« From Water Therapy to Water Torture | Home | Freakonomics: Fruits, Vegetables are Cheaper the further away? »
Ubelievable: Finding Some in the Hospitality Industry Quite Inhospitable
By philobean | September 16, 2007
Were they being bigots, racists, or plain-old inhospitable buggers?
A friend of mine (a masters degree holder with honors) called up a number of hotels here in Singapore. His only sin: he wasn’t calling to book a room but to see if there were any openings. Well, some hotel HR managers (like an HR officer at Swissotel the Stamford) were polite: they responded by simply hanging up mid-sentence. Oh well, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were busy with more important things? Like afternoon coffee, for example?
Others, however, weren’t as patient.
Let’s take one such case: Seconds into a phone call with a Hilton Hotel HR officer, she interrupted my pal, not even trying to mask the irritation in her voice, and saying “No, no, no! We do not accept Filipinos!” Being the gentleman that he is (half wondering how the woman on the other end of the line found out he was a Filipino by the mere sound of his voice), my friend pretended not to have heard. But, then, realizing her mistake, the HR officer took a turn to courtesy. She hung up. <Better that than more racist insults, nay?>
When this story was first told to me, I couldn’t believe it. Singapore just celebrated its National Day about a month back. The theme: “Celebrate Singapore: City of Possibilities”. The prime minister even highlighted Singapore’s multi-racial stature as a source of great strength for the city-state. Talk about hypocrisy albeit perhaps unwitting? Well, if racial integration and sensitivity were state policy, shouldn’t racists be punished for their bigotry? My experiences with the Singapore Government have been all but heavenly. I only hope that their graciousness will trickle down to those less inclined toward such innate fairness and receptivity.
Topics: A little political, Business, Personal |