The Service Squad is asking -- are you being served?

Everyone loves good customer service, but not everyone in Singapore is getting it. It's a topic widely discussed in online forums and blogs, and now authorities are taking note. With US President Obama and APEC delegates descending on the Lion City in November, as well as the first Youth Olympics coming in 2010, pressure's mounting to reverse the trend.

The GEMS campaign, or 'Going the Extra Mile for Service,' launched in 2005 got a S$100 million shot in the arm last February. Now, among other training initiatives, that extra funding has taken the form of a 'mystery shopper'-type blog. The new site's called Are You Being Served? and it has nothing to do with being shamed by a scintillating dance sequence. Ten secret undercover service professionals venture into the wild worlds of F&B, retail and hospitality to test out service standards and blog about their findings.

I think Singapore companies really need to reconsider the tradeoff between cheap labour and service quality. I’m definitely not the only one who’s complaining about their poor service.— Blogger Sheereuphoria

Will it work? Odds appear even, given Singapore's need to become "cheaper, better and faster," according to Minister Lim Swee Say at the launch of GEMS UP (the GEMS campaign, part deux). However, Netizens have been quick to summon contrary examples. Strait Times reader Geneva Yeo wrote about her frustration with China-born service staff who refuse to learn basic English, while blogger Sheereuphoria partly blames poorly trained foreigners for the decline in Singapore customer service standards.

They both raise vaild points. According to Migration Information Source, Singapore's non-resident workforce has increased 170 percent over the past two decades -- from 248,000 in 1990 to 670,000 in 2006. This gives Singapore the highest proportion of foreign workers in Asia. As of December last year, some 508,000 foreigners worked in the two-million-strong service sector.

Right or wrong, the spike has led to a general feeling that foreign workers often lie about experience and language skills to make themselves more attractive to local employers, and local businesses aren't doing enough to equip these transplanted staff with basic language skills. There's even a Facebook group called "I am Singaporean and tired of service staff who can only speak Mandarin" with well over 10,000 members and matching tee shirts. Seriously.

To be fair, some areas of service are improving. The World Economic Forum ranked Singapore 10th in customer service on its 2008 Global Competitiveness Report. That's up from 15th place in 2007 and 26th in 2006. The GEMS initiative has also reaped some rewards -- 172,000 workers from 214 companies across four sectors have undergone service training to date, and some businesses have sent foreign staff for language classes. The Straits Times carried an account of Fukien-born café waitress Amber Yu, who enrolled in a three-month company-sponsored English training course, and now often makes small talk with customers.

Singaporean superheroes of service also still remain as examples for the rest of us. Shipping and logistics executive Fernando Martinez fondly recounted to CNNGo his experience with a kind cabbie who took Martinez under his wing during the executive's first visit to Singapore last January.

"On my way from Changi Airport, I suddenly realized I'd lost my document holder, wallet and passport," recalls Martinez. "I didn't know which Copthorne hotel I was booked at and I had no cash to pay for the ride."

Cabbie P.K. Teo was unfazed. He calmly drove Martinez to all three of Singapore's Copthorne hotels and waited outside while Martinez checked at the reception desk to find out if he was at the right hotel. He wasn't -- until the third try.

"I've never met anyone as Zen as Teo," marvels Martinez. "He just kept driving to the next hotel, chatting all the way about which hawker centers I should visit and then making sure I was all settled in at the hotel. He even declined when I tried to get his contact to send him payment -- just smiled and waved it off. I was so thankful; I would be stranded without his help."

Now there's a cabbie whose number we'd like to have.

So, can we blame declining Singapore customer service entirely on foreign workers and bad language training? And will GEMS UP and the revelations from Are You Being Served save the day?

Positive or negative, we want to hear your experiences and opinions on Singapore service. Drop us a post below.