So Singapore

My partner and I last night jumped online to buy tickets for the World Netball Championship 2011 happening in Singapore in July.

The experience of buying the tickets, through the ticketing agency SISTIC, was a great reflection of the often Orwellian Singapore mindset.

Soon after you start the purchasing process, a message in red tells you that your IP address is being monitored. Sure, many websites might record your IP address, but few would have the gumption to tell you: "Your IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is being recorded for your security." (emphasis added)

Then when you get to the point of choosing your seating category, the drop down menu invites you to choose your price. On the list lies just a single item - "Standard Price".

And finally when buyers are attempting to select seats, the drop down menu carries a bewilderingly large array of options, leaving by far and away the most tempting option being the one at the top - "Let the system assign the best seats".

So welcome to Singapore, where you're being spied upon and told it's for your own good, where choice is often an illusion, and where the system is omnipotent.

Comments

Anonymous said…
So Ari, your'e going to Singers. The rest of the family also going in July.

Off to SK Sat.

Love Aunty

xxx
Fishy said…
Hope you will channel some of that netball expertise back here to "the wall" while you are at the netball championship.

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