SINGAPORE: The number of cases of the public making tough demands on frontline staff in government departments has been on the rise in the past few months.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of this trend in his National Day Rally on Sunday.
Channel NewsAsia finds out how North West Community Council deals with such problems.
"The
new generation is very well-versed with all the media and everything,
so they know all the assistance that's available. They want immediate
assistance, like on the same day," said Jeyanthi Jayabala, senior
manager of North West CDC.
To protect officers from abusive
members of the public, cameras have been installed in meetings rooms. A
"panic button" can also activate security officers when there's
violence.
The North West District's Mayor, Dr Teo Ho Pin, who is
also the coordinating chairman of the 14 PAP town councils, said with
the increased use of phone cameras and social media, residents are
expecting town councils to respond immediately to every request.
Dr
Teo said: "The town councils would like to respond immediately but
sometimes the officers are attending to other matters. We do have a
protocol where we actually prioritise different types of building
complaints and how to respond to it within a certain time.
"So
there are certain issues - we call it "immediate attention" - because
they affect safety; those are the complaints where we will respond
immediately. But the other complaints which we would take a little
(more) time to respond.
"For example, if you complain there's a
piece of tissue paper along the corridor, the town council may not
respond within 20 minutes, because the tissue paper is not a safety
issue. We will clean it but we won't respond in 20 minutes."
The
North West CDC said apart from training staff on how to handle the
public, staff also have a buddy system so that they have another person
to turn to when dealing with a difficult situation.
In addition, the staff will also refer to a manager when they are faced with demands that they are unable to meet.
- CNA /ls
some of the customers are aliens
feedbacks without proactive action will backfeed
panic button and safety cameras....sounds like a bank!
And you get a salary, do your job.......