ON THURSDAY, about 10.45pm, I was waiting for a taxi at the Beach Road entrance to Raffles Hotel. Understandably, cabs were hard to come by - the only ones to come in were on call, picking up those who had had enough of waiting.
I was relieved when the bellhop, dressed in full Raffles Hotel regalia, went to the main road to direct taxis in.
However, my delight at his initiative soon turned to abject disappointment when, after successfully hailing a taxi, he then turned to one of his colleagues near where the queue was and said, 'This one for the ang-mohs!'.
At that point of time, I was the first in line. A Caucasian family was queueing up directly behind me and they were quickly ushered into the taxi.
Not wanting to create a scene, I did not question why the bellhop said what he did, especially when the taxi was not on call.
When I finally managed to get into a cab, it was 11.25pm, some 40 minutes after I first joined the queue, third in line.
I understand that the Raffles Hotel is a colonial-era building but must the staff have colonial-era mindsets? After more than 40 years of independence, it seems many Singaporeans are still afflicted by the Pinkerton Syndrome.
It is most disappointing that Raffles Hotel, supposedly one of Singapore's best, still suffers from a colonial hangover.
