S.A.M.


When I was a kid, like 8, I enjoyed reading a rather popular (at least at my time) children's magazine called ''Young Generation'' So being my very first children's magazine subscription, I learnt that I need to pay using Money Order. It can only be purchase from a Post Office. To mail out the form/letter, we MUST go to the post office. First to buy the stamp or to weigh the postal item. Very conventional as we have to wait for office hours, queues etc.

Today, most of us can buy a stamp at any hour since these SAM machines are 24hours islandwide. It serves like an automated post office. With the touch screen features, I am glad that we can weigh the item, buy stamps as well as pay bills.

It was good news as today our government announced that it plans to provide free wireless Internet access to the entire island by 2007 and at the same time, offer about 10,000 subsidized computers to low-income students in an effort to give all of its citizens more opportunities in the digital world. Hence I guess this will be just the beginning of everything self-automated :)

Just curious, how is the postal service like that is available in your city? Post office? or self automated?

Comments

Annie said…
Singapore is a progressive island. Free wireless internet access is available only in some selected places in my city. It would be very nice to have it available everywhere, even in my home.

Thanks for stopping by at my blog yesterday.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 12:06:00 AM
Denton said…
Very interesting photo and explanation ... Postal service here includes delivery and pick up to and from the homes. If one needs special services there are post offices which provide them. Inside post offices there are human tellers and automated tellers ... Even with all of this the use of postal service is greatly diminished. In our case we pay bills online and send emails. We very rarely use the post office. I can not remember the last letter I wrote.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 12:27:00 AM
Shelly said…
Lucky! Free internet...that would never happen here. At one point there was even talk of the post office charging for E-mail! They argued that they lost too much money due to the internet...how can the government collect on something they have nothing to do with! Welcome to America..nothing is free. We do have postal "vending machines" but they are usually in the post office lobby and close the same time as the post office. Once in awhile there will be one in a mall.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 11:03:00 AM
A Slice of My Life said…
We've gotten the automated postal things within the last year or two. They did it one post office at a time. It was funny that they had a postal worker stand beside it to show everyone how to use it.

Islandwide free internet, wow. Sounds wonderful!
Thursday, October 12, 2006 2:25:00 PM
Sally said…
Free wireless internet would be great.

Mostly post offices where I live.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 4:21:00 PM
Zannnie said…
annie: it's my dream, free internet in my home too:D

denton: wow, delivery and pickup, that's courier service... we have them also, but only to despatch legal documents, small parcels. Thanks for your comments here, it looks like we are not 'paperless' enough yet..Greenville is more advanced in this sense...

shelly: strange to have it only close to the post office lobby where it is more convenient to have it almost everywhere, dun you think?

a slice of life: Pls take a photo of that Postal worker if you have a chance...i'm curious:) by the way is it really that complicated to use?

sally: Thanks for your comment.
do check back my dp again..


zannnie
Friday, October 20, 2006 11:27:00 PM
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