AS SINGAPORE'S - and the region's - leading citizen media website, Stomp provides a platform for people to share what they see around them in the heartlands, day in and day out.
It may be unhygienic practices at the neighbourhood kopitiams.
Or anti-social behaviour on MRT trains. Or a horrific accident that someone witnessed on his way to work. Or a warning to fellow Singaporeans about malpractices of companies.
Whatever it is, one thing is clear. Stomp is not just a sounding board of ideas and views, but it is also an effective agent of change.
This is demonstrated on a daily basis. A government agency, acting on the tip-off offered by a Stomper, would move to correct the wrong. It may be the National
Environment Agency raiding an eatery where photographs of cockroaches or rats on its premises have been submitted by a Stomper.
It's not just government agencies but the entire gamut of civil society - non-governmental organisations, private sector organisations, restaurants, supermarkets etc - that act swiftly on the feedback of Stompers.
Still, there are agencies which choose not to respond and maintain a stony silence when approached by Stomp regarding complaints and feedback about their services or organisations.
One of them is transport organisation, Comfort Delgro, to which Stomp has fed much feedback from the public about the quality of its service.
Public transport is for the masses. And when it is not up to mark, the public have every right to bring up the issue.
And these include poorly maintained buses. In at least two cases, doors of buses have actually fallen off. Another common complaint is the rude behaviour of cabbies, as well as their rogue driving practices on Singapore's roads.
However, despite many queries raised by the public, Comfort Delgro gives a stock reply to Stomp, saying: "As a policy, we do not respond to online forums and papers."
This answer is not only grossly inadequate, but it is hardly fitting for a company involved in providing a public service. In a recent case, Stomp received an e-mail, attached with a photograph, from a user who was shocked when he spotted a bus with a severely bald tyre.
He was concerned the tyre would explode, putting the passengers and other road users in danger.
What the company did was again issue the same statement, without addressing it whatsoever.
It replied: "We would like to know which bus this is so that we can check on the condition of the tyre to ensure that the safety of our passengers and our bus captain is not compromised."
Is this private response enough when the issue is already aired on a public platform like Stomp" Had it really addressed the fears of the Stomper?
Likewise for companies which give "non-replies" or drag their feet in answering queries; people who raise these issues are neither satisfied nor appeased.
As is the case of customer service officer, Pauline Tan, 34, who sent in pictorial evidence about a needle found in her bowl of noodles at a restaurant in VivoCity.
It took more than four weeks for the company to revert to Stomp and, even so, only after several reminders and calls. But its long-awaited answer was evasive.
"We have conducted an investigation but did not find any such similar metal objects in the kitchen," it said.
Thankfully, there are many agencies and organisations which address issues raised by Stompers in a timely fashion.
These responsive organisations thereby defuse whatever crisis and unhappiness by demonstrating that they take feedback seriously. We applaud these organisations.
It is a win-win situation for all, because Stompers know their feedback really matter, operations of the concerned organisations are improved, and whatever wrong is corrected.
The organisations and agencies who refuse to pay heed to the voice of the public should learn that their recalcitrance would backfire on them.
