Empty Seats in The 2012 London Olympics

The 2012 London Olympics started with much fanfare last week. But as the cameras rolled through the competition venues, many picked up something unexpected: empty seats for matches that were supposed to be sold-out. Why is this so? Jeremy Hunt, UK Minister of Culture, had mentioned that an investigation would be carried out. The outcome will probably not appear anytime soon but below could be some of the potential reasons:

1)    The system may not have been right when it indicates that a match is a sold-out one and it is not surprising considering that ticket allocations were done via some complex mechanisms.

2)    Many of the original buyers could have been people who hoped to make quick bucks and are unfortunately unable to find buyers.

3)    Everything is working fine but the hiccups with security, immigration, etc have scared the spectators away.

Education and Employment in the UK

It does not come as a surprise that one of the thriving industries in times of economic crisis is tertiary education. Enrollments double if not triple as young adults decide to go back to schools and prime themselves in anticipation of recovery. The issue seldom mentioned is the fact that not all young adults have the means or rather the luxury to obtain those additional degrees. This puts them in a rather disadvantage position when it comes to job search as they are of less value than their school-returning peers. In other words, they can never break away from the vicious cycle of no education-no employment. This is indeed the plight of approximately 22 percent of the young adults in the UK whose future hangs in the balance, not to mention the implications that it may have on the nation’s future as a whole.

While critics may argue that tackling this issue will bring no significant improvements in their employment prospects since there just isn’t enough aggregate demand in the economy fundamentally, it is also sensible to argue that the different starting points of these two groups of young adults has already put those with less education in a weaker position regardless of whether times are good or bad.

It is thus justifiable for the relevant authorities to correct this failure either by providing training opportunities to boost their competitiveness or providing support for them to return to school and gain that extra knowledge. Austerity is necessary but should we jeopardize the future of the next generation in its pursuit?

Wagamama and Green Teas

I had lunch with a friend at Wagamama last Saturday. We were amused to find that Wagamama charges for water but gives green tea for free. Given that one just need to turn the tap to obtain drinking water but need to add green tea powder to hot water to obtain green tea, we believe that Wagamama should do the exact opposite (i.e. charges for green tea but gives water for free). We tried to come up with several theories to explain the reason behind Wagamama’s practices. Here’s 2 of them:

1)The demand for water is way much higher than that for green tea in London. It thus makes perfect sense to charge for something that has high demand and provide something with low demand for free.

2)All Wagamama staffs probably drink green tea to quench their thirst while working. Since Wagamama has to provide green tea to its staff, it might as well extend it to the customers for free. Afterall, what is the problem of producing slightly more green tea?

If any of you have more plausible reasons, do share them here.

The Right Proposal on Prison Terms

In a recent article posted in BBC, I read about a certain group that is proposing that the relevant authorities scrap short prison terms such as 1 year and replace them with community punishments because they have no effect in reforming the criminals. The group further justifies their proposal by saying that it will reduce the overcapacity that many prisons are facing.

I am very worried of this proposal because it is simply wrong to allow criminals to go back to the community where they committed their crime without them bearing any significant consequences of their actions. It is akin to allowing one’s child to continue playing even after he obtains poor grades for his study.

I am surprised that such proposal is deemed to be worth mentioning. If short prison terms don’t work, increase them, not scrap them. If there’s insufficient capacity, increase them, not free prisoners earlier.

British Airways: No Longer Safety First?

Several posts ago, I mentioned about the different ways airlines allocate emergency seats. I pointed out that British Airways seems to put more emphasis on safety as compared to some airlines who view those seats as business opportunities instead. I am disappointed to find out that BA has also started to charge for those so called 'premium' seats. I hope they will change their mind but looking at the fact that most airlines are trying to boost its balance sheet, it is unlikely that they will reverse their decision

London = Polite Society?

While I was preparing to come to London, family and friends told me that I would be going to a place well known for its polite society. Images of people greeting each other, asking and wishing each other always appeared in my mind. But what I have experienced so far is rather different, to the extent of being the opposite. And I experienced it the minute I boarded the plane to London.

The behaviors of the air stewardesses were unlike what I have seen while traveling around Asia. They were impolite, rude and inefficient. I saw a passenger who was reprimanded for repeatedly asking for a newspaper that I didn’t think ever appear until the plane landed. I myself was scolded for crossing the kitchen area to go to the toilet located at the opposite aisle. I thought to myself if these people, who were hired to serve customers, could behave this way, what about the pedestrians walking down the street.

While clearing immigration at Heathrow Airport, I was treated like some kind of virus carrier. I was told I needed to go for a chest x-ray at the airport medical facility before I could clear immigration. Luckily I wasn’t charged for the x-ray. Then while trying to contact my cab driver while sitting at the waiting area of the medical facility, I was told crudely to switch off my phone. Honestly, I still can’t figure out why people can’t use their phone while waiting. By now, I already had a rather bad impression of this place.

True enough, having been here for about 1 month, I have not experienced something that I thought is worth commending. Services in banks, restaurants, etc here are like heaven and earth if you are to compare the equivalent in Singapore. Having said that, I think it will be some time before we can have a fruitful debate on the politeness of the man walking down the street.