Another Singaporean campaign.

I'm not sure if I should cringe or smile.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged all citizens and foreigners living in Singapore to exercise maximum hospitality when the city-state hosts its biggest ever international gathering.

Lee launched the "Four Million Smiles" project on Sunday as part of preparations for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in September to be attended by 16,000 delegates from 180 countries.....

.....The Straits Times reported Monday that the project calls for Singaporeans and expatriates to submit photographs of their smiling faces through the Internet or via mobile phone. They will later be composed into a digital mural to welcome delegates and other visitors when they land.

We're well known for campaigns of *every* sort. I don't know if anyone actually pays attention or not. Still, a mural from the country's heart might be an interesting way to welcome an international crowd. It's certainly an original one, coming form my government.

Don't count on it being permanent though. The service sector, regardless of industry, still needs to be taken by the scruff of it's mangy, unwilling head and thoroughly shaken. We're lagging behind te rest of our SE Asian counterparts through lack of genuine service. Aptitude and attitude are all it takes for great service. And unfortunately, we Singaporeans don't have that.

I've struggled with it my entire working career. Disillusionment, frustration and bad health were the results. But this isn't meant to be a rant and that was a former life. There's always hope. Perhaps just not in my lifetime. Heh.


At least the play-acting will be great when the delegates are here.