As the book's name implies, The Mile Hi! Club deals with the travel industry. In particular with the commercial aviation industry. The book claims to offer an insider's peek into the glossy world of stewardesses and an insight into the not-so-glossy goings on behind the curtains.
Written by Singaporean Janet Chew who 'has spent working her ass off in an airline, reputably one of the best in the world', it leaves you wondering why Singapore Airlines (SQ) is not named specifically as her employer and the main playground for the events of the book to unfold. The book lists interesting accounts from how crew are forced to stay in jaw dropping shape to be able to fit into their fitted uniforms to newly recruited crew being paired up with buddies a.k.a. senior attendants on their initial flights and getting lessons in serving meals, handling irate passengers, covering up for crew errors (spilling wine on a man's crotch) etc. Some accounts are hilarious and will leave you with some compassion for airline crew the next time you fly.
Some other incidents mentioned herein offer explanation for SQ not being explicitly mentioned as Chew's employer. Clearly the airline did not authorize Chew to write this book which might tarnish SQ's impeccable image and change people's opinion of the smiling 'Singapore girl' what with details of crew pilfering toasters, pots, pans from hotels and hold your breath, even cutting carpets from under hotel beds to display at home! But I am sure this kind of behavior is not restricted to Chew's erstwhile colleagues only. Au contraire, if these are the shenanigans of one of the best paid crew in the world, we can only imagine what other airlines' crew members are upto.
The book is not all about work though. Accounts of crew partying, dating and male passengers fantasizing about uniform clad women after being accidentally offered a peek a boo when they come around to drop window shades are all to be found here. Whilst Chew's writing style is amateurish at best, what is glaring is the poor English and lenient use of slang words which make this book an exercise in reading Slanglish. If you are looking for quality literature, you won't find it here. The book is ideal pool-side and in-flight reading (no pun intended) and I would recommend it only for some of the realistic insights it offers into what is seen as an all gloss and no grime profession. Just avoid reading it aboard an SQ flight !
Written by Singaporean Janet Chew who 'has spent working her ass off in an airline, reputably one of the best in the world', it leaves you wondering why Singapore Airlines (SQ) is not named specifically as her employer and the main playground for the events of the book to unfold. The book lists interesting accounts from how crew are forced to stay in jaw dropping shape to be able to fit into their fitted uniforms to newly recruited crew being paired up with buddies a.k.a. senior attendants on their initial flights and getting lessons in serving meals, handling irate passengers, covering up for crew errors (spilling wine on a man's crotch) etc. Some accounts are hilarious and will leave you with some compassion for airline crew the next time you fly.
Some other incidents mentioned herein offer explanation for SQ not being explicitly mentioned as Chew's employer. Clearly the airline did not authorize Chew to write this book which might tarnish SQ's impeccable image and change people's opinion of the smiling 'Singapore girl' what with details of crew pilfering toasters, pots, pans from hotels and hold your breath, even cutting carpets from under hotel beds to display at home! But I am sure this kind of behavior is not restricted to Chew's erstwhile colleagues only. Au contraire, if these are the shenanigans of one of the best paid crew in the world, we can only imagine what other airlines' crew members are upto.
The book is not all about work though. Accounts of crew partying, dating and male passengers fantasizing about uniform clad women after being accidentally offered a peek a boo when they come around to drop window shades are all to be found here. Whilst Chew's writing style is amateurish at best, what is glaring is the poor English and lenient use of slang words which make this book an exercise in reading Slanglish. If you are looking for quality literature, you won't find it here. The book is ideal pool-side and in-flight reading (no pun intended) and I would recommend it only for some of the realistic insights it offers into what is seen as an all gloss and no grime profession. Just avoid reading it aboard an SQ flight !
No comments:
Post a Comment