8 November 2006 – Who says Bus Captains can’t deliver good service?

SBS Transit Bus Captain Ong Sze Err has been honoured by SPRING Singapore and seven leading industry bodies – Association of Singapore Attractions, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Land Transport Authority, National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, Singapore Hotel Association, Singapore Retailers Association and The Restaurant Association of Singapore – for service excellence. He beat the competition to win the only SuperStar award for the land transport sector.

This is the second consecutive year that SBS Transit has won the EXSA SuperStar award. Last year, Route Master Chua Aik Ngwen was recognised for going the extra mile and for being a role model for his fellow workers.

This year’s winner is no different. BC Ong may be only 29 years old but he has shown that age is no barrier to good service. Since joining SBS Transit in October 2001, he has received more than 50 commendations, many of which were for his courteous behaviour and acts of consideration. In 2005, he received the National Courtesy Transport Gold Award as well as the EXSA Gold Award.

A passenger once witnessed a kind deed by BC Ong and called our Customer Relations Centre to compliment him. Two Indian passengers had boarded BC Ong’s bus and asked for directions to their destination. When the bus was reaching the intended stop, they did not press the bell to alight. BC Ong was alert enough to stop at the bus stop. He then got out from the driver seat and walked all the way to inform them courteously that they had reached their destination.

BC Ong also regularly helps the elderly. Once, he helped an old man carry a trolley full of soft drink cans up the bus. A passenger, impressed with BC Ong’s kind gesture, started to clap in appreciation. Suddenly the whole busload of passengers erupted into an applause.

In another instance, a 70-year-old man had missed his bus stop. When he sought BC Ong for help, BC Ong immediately stopped the bus at the next bus stop. After apologising to all the commuters on board for the delay, he then proceeded to assist the old man across to the opposite side of the road. BC Ong then explained to another bus captain who readily conveyed the old man back to his intended bus stop.

BC Ong, also a member of the Serangoon Route Group’s (SGRG) Safety Sub-Committee, does not just confine his service to only the times he drives. He is also vigilant in highlighting problematic bus bays to the relevant authorities with the hope that the bays would not cause uncomfortable rides to the commuters and unnecessary damages to the undercarriage of buses.

On receiving the award from Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Lim Swee Say, BC Ong said: “Every day in my job, I take care great care to ensure that I bring my passengers safely to their destination and to make their journey a pleasant and an enjoyable one. Winning this prestigious award is an affirmation and an encouragement to me and I will continue to strive even harder to provider a higher level of service to my passengers.”

SBS Transit Executive Director, Mr Ong Boon Leong, was all praise for BC Ong and the 984 other SBS Transit frontline staff who received their EXSA awards today. He said: “Every day, our frontline staff meet hundreds of thousands of people. These commuters may be in a good mood or they may be having a bad day. Whatever the case, our hope is that we will do what we can to make that unhappy customer smile. If we succeed, we would have accomplished our duty to the customer.“

Mr Ong added, “We are all very proud of what BC Ong has achieved. We are also especially proud of all our 985 EXSA winners this year. The number of award winners is almost twice that of last year where we had 538 winners. This in turn was double that of the 237 winners we had in 2004. These award winners are a testimony to the efforts we have been making these last years to improve our customer service.”