This is the editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Many a visitor to Sakhalin leaves with a completely wrong impression of the island’s wonderful people. One such visitor e-mailed this publication asking its columnists how they could keep writing about the warm and hospitable people when such kinds seemed non-existent to him. The unfortunate visitor mistook those in Sakhalin’s service industry for the common Sakhaliner. He was under the wrong impression that the rude lady behind the cash register or the harsh voice on other end of the telephone handling service complaints represents the typical local. Such types have atrocious attitudes towards locals and expats alike and no one living in Sakhalin is exempt from this wrath.

Of course, a small clarification needs to be made in this comment. There are a handful of restaurants and other establishments run in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk that understand the meaning of politeness and service with a smile. But you can’t get a computer fixed or buy airline tickets or open a bank account in a hotel or a restaurant. These kinds of services belong to the exclusive league of arrogant, slow and mean-spirited service providers. It’s not that their services come cheap by any means. To avail of the services without smiles a customer must pay top roubles. Caveat Emptor has a whole new meaning in Sakhalin: let the buyer beware of the seller before bewaring of the product.

The problems of the service industry don’t just affect individuals but companies also have to bear the wrath of the service providers. Large multinationals operating in Sakhalin become hostage to service providers even in case of minor problems. Judging by the poor service that companies are subject to on the island, it’s no wonder that even huge oil and gas projects deal with large-scale delays.

Unlike other countries where a good service culture in the private sector is a catalyst to better services from government-run service providers, Sakhalin’s private companies lack even the most basic business sense.

One has to ponder about where the solution lies. Competition for instance is a temporary solution to Sakhalin’s service woes. When a competitor enters the market, Sakhaliners tend to enjoy the benefits of good service until the organisation has a good enough base in Sakhalin. From then onwards, it looks like some sort of cartel encourages the new service provider to adopt the standard practices of poor service at a high price.

Singapore faced a similar crisis in its service industry in the late-1970s. That was when the great Lee Kuan Yew launched the courtesy campaign. It took a lot of time and conscientious effort to change age-old established mindsets but now the island-nation is renowned for its excellent service culture. Sakhalin needs a similar mini-miracle to reach a stage where politeness and courtesy are a cultural norm. Very few people demand or expect artificial smiles and warmth but basic decency isn’t something that Sakhaliners should have to dream about.

Tailpiece: The tolerance of Sakhaliners to poor service can be termed as exemplary. This isn’t necessarily a good thing.

This is the editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

When a major earthquake rocked the Koryak Area of the Kamchatka Region in April, scientists warned of the dangers of such a natural disaster in Sakhalin. Such sentiments were echoed by Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu this week in the wake of a series of tremors off the island. Other well-known scientists have gone as far as saying that a major earthquake is a question of when and not if.

With such warning signs, absolutely no damage control or disaster management steps are being taken in the Sakhalin Region. A country like Japan, which is prone to earthquakes and is uncomfortably (tectonically) close to Sakhalin, ensures that all buildings are earthquake-safe and by law has regular earthquake drills in schools and offices. These precautions and other timely measures, like training paramedics, make certain that there is minimum damage during an earthquake.
Sakhalin’s complete lack of preparedness ensured that when there was that horrible earthquake in Neftegorsk in 1995, the residents of the settlement had very little chance of surviving. That (7.6 on the Richter scale) earthquake caused the collapse of the settlement’s 17 standard five-story apartment buildings, four newer apartment buildings, the town hall, the administration building, a heat generating building and a number of shops. Most of the collapsed buildings had been built of prefabricated concrete panels with little or no reinforcement. Most of these buildings like the 5-floor blocks in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk were built in the 1960s. It took less than a minute for the buildings to collapse, leaving 2,500 people under rubble.
11 years is a very long time but little has been done in terms of earthquake safety and disaster management anywhere in Sakhalin. Scientists have stated that the risk of an earthquake is higher in Central Sakhalin, which is disadvantaged by the fact that the network of roads from the south is still extremely poor. Relief work and supplies to these parts would take longer especially in the winter.
Sakhalin is totally unprepared for the fury of Mother Nature. It takes one standard snowstorm, the kind that is a staple on the island for life to come to a standstill. The first snowstorm of the winter causes the airport to close, power cuts across the island and an interruption in the water supply. It’s appalling that the authorities are caught napping every winter with the weather and its effects being predictable. The blatant callousness of the authorities poses a great risk to the residents of the island.
Maximum priority has to be accorded to preparedness for earthquakes and other natural calamities. Disaster Management is as important to the Sakhalin Region as public welfare. Preparing for a natural disaster must be equated with preparing for a large-scale war as both are capable of untold human suffering, with the former being beyond human control.
Tailpiece: It is encouraging that a federal ministry has expressed concern about the seismic activity in Sakhalin. It will take a coordinated effort between the ministry and the regional authorities to ensure that the island is prepared for a calamity of a large scale.

This is the editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Russia faces a threat that is much bigger than extremism, disease or war. Sakhalin is one region, with its prosperity that is bound to suffer from this menace known as road accidents. There were a shocking number of reported incidences of road accidents around Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk over the span of the long holiday weekend. Each of these cases was unique and one of them resulted in death. Several people have sustained serious injuries as a result of rash and reckless driving and poor roads.

One of out every two residents of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk has a car and this is for a city with roads that were designated for probably one third of the number. This in itself can be a leading cause of a number of small accidents on the road. The greater problem however lies in the fact that a large number of these Sakhaliners simply refuse to follow basic traffic rules. It’s not considered “macho” for young men in Sakhalin to fasten their safety-belts. First of all, the penalty for not wearing a seatbelt is 500 roubles but this isn’t going to scare too many Sakhaliners. It’s impossible for traffic police to see whether drivers are wearing seat belts or not at night. Given the credibility that many traffic policemen enjoy, those drivers that get caught will find a way to minimise their expenses and keep the cop happy.

Traffic policemen in Sakhalin get absolutely no respect and their poor reputation is on a large part earned. There are several recorded instances of traffic policemen stopping cars and wasting time trying to find some violation or the other and at the same time turning a blind eye towards those breaking speeding limits or even those driving under intoxication. It may take forever to reform the traffic police in Russia, but the people of Sakhalin can’t be classified as a lost cause.

There has to be a greater awareness about road accidents and how in many cases they are avoidable with the simplest precautions. In this respect, Sakhalin Energy’s road safety initiative was a much-needed step. Besides the media campaign, the strict enforcement among the company’s employees has helped a lot in reducing road accidents and minimising injuries related to them. It’s important that other multinational and Russian companies join the initiative in road safety to ensure safer roads for Sakhaliners. Considering that a large number of prosperous Sakhaliners owe their wealth to the oil and gas industry in the region, strong signals from the key players in the industry to exert utmost maximum caution on the roads will help improve the situation in the region. We’ll have to just hope in the meantime that the regional authorities do their part and improve the region’s road infrastructure.

Tailpiece:

The Global Road Safety Partnership’s Sakhalin report states that the inadequate state of the road infrastructure contributes fundamentally to the road safety problem in the Sakhalin Region. It adds that road signs exist on only 75% of the roads and some 60% of signs do not conform to federal standards. In addition, the report states that 60% of victims of road accidents in urban areas in Sakhalin are pedestrians.