NTUC FairPrice gives priority to Pioneers

I happened to have a chat with a few pioneers and up came the topic of priority queue for pioneers in FairPrice. There is a priority queue but not sure if pioneers are given first pass. And then I was inside a FairPrice outlet and there were queues everywhere. Then I looked up and saw two big circular signs hanging over one cashier counter. One read ‘Pioneers Priority’ and another ‘Give Way’. But there was a queue. So I thought I test the system and went forward to ask the cashier whether got priority for pioneers. She answered promptly, pioneers also must queue.

Oh, brilliant idea. Two big signs that said priority for pioneers and give way to pioneers, and actually did not mean it. Pioneers also must join the queue. My recommendations to NTUC FairPrice are like these: either remove the two big signs as they are meaningless, or to add two more signs, one reads ‘Pioneers must also Q’ and another ‘No need to give way to pioneers’. If not the signs either make the pioneers look silly queuing in a priority queue for them or NTUC FairPrice looking stupid having such signs that meant nothing. Did they think through what they are going to do before they hung those big signs up in the first place? Maybe it is too difficult for them to think how best to deal with such priority queues.

The cashiers must have taken instructions from their supervisors, and the supervisors must have taken instructions from their superiors, and up the pecking order. So who is the top idiot that passed down such a stupid idea to give pioneers priority queue but instructions to the cashiers to do the contrary?  Oops, the cashiers knew exactly what to do. Pioneers must also queue. The signs are for wayang only, tak pakai lah.

I had another encounter of such stupidity in FairPrice a few years back. I saw this senior uncle, more senior than me, in front of me in a check out queue. And there was this smiling and grinning cashier happily demanding to see the senior citizen cards before giving the 2% discount. It was a Tuesday and there was a 2% discount for senior citizens. Monday is for Pioneer Generation with a 3% discount.  The senior uncle showed the cashier his pioneer card but she said no pakai.  'Úncle, today for seniors only and seniors must show senior card. Pioneer card not recognized on Tuesday. Want pioneer discount, come on Monday.'

I wrote to NTUC the next day explaining to them that pioneers are older than seniors. Apparently they did not know, I supposed. At that time the youngest pioneers were already 65 years old while those qualified for senior cards were only 60 or 62 years. So why pioneer cards not recognized when the card was proof that the holder was older than the seniors? NTUC replied to apologise and said cashiers would be told that pioneer card holders would henceforth also be recognized as seniors and would be entitled to the 2% discount on Tuesday. If I have not been a busybody, the happy cashier/cashiers would be happily demanding for senior citizen cards on Tuesday and rejecting the pioneer cards.

This is how daft and stupid Singaporeans have become. They just follow rules or instructions without thinking. Like they said, cheng hu got say then do. Cheng hu no say, don’t do. No need to think. Cheng hu is doing all the thinking. Daft sinkies just listen and obey instructions. Life cannot be more simple and blissful than this.

I hope NTUC read this or someone got the link to NTUC tell them about my recommendations on priority queues for pioneers as mentioned above. The cashiers need to get specific instructions before they can do anything right. Instructions from the top very powderful, cannot disobey. It is not that the cashiers are stupid. They could exercise their initiative and can be very helpful when they wanted to.

Stupidity has no cure.