23 February and the 1230am Singapore to Sydney flight on 24 February.

Before the longer flight, the microphone facilities at Boarding Gate B5 in Changi Airport's impressive and recently opened Terminal 3 had broken down. The sole staff member attending to a full capacity passenger group (although this was not the Airbus A380 waiting for us) was obviously stressed out at having to shout out the necessary order - first class/business class/club members having priority, followed by specified seating rows. He was mumbling his dismay whilst walking around the waiting passengers - it was clear he needed a back-up microphone or at least another staff member to help him out manage the situation. At Penang International Airport, microphone facilities were working but four winding queue rows had formed, out of which the non-business or non-club member passengers again suffered some disorientation as to which passenger row was allowed to line up first.

Call it the weekend rush to Australia, but the overnight flight was so packed with customers that SIA cabin crew had to double up efforts to cater patiently to each passenger, whether for the expected drinks, meals served on board or for specific other off the cuff requests. Some past menu items are gone, like the Streets ice cream replaced by Ferroro Rocher chocolate balls, which may not be a bad thing. What has not disappeared, thankfully, is the dedication and care shown by on-board SIA cabin crew in dealing with individual passengers. This applies in the liberal dispensation of drinks, the ensuring of continuously clean washrooms, the offering of choices of served meals and the conduct of the duty free sales - in whatever class you choose to sit. More important is how each on-board staff member spoke to passengers. The quality of effective training and attitude of every cabin crew member showed through, whether with a strong tail wind pushing towards Sydney or through turbulent flight paths. These are all signs of the company's focus on the customer, instead of just on shareholder price, top management rewards and national pride. I do hope that SIA ensures that the vital link - operational staff motivation - is also thoroughly supported.

At Terminal 3 in Changi, one must visit the Ferrarri and FIFA clothing and accessory outlets - to me, they stand out in presentation and unusual choice of retail fare amongst a very competitive and varied selection of shopping offered at the literal mall in an airport. Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok International is a strong rival offered by Cathay Pacific, but I think Singapore Airlines can be serious about kaizen, the art of continuous improvement.

The Amazing Race

Call it a challenge, term it as self-imposed or think of the whole experience as letting go in holiday mood, but to me it was more an amazing race back in my home island of Penang. There were new things to discover, long forgotten dimensions encountered again and an unrelenting pace. Mix it with high humidity in the afternoons, late nights out and meeting various people. At times, things never change and on other occasions, I realize things have. There were pit stops met, quiet moments of reflection, spectacular views seen and quick decisions required.

It commenced with the prevalence of fried rice served on the plane. Changing seats at will with my elderly second cousin, we realized too late that each of us were served each other’s requested preferred meals. After arrival at the international airport, I could not resist immediately partaking in its unofficial hawker dish – stir-fried rice noodles ala Penang (1) – even before reaching home. Three middle-aged cousins were visiting when I dragged my luggage in. As I write at the close of this holiday, I see on the desk things to pack for my other home in Wollongong – baked bean paste biscuits (2), books on the culture I grew up in, freeze dried white coffee beans and more.

The sheltered Penang Straits look uncannily molten still when compared with the big waves of the Tasman Sea. Beaches are narrower with coarser grain. The city comes more alive in the evenings, especially with the approach of the first full moon since the advent of the new Lunar Year of the Rat. Fireworks and fire crackers were inadvertently lit on two auspicious nights – that of offering homage to the Emperor of Heaven (ala Beijing Forbidden City style) and that of Lantern Night, when in more socially restrictive times, one spotted the love of your life for the very first time. A much sought after fruit at this time of the year are cousins of the grapefruit – the pomelos – and they are sweeter than what I had remembered.

Irrespective of whether it was a school or working night, crowds still gathered in malls, cafes and shops to have supper, wi-fi browsing or face-to-face relationships. Georgetown remains an eclectic mixture of old and new, of Victorian architecture and faceless modernism, of East and West. With May, I attended a public lecture on the current race towards the American Presidential elections by Professor Bird Loomis from the University of Kansas. Post lecture, we could still have a Thai fish-based delight (3) served with focaccia in a trendy club that was still open around midnight on a Tuesday. On another day, I had the opportunity to visit the world-renowned Snake Temple and then seamlessly drop by a shopping center the size of a cruise liner at Queens Bay Mall, with familiar retail outlets like Borders, Harvey Norman and Dome. In the heart of the old city, I could walk protected from the equatorial sun in sheltered five-foot ways lined with food and products from my childhood, and bump into visitors from Australia. More old residential mansions were maintained and prolonged in heritage by commercial use. A favorite aunt took upon herself to cook, on the same dinner night, two key dishes from the South Indian and Malay cultures – tomato-flavored rice served with spicy curry and nasi lemak respectively. And yes, we are Chinese in descent and cultural heritage.

An earthquake had struck a small island off nearby northwestern Sumatra on a Wednesday afternoon, while I relished in a vegetable-prawn wrap dish called the poh piah on the edge of a field still named after a colonial British Governor. The newspapers reported of consequent tremors in high-rise buildings on Penang Island and which had caused the evacuation of office workers to the nearby streets. I did not feel any tremors, only how good authentic street food can be in Penang. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had actually issued possible tsunami wave warnings for two hours after the quake struck at 7.6 on the Richter scale.

For me, I only felt the tsunami of tasty food at reasonable prices in various surroundings, from restaurants to the stand-up partaking of a coconut-based dessert (4) in a narrow but busy lane. Crabs were served in unusual sauces; vermicelli were stir fried with the full force of wok heat; the compulsory chili-based concoction of Malaysia and Thailand (5) was more tangy and hot than I ever remember; a succulent garoupa fish lightly cooked with ginger and soy sauce was memorable; Straits Chinese herbal rice (6) topped up with dried shrimps gave a rare kick to the taste buds; soul food egg-based jam (7) from the Continental Bakery melted in the mouth on any bread; home made moon cakes had a subtle light feel in contrast to commercial ones; fish head curry was lovingly made two times with a heady mix of spices from India and Straits Chinese cooking; and fresh ingredients in southern Thai food made a remarkable impression. With so much choice of food, one had to be quick in selecting samples and not over indulge. At times, there was no choice – I must have had at least three occasions to eat the festive salmon salad (8) only available at this time of the year.

There were unplanned encounters. When I closed a bank account, the authorizing officer turned out to be a dear colleague from days when I was fresh-eyed out of university. On lazy afternoons, I dwelt in dreamland snoozing without a care in the world. I walked into the Hardwick to see if it was still open at 10pm one evening and was reunited with a dear friend whom I thought had relocated to Kuala Lumpur. A lovely bungalow perched on an outcrop so perilously close to the sea. The rush of activity at the Celebrity Fitness Gym, in one of the island’s premier shopping centers, offered a glimpse of the rising importance of exercise routines, an important supplement to the constant eating that may describe the social pulse of Penang. An efficient method of order taking and customer invoicing was noted being practiced at a Shanghai Ding dumpling outlet at the revived New World Park. When a Sydney friend’s mother treated a group of us to lunch, I was introduced to a Straits Chinese dish I had not known before (9).

In any so-called race, there are moments of restoration. They may be having good chats with a close cousin in an apartment, or enjoying a new dessert (10) concoction made by a sister-in-law. My eldest niece is on a hiatus from Auckland and was spending quality time with family and dabbling in making hand-crafted bracelets. I recall a lunch gathering beside a quiet green-blue bay and watching small sampans still going out to catch fish – it was only ten minutes by car from the central business district of Georgetown, but it captured an essence of a simpler time. To celebrate the end of the customary fifteen-day period to celebrate the Lunar New Year, I had opportunity this time to enjoy the pungat, another coconut cream dessert cooked with bites of bananas, sweet potatoes and so forth.

National elections were announced in Malaysia when I was there, and with a short political campaigning period of under two weeks, some things indeed do not change. With limited time, I did not manage to catch up with everyone I was aiming for. So it had been a race in time to do everything diverse and to savor as many experiences possible – hey, that does sum up my holiday.

References in Penang lingo:

(1) Char Koay Teow
(2) Tau Sar Pneah
(3) Otak Otak
(4) Cendol
(5) Belacan Sambal
(6) Nasi Ulam
(7) Kaya
(8) Yee Sang
(9) Binchee
(10)Tako

Welcoming In The New

It has been only the second time since 1989 that I have spent the start of the Lunar New Year in Australia, and also the second time in my life that I had to work on that special day. Never had I seen and heard so much rainfall in this festive season. This festival has always been associated by me with the heat of summery temperatures, but the start of a new zodiac cycle currently has also coincided with the possible breaking of the drought in eastern Australia.

Whilst most television screens in both East and South-east Asia go agog with a Chinese theme this past week, it has been interesting to note the screening of the finale of Survivor China on Australian TV to coincide with the weekend. The festive day is also marked by a significant parade down Sydney's main CBD thoroughfares from Hyde Park to Chinatown. Last night I was attending a dinner and function near the Queen Vic Building - amongst the 176 guests, it was good to see some familiar faces dining and dancing. Food choice is important during this season - it seems to emphasise that we are what we eat, and we were served fish, chicken, prawns - those dishes with auspicious names. Being Australia, there were the unavoidable dim sims and fried rice.

Personally, it has also been a time to close off matters of the past year and go on with the new. That is partly why I love the New Year - it provides a symbolic demarcation. An uncle in Vancouver had just sent an email anecdote about idealy having the gratitude in experiencing past unpleasantries, and then the trick is being able to jump on to the next dimension. So I am using the festivities as a kind of tool to jump over into the next phase, and take the next train, so to speak.

To welcome in the new is to think, do and enjoy new things. I have a new team at work. As the symbolic Rat scurried in with the new calendar, I am fortunate to have four colleagues join me as speakers in presenting some perspectives of my business function at a mini forum. It must have gone well, I guess, judging from the feedback received and the countenance of the listening guests. I love the audio-visual facilities of small lecture theatres and held this event at a Graduate Business School. An audience has to be kept motivated and captivated, even with token fortune cookies served in a traditional Straits Chinese basket. Each of us in the five-person speaker group has unique delivery styles, but we still managed to weave some continuity and informality into the whole package to make our listening audience relax (or so I think!) I then thoroughly enjoyed the subsequent four multi-media shows, coordinated by Lauren, which served to inject a bit of fun and reflection to close the forum - but primarily as a way to acknowledge the contribution of some individuals to my business unit and as a way of saying how much I have learned from each of them.

Of Mice, Nien and Fifteen Days of Fun

Welcome to a new cycle in the stellar events of the Lunar calendar. As we enter the Year of the Mouse,we reflect on the agility and prudence of this clever animal who prepares for the future and is quick-witted to ensure its prosperity. Its size may not herald its position as the first animal, out of the twelve, in the line-up for the Lunar Zodiac, but its personality and attitude makes it a sure winner.

In China, we celebrate what is also known as the Spring Festival. In various immigrant communities from Toronto to Copenhagen to Melbourne, people of Chinese origin continue to practise customs from the motherland - some of which may have been forgotten in China itself. All these celebrations are dominated by the five thousand year old legend of the arrival of the Nien, a mythical creature which used to lurk in the north-west of China and which had reputedly threatened the lives and security of the common folk. Once the Nien had been vanquished by fire crackers and sheer numbers of the population, a potentially negative thing has been transformed for the better and this event is commemorated as the Lunar New Year.

Traditionally this festival is enjoyed over fifteen consecutive days. In my home island of Penang, families usher out the old Year and welcome in the new with precise and intricate requirements in food, timing and preparations. Vistts to temples are made at carefully selected auspicious times. Ancestral tablets in homes are honoured with table settings of the favourite food of past ancestors. Everyone makes a point to be decked out in new wardrobes. Numbers and names of dishes that evoke good luck and prosperity when pronounced are well sought after. The giving and receiving of red packets is vital, as symbolic of blessings being passed from one generation to another, but also practical in that they contain actual money. Certain cakes and biscuits, with names like love letters and lovingly made only once a year, are truly appreciated. It is a time for reunion, rejoicing and reconciliation. Interesting observations are that:

- all cleaning is to be completed by New Year's Eve, and no broom or vacuum cleaner may be sighted during the first day of the New Year.
- all financial accounting, especially payables, have to be resolved before the old year goes out.
- what you personally do on the very first day of the New Year reflects on the pattern for the rest of the year.
- the third day is a no-no for visiting friends and relatives and is deemed a recovery day.
- the seventh day is deemed the common birthday of all mankind, perhaps an excuse for another round of wholesome banquets, especially involving bits of raw fish salad.
- the eighth day is the honoured birthday of the Emperor of Heaven, and Fujian communities celebrate this as the biggest day of their cultural calendar.
- the fifteenth night is celebrated with lanterns in Hong Kong, but amongst the Straits Chinese community in Malaysia, this occasion is associated more with romance, especially with the assured full moon beaming in the evening sky, and the serving of a delicious vegetable and fruit-laden coconut milk creamy dessert called the pungat.

In any solar calendar year, the first day of the Lunar New Year can fall on any day between the 19th of January and the 19th of February. The reunion dinner on its eve is of paramount importance - hence the mass movement of commuters all over China and between cities with sizable Chinese populations around the world in the week leading up to this dinner.

Food and Festivity

As the current Lunar Year of the Boar draws to a close, preparations are being made to welcome the next twelve year cycle in the zodiac. Festivities begin.

It has been ironic that in summer here, I realise that the lore and custom of the Lunar New Year relate to practices which mostly originate in a freezing cold northern hemisphere environment, for this time of the calendar. This came to me while partaking dumplings in a place specialising in north-eastern Chinese food. I had presumed that dishes from northern China are usually plain and unassuming, short of the Beijing duck and the accompanying wraps. Instead, the dozen or so of us eating at this round table could actually feel the kick of some dishes that had an underlying spicy current. Such food heat, even if subtle, was hidden in the gravy and sauces. It would have been perfect for a snow -laden night in Harbin or Tianjin, but here we were eating all these under a heavy air of thirty degrees, coupled with high humidity. The restaurant's air conditioning was so ineffective it did not matter.

Dumplings signify a good omen to start the New Year in northern parts of China.
My group of diners shared another China favourite - pork knuckle, bathed and braised in a tasty marinade. The eggplants served were not as refreshing as that eaten recently at a nearby competitor shop. I was impressed by the lightness of the lightly tossed black seaweed, served with another vegetable, in another dish. Small bits of pork, stir fried in a hot wok, were eaten with a thin wheat based wrap. Squares of flat glass noodles were mixed in a vinegary mix as the entree. The so-called "north-east chicken" looked tempting on another dining table, but when served to us, turned out to be cured smoked chicken, a bit dry to my southern Chinese preferences.

Two weeks ago, I also had the opportunity to join some close friends in Artarmon to savour the Straits Chinese cuisine of my home island. The chicken curry flavours were the outcomes of a confluence of Indian, Malay, Burmese, Thai, Sumatran and Chinese influences. Other dishes on the table reminded me of what a favourite aunt cooked on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Such soul food brought up sentiments to me that dumplings conjure in the heart and eyes of northern Chinese.

Let the festivities commence!