Topic: Perception
Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give the meaning to their environment.
Concept #1 – Factors influencing perception
The perceiver are the commuters that were affected by the breakdown of the NEL train service. Some of the commuters felt that the breakdown on 15th March was well handled by SBS while others felt that it was poorly handled. SBS was able to provide a more efficient announcement service as commuters were told in advance. They also provided free bus services at affected MRT stations in addition to the free shuttle bus services that were already provided. Thus, this allowed certain commuters to realise that actually, SBS had made good efforts to handle the breakdown.
The target is the issue or individual that we are interpreting. In this situation, it will be the MRT breakdown. The repetition of the MRT breakdown might cause commuters to feel that the transport system is poorly maintained. Furthermore, MRT breakdowns have been happening regularly. Thus, they might have a negative impression of the MRT system.
The situation is the time and event in which the breakdown happened for different commuters. There were commuters that were rushing for work or school and also there might be others whom were just running some errands. Commuters that were rushing to work felt that the breakdown caused inconvenience to them as it increased their traveling time to work and might cause them to be late for work. There was one lady who was going to the gym. Although it disrupted her travelling time, she did not have any major complaints as it was during her leisure time. Thus, the situation resulted in different perceptions of the breakdown.
Concept #2 – Sharing of Perception through Open Direct Communication
Subjectivity is the key factor in perception. There will always be more than one interpretation of any situation. One of the skills for sharing perception is asking questions. Goodwill ambassadors were deployed so that when commuters have any questions regarding the breakdown, commuters will be able to ask them questions. Another skill is sharing ideas and information. Commuters said that they heard about the breakdown from in-station and train announcements and from social media updates. It is due to the staff sharing the information so that commuters will be able to know what is happening. Another skill is reflection. It has come to the attention to the Transport Minister, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, that many people are not aware of the other free bus services provided and the buses were mostly empty. For that, Mr Lui would need to reflect and think of ways to let more people know about them. The last skill is summarizing. Transport Analyst, Dr Park Byung Joon summarizes some of the causes as to why the NEL broke down such as damages to the insulator and mechanics.
Article used: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1189179/1/.html
From the article, it was mentioned that ‘Most commuters told Channel NewsAsia that they heard about the breakdown from in-station and train announcements or from social media updates.’ This shows that the commuters mainly got their information from social media or train announcements and this was made possible because of one of the perception sharing skill which is sharing ideas and information. Also, Mr Lui mentioned that ‘But Mr Lui observed that very few commuters were aware of this.’ and ‘So we need to do a better job to make sure that other services that are also free that will help them to get to their destinations just as quickly.’ This suggests that Mr Lui was reflecting on the NEL breakdown situation and from the reflections, he will then be able to make further improvements.