Sorry for the MIA. Been battling a corporation and getting more and more annoyed by my government. So, I’ve been contemplating whether to post about these, since I’m working for the Singapore government and I don’t know if they’ll try to “rein me in” since they don’t like their “workers” to think critically. But what the heck. Their brainwashing doesn’t work on me.

Well, evil corporation, aka Starhub. Let’s see, they have failed in providing reliable internet service for the last month. Almost every other day, from 10:30pm to midnight (and other erratic times) we lose all connection to the internet. One moment it works, the next it’s dead. Every time it dies, every time we call their “customer service”, which is debatable whether it really is service at all. They always give the same excuses as to why it’s not their fault.

1. It’s your router problem (Nope, unless two very expensive high end routers happen to both be spoilt now yet work on other networks)

2. It’s your computer settings problem (Nope, my brother, the computer genius, sets everything for optimal performance and less barriers for speed)

3. It’s your eternet cable problem (Now this is the lamest excuse ever and we’ve used multiple cables to prove to them otherwise)

4. Only detecting “small package losses” (yet somehow these losses end up in a total cut. which leads me to wonder what they label as big losses? The whole Singapore is cut off?!)

So after numerous times of being nice, yet being talked down to or treated like an idiot or facing a barrier of excuses, I decided to get tougher. Meaning, the minute they start their same routine, I cut them off, talk to them firmly that their excuses aren’t working and they darn well solve my problem if not I’ll pursue this matter as high as I can. You see, unlike numerous other Singaporeans who only complain but don’t have the guts and determination to actually DO something about it, I don’t quit when I know I’m being shortchanged and bullied by some corporation who think they can get away with not fulfilling their contract terms.

Also from my brother and my own investigations, one possible cause for the problem is that Starhub’s infrastructure is being overloaded. With the sudden influx of customers for digital voice (which uses the same lines as their cable internet), they find their network and infrastructure maxed out. And yet, they don’t want to upgrade their aging & limited systems because they want to show high profits to their shareholders. And in typical Singapore fashion, big companies almost ALWAYS get away with bullying and underservicing their customers… I mean, who can blame them? They just learn it from the CEOs of Singapore Inc. (aka the govt).

As to cringing at what my government said, well, while I disagree with making mean-spirited comments, the question they should be asking is why so many people hate or are unsupportive of them. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that throwing money at citizens isn’t going to make them love you. Actually caring and making regulations FOR all the people and not AGAINST the people (or just for the rich & elites) is more important. Oh and you’re “disappointed”? Do we even care about your “approval” of us? Or should we be regulating that? Oh and the way he said that speech? Pure elitism oozing out of his every word.

Sorry, I’m majorly annoyed right now.

Note: Now that I’ve come down a tad, here’s my more logical thoughts on the internet comments by RADM(NS) Lui.

1. He obviously doesn’t understand the culture of forum users. The reason why most didn’t respond to their mean-spirited comments? Because most ignored it. In the internet forum culture, it’s not what type of responses you get. It’s HOW MANY you get. If it’s stupid, most wouldn’t want to help “publicise” the stupidity by bumping up the post.

2. Next, in forums, the replies are not linear in response. One reply doesn’t mean it’s in direct response to the one before. And sometimes it doesn’t make sense until you read the FIRST post and then link to what replies were talking about, or the post before it (much easier than it sounds).

3. This also brings up the issue on HOW Lui is reading these posts. From my experience, usually the tracking software comes up with a lot of hits, say 1000. A lower ranking staff member sieves through it to extract what he/she deems appropriate or useful. Then the next level person does the same. Eventually, after 3 or 4 rounds of sieving and narrowing it down, the “best” posts, maybe only 50, are sent to the top level guy to read. In this long process, things are lost, contexts are lost. Results? The top guys sees what his staff what him to see. Maybe that’s why Obama fought so hard to keep his blackberry. The higher up you up, the more alienated and closed-in you are from the ground. You need to be personally savvy and pro-active in following the news / trends by yourself, without depending on others to pass you selected information, without the big picture.

4. The internet is a place for people to vent, especially in countries where the mainstream media is so “buddy” with the government. So they vent, saying stupid things that they wouldn’t dare to say out loud. And most of the time, they don’t mean them or they know they are just talking nonsense. No one puts much weight into these comments… well, except the government or people who take everything too seriously.