Nothing is wrong with it. The National Anthem was sang correctly, even with power (she didn’t have to belt it), and Kyla was able to lead the thousands of Filipinos in attendance. Notice that she even had her right hand on her chest. She didn’t bring attention to herself. She brought attention to her flag and her country.

That’s being Filipino!

Take the case of Revillame. What does he symbolize when he is viewed by an international audience? He symbolizes arrogance, sexism, impunity to insult his fellowmen and general inanity. To expose him for what he truly is, can this be crab mentality?

Let’s take another entertainer, Martin Nievera. How do we perceive him? In the vernacular, saksakan ang yabang (sorry to English readers because this can’t be translated word for word). He was warned by others not to sing the National Anthem (for the Pacquiao-Hatton fight) in any other way than it should be sang.

He didn’t heed the warnings. Instead he sang it the way he wanted to sing it. Why? Is it being Filipino? No, it’s being Martin Nievera. When you’re not internationally recognized, singing the National Anthem correctly will just feature a Filipino celebrity singing the Philippine National Athem. But when you try to give your own version, just maybe, your name will be remembered, i.e. “Martin Nievera just sang the Philippine National Anthem;” especially when you try to give it a rousing ending.

It’s just the same as singers singing other people’s songs. They give their own version so they will be remembered instead of the original singers.

So when Nievera –or the latest one, Dessa– slaps our cultural sensibilities by making a mockery of the National Anthem (not to mention Philippine laws), is it crab mentality to write against it?

Sure, we may write about it in a stinging manner. But we were first stung by the insensitivity of these "professional and talented" singers.

In glaring contrast, look at Lea Salonga. She’s internationally recognized. Obviously she’s comfortable with who she is. This is why she doesn’t have to sing the National Anthem her own way. So we’re proud of her!

Heck, we’re even proud of Sam Milby, because here’s a guy born and raised in the U.S., but who’s really trying to master Tagalog and to even speak it without an American accent (hello, Martin Nievera!).

Yet, we’re not perfect. So, perhaps we perceive things cross-eyed. Nevertheless, think about this: what we perceive may very well be what people are unknowingly revealing.

Didn’t she learn from the criticisms of the bad rendition of the national anthem of His Haughtiness, Martin Nievera, during the Pacquiao-Hatton fight?

Organizers of these boxing matches should make sure that the singers of our national anthem will sing it as it should be sang and with pride. And pleeeaaaassseee, get a real Filipino to sing it. Not a Filipino who holds an American passport.

The problem with singers like Dessa and His Haughtiness is they try to use these boxing matches as a venue to showcase their talents. Desperate for worldwide attention, they try to end the national anthem with a big bang, only to fizzle at the end and have it backfire on them.

They are fortunate that the Filipino boxers win their matches. Otherwise it would have been doubly tragic.

Next time a Filipino mangles the natonal anthem, I suggest he/she gets knocked out in public. After all, they shame the Philippines with their showboating.

The nerve of Peking to chide the Philippines for its corruption scandal that has implicated China’s ZTE. ZTE officials have maintained they have not bribed any Philippine official. Yeah, right. Pontius Pilate must have been Chinese.

China sanctimoniously complains about the "political circus" in the Philippines, yet they violently disperse monks and other citizens of Tibet who merely want freedom from Chinese oppression. Our officials steal but theirs maim and kill.

So it is with satisfaction that we read of mass protests everywhere the Olympic torch is run. Indeed, politics should be kept out of the Olympics, but since the Olympics is a symbol of goodwill and unity among nations, those who host it must be exemplars of world peace. China hardly fits the bill.

Thus, the Olympic torch has come to symbolize Chinese arrogance, because China continues to oppress Tibetans. To applaud China’s hosting of the Olympics is to applaud violence and not goodwill. If they can’t get along with their neighbor, Tibet, why should we get along with China?

When China is holding the Torch, it should be snuffed out!

While poor customer service can be found all over the world, there are traits that are culture-specific to the Philippines. These are:

1. The señorito mentality. This arises out of the Spanish era wherein we were subservient to Spain. While the noble goal then was independence, the underlying goal was to become like them: señoritos with servants. In other words, we’d rather be served than serve.

2. The mañana habit. In English, this means putting off for tomorrow what can be finished today. This is why many customer service answers are not definite. The tacit message is, "We don’t want to be pressured, so you’ll have to wait."

3. The martyr syndrome. This brings about the notion of, "Why bother me? I have my own problems." This is the basic reason why many customer service personnel seem to be in a bad mood when you call on them.

4. The "Just-a-Job" attitude. This tells us that the customer service person is just in it for the job and is waiting for the right career to come around; or perhaps that opening to go to the Middle East. So his customer care is lackadaisical.

What is the solution to the flaws mentioned above?

1. Place a high premium on customer service. Many companies spend like crazy to acquire customers, but spend next to nothing in caring for them.

2. Customer service training. Many companies spend to train their sales team and even get the best trainers, but leave their customer care to people who know nothing about it. For some, they merely leave ready-made scripts for their support personnel to read and nothing else.

If Philippine corporations just apply the two points above, they would raise their professional level several notches higher. And, yes, even acquire more customers and repeat purchases.

Here’s a personal peeve. There are some customer support personnel who, after asking your name, would address you as "Sir (your first name)," e.g. "Sir Francis." For instance: "Okay, Sir Francis, may I know your concern?"

Unionbank –one of the few banks that have an excellent customer support department– addresses me as, "Mr. Secor," after knowing what my name is. It’s professional and respectful. They’re not trying to be cutesy-cutesy by calling me "Sir Francis."

The last time a customer service person addressed me as "Sir Francis," I told her to address me as Mr. Secor, since I wasn’t knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

Technorati Tags: customer service, philippine corporations, culture

I believe that one vital element that continues to pull the Philippines down is poor customer service. I’ll go out on a limb and even say that only around 20% of all public and private entities know the meaning of good customer service.

Banks are number 1 in my book for sloppy customer care, especially those in charge of credit cards. A representative from Citibank called my wife reminding her of her payment. My wife said she was aware of her billing and requested the caller not to call again. The response went something like this: "If you don’t want me to call, then pay up." It was said in Tagalog. If you literally translate the statement, you’ll know how acerbic it was.

That’s in Citibank, supposedly a top bank in the country. There are other banks wherein the employees you talk to will deal with you based on their whims and caprices. If you look like an ordinary Juan de la Cruz who has a fish business, they’ll give you a hard time. If you look like a tycoon, you’ll breeze through.

I once entered a Metrobank branch and asked about opening a dollar account, since at that time I was starting to receive dollar checks from my Internet marketing. I was directed to a man behind a desk, who I presumed was the manager. I approached him and asked about the minimum deposit. He looked up at me, didn’t even bother to ask me to be seated, didn’t even shake my hand and introduce himself, and blurted out, "500 dollars; greenbucks, ha!" (as if to imply I couldn’t come up with the minimum).

I left humiliated. True, I didn’t have the minimum then. But when I did, do you think I went back? Not a chance! I went to another bank, which even turned out to have a lower minimum deposit requirement.

Two other banks that I’ve had terrible customer service experiences were LBC (perhaps "Team LBC" means LBC against the world) and Equitable PCI. A third, BPI, is infamous for making clients wait hours on end.

On the contrary, do you know what banks have good customer service? HSBC and Standard Chartered. You know why? They don’t originate in the Philippines.

Then there’s Globe Broadband. When they’re system bogs down, try calling support. They’ll first read a script that goes along the lines of "We apologize for the inconvenience" and "Rest assured we’re doing all we can to restore the system at the soonest possible time."

Ask what’s wrong and they’ll reread the script or try to do a variation of it. Press them to answer the question and they’ll admit that they don’t know. Ask when the system will be restored, they’ll again try to do a variation of the script. Press them and they’ll admit that they don’t know (see a past article: The Infuriating Globe Broadband Support). That’s customer support?

This is why you’ll find in YouTube hilarious videos on customer service Filipino style. Then we get all upset at racial slurs against us.

Duh!

Next post: What does poor customer service really reveal?