“Surreal banking”

As far as I can remember, opening an account, in India or UAE where I have lived, has been a several step process that needs time, contacts, meeting bank reps, several documents and a couple of visits to the bank to say the least. And of course, the additional visits to your HR department asking them to certify that you are employed in that very office, country and city by a letter signed by only a bank authorized signatory who may or may not be in the office at the time. Once the tedious submission process is thru, the wait begins along with frantic walks to the reception to check if there is any mail for you with an ATM card and then again a second mail with your secret pin number! Despite this long-drawn process, there is still no guarantee that you will have all the correct information and that you will not need to call your bank for corrections.

However, fortunately, things seem to be at a completely different level on this side of the world. This week I received my Employment pass on the 18^th of July (just three days after fingerprinting process) and I went straight to the bank with my passport and my EP. Twenty minutes later I walked out of that bank with my account opened and my ATM card (with an accurately spelt name) and an enabled pin in my hand. hmmm. this summarizes my experience but does not justify the brilliance of the experience, so, I need to elaborate what I would describe as the most surreal banking experience of my life!!

We walked into the door of what looked like a hi-fi lounge bar with red lights and modern décor with 4-5 kiosks of ATM looking screens followed by a sit out area on the right with a low serpentine shaped sofa with giant and brightly colored pillows with a big red heart on each with a mammoth touch screen TV just behind the sofa which also served as a partition of the space to create a room behind it. Two pretty young Chinese girls wearing identical pretty black dresses with thin red belts and high heels popped out from the left, walking towards us to offer help. We followed one of them to her desk asking her to open an account. Now, her desk was not just an ordinary desk! It was a 50inch flat screen monitor laid out in between her and us. I handed over my EP and passport. No forms, no photograph sticking business, completely paper free. After a clear brief from her about the types of accounts, types of charges and general rules she got busy with her setting it up for me. Of course, as I was doing this for the first time I naively asked her when I would get my ATM card. To my surprise, I got an answer that I would get it the same day! Very impressed, I asked her what time she would like me to come back and get it. Now it was her turn to be surprised and she looked at me, very amused indeed, and said that I would get it, “NOW-today” along with the ATM and internet banking pins. Both Satya and I looked at each other with pouting lips and raised eyebrows, in awe of the amazing speed and professionalism we were witnessing for the first times in our lives!

Well done Singapore and DBS in providing this wonderful customer experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am now prepared to be further amazed by this amazing place...

We will weather this storm...

When I moved to UAE, I had nothing except the dreams of doing something new and starting a new life with Satya. I had no responsibilities and also no assets. Completely free from any limits or boundaries but with several pressures and and endless list of actions; of achieving success, securing a job, getting married, getting a house, car, and starting a family. But I was free and I had the choice to do all or none of things from the wish list.

 

My move to Singapore, however, was very different. I had everything we had dreamed of and which we had struggled so hard to achieve, in Dubai. A lovely home, cars, my family, friends, a support system, a career, growth and overall stability. Yet, we chose to move! It's very true that we are free until we get imprisoned by the choices we make!

 

Coming to Singapore may be the best decision or our lives or the worst, that only time can tell, but by making this choice, we are now imprisoned in a situation where we long for the familiar and are afraid of the new. Hopefully, our perseverance will bring this new reality closer to our heart and relegate our past reality to a comfort corner of our mind.

 

It's only a week or should I say, already a week, since I came to Singapore and although many of the intial doubts are cleared, many new ones have emerged!

 

Well, life is in the living, right! And we will weather this storm...

15/7/2012

 

Madagascar 3 - Yohaan's first movie in the theatre

16th June -Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien welcomed Yoyo to his first ever movie in the theatre at Ibn Battuta Mall.

We prepared Yoyo a little before the day, saying the screen would be big and the lion would be big and it would be dark like night etc. He skipped along into the theatre with us like he has done it several times before and knew exactly what he was supposed to do. We bought pop corn and nachos with salsa and cheese dip which he liked better than popcorn. He had a lot of questions, "why this mama, why?" I would get after every few minutes, followed by a "wow" or "super". Mid way he got a bit bored and restless and got off his seat and without any noise or fuss went and sat on the steps next to our seats! Just like that! Just then Baba pulled out a lolly pop which lured him back to his seat and kept him glued till the end of the movie.  Overall a successful try at the movie experience. One of many to come!