SOME OF THEM LIKE TO DROP NAMES AND THREATEN THAT HEADS WILL ROLL IF THE PRIME MINISTER GETS TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR CASES, WHILE OTHERS MAY RESORT TO NAME-CALLING OF THE ABUSIVE KIND AND EVEN THREATEN BODILY HARM.

Then there are those who simply can't take "no" for an answer and would submit appeal after appeal through various government channels including their MPs, the Prime Minister's Office or even all the way to the Istana in their attempts to get their way - be it a tax waiver or leapfrogging the queue in a HDB flat ballot.

Given the thousands of daily enquiries received by front-line counter staff and call centres at the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, Housing and Development Board (HDB), Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), it's not surprising that there will be a few bad apples that government customer service officers have to deal with each day.

Many of them do however take difficult situations in their stride.

"I always tell myself and remind my staff not to take the remarks personally; that these individuals are unhappy with the situation and not with us," says Ms Vanessa Song, Assistant Manager for the Taxpayer Services Division at IRAS.

"While the average person will get emotional or all worked up, we will keep our cool. Sometimes, all you need to do is to promise that you will get back to them and they will accept it. They will calm down," says Mr Chong Kien Fah, Head of Bishan Service Centre for CPF.

While it's inevitable that some requests would ultimately be rejected, Mr Chong says that the basic policy of the Board is one of not saying an outright "no" to any request.

In fact, CPF staff are often encouraged to look for alternative ways to alleviate each situation, so long as they are within the Board's regulatory scope, says Ms Astin Lee, Call Centre Manager at the CPF Board.

Adds Mr Chong, "We ask our staff to treat each request and handle it as if it is from their parents or a relative, and imagine how they would handle the issue in a more amiable manner. We always try to accommodate or find a compromise.

"For example, we may have someone who is withdrawing his CPF minimum sum but found that it is not quite the amount he expected. Instead of simply telling him he can't withdraw the amount he wants, we will offer alternative solutions such as selling his shares or pledging his property, where appropriate."

Ms Song adds, "The wrong way to tackle an issue is to say "It is the policy that says you cannot do it'. Instead, we try to put ourselves in their shoes and see if there are alternatives we could offer in order to find a solution that is workable. For example, while we cannot waive the tax, we can give a longer payment plan or defer tax payments in situations where they are having financial hardships.

"If all fails, we will deliver a 'no' response in a polite manner," says Ms Lee, citing the instance of a person who may want to get hold of his family members' account statements from the CPF Board without their approvals. Or even somebody who wants to withdraw his or her CPF prematurely to deal with a financial squeeze before the minimum age.

Ms Amy Tan, Customer Service Manager at HDB, says, "We avoid being authoritative and high-handed just because we have the law or policy to back us up."

Part of the job of handling difficult individuals boils down to managing expectations. "For instance, I will sometimes see if there are grounds for an appeal, which will be sent higher up for consideration. But I will also tell them of my gut feeling that the chances of success may be slim. That way, they would be prepared when the answer is a 'no'. And they are more appreciative of your efforts to assist them."

Ms Tan, who has been with the HDB customer service department for 13 years, notes that a lot of the difficult cases and unreasonable requests tend to come from younger Singaporeans. "They don't like bad news and are often of the view that their cases are unique and that they deserve special treatment."

According to her, some couples might cite government policies and say, for instance, that they have gotten married because it's the wish of the government. Being dutiful citizens, they should be 'rewarded' with preferential treatment in getting a new flat.

"This is despite the fact that they were told of all the terms and conditions before they applied. We sometimes have to help them differentiate between their needs and wants, even to the extent of sounding like a broken record," says Ms Tan.

Ms Tan and Ms Song also note that despite the efforts of the agencies to use layman's language on their websites and brochures, most people simply do not read the material and would rather have it explained to them by a customer service officer.

But it's not just difficult Singaporeans that civil servants have to deal with.

Ms Joanne Tan, Senior Customer Relations Executive at ICA, recalls cases where visitors would refuse to fill up arrival forms as a matter of principle, saying that it violates their privacy.

Other times, she has had to deal with the pride of Singaporeans sponsoring overseas visitors, especially when their guest's request for entry has been turned down. "We often cannot reveal the reasons to the sponsor if it's a confidential matter. In such cases, we usually separate the parties so that the matter of pride doesn't get in the way when we explain why entry has been denied to the visitor. Usually, it's the visitor who will accept the decision. In many cases, they probably know why they were denied in the first place," says Ms Tan.

Other times, Singaporeans might cite examples of how Malaysians are able to get a new passport in a day compared to two to three days by the ICA.

"While we may expedite the process for special cases, it will still take two to three days due to the new security features in the new biometric passports. We can't just speed it up and make exceptions for everyone. We want to delight the customers but not to the extent of spoiling them," she adds.

Ms Tan says it's important for officers to have a good listening ear when it comes to dealing with all requests. "Besides a good listening ear while attending to customers' requests, we try to balance efficiency at the same time not forgetting the human touch despite the high volumes of enquiries and applications each day."

Like most of the officers interviewed, she notes that agitated customers makes up a small percentage of all the customers they deal with each day. Most customers do respect officers who don the uniform and will maintain their composure during the process.

Mr Lee Chong Hock, Assistant Director at PS21 Office points out that it helps to have a good dose of difficult cases from time to time. "They help to train the staff in dealing with boundary markers and to learn to be flexible rather than sticking strictly to the rulebook.

"To be fair, some good suggestions might come out of the less pleasant episodes which can be turned into something constructive. We don't ignore customers' grievances outright. We act professionally and will look into the merits and demerits of each case," he adds.

Ms Song concludes,"Some of the cases might even lead us to rethink and improve some of the internal procedures or even policies, and enhance our services in the interests of the general public."