on becoming a singapore girl

my very first flight experience happened when i was in kindergarten. i was five at the time when we flew from calgary to southeast asia to visit extended relatives. the pictures at the time suggested we flew canadian airlines to LAX, and from there we flew on singapore airlines to SIN via NRT. it was my first 747 experience. and i remember the kebaya clad flight attendants, all dressed in the same uniform, only slightly different based on color that was assigned by rank. i remember as we were preparing for landing into tokyo, my stomach was really feeling the descent. the flight attendant by the galley had seen me and smiled, wiggled her hands and said, "like a roller coaster, isn't it?" i remember how warm it felt.

it's really hard to compare any flight, really, to a memory like that. singapore airlines is known for their service. they are consistent, they are attentive, and they pay attention to detail. flight attendants receive 16-weeks of training, compared to 8-weeks at air canada. for what it's worth, it's one of just six 5-star airlines as per skytrax's rankings. and although it is unfair, especially given different labour codes and cultures, that's the standard by which i hold all airlines to.

the singapore girl, the name for the singapore airline stewardess, is a part of their advertising campaign. these are typically young, beautiful women, wearing neatly fitted kebayas and company-assigned make up. they are a singapore icon, and on the amazing race a few years ago, the pit stop greeter for the singapore leg was indeed a singapore girl. and when they breeze through the airports, usually as a herd, you know exactly where they're going.

 

the above is a fun commercial from 2006. my friend tells me that for an airline, there's surprisingly little airplane involved in the video. but that's precisely the point -- the marketing tool is the singapore girl. warm, generous, beautiful.

this is all brought up because of a thread from milepoint, a frequent traveler message board i sometimes visit. in that thread, there's a link to a CNN video about becoming a singapore girl. easily the best three minutes of my sunday afternoon.