Birds of the same feather, black

I made a feedback to the Ministry of Environment & Water Resources (MEWR) weeks back, with regards to National Environment Agency (NEA) officers smoking in the public, within the comfort of shelters. The reason I shot the letter straight to MEWR is simple, I do not want any cover ups at agency level, because birds of the same feather usually, well, cover up each other. For the record, the NEA officers who were supposed to know that they should not be smoking within 5 metres of build up areas have no problem finishing the whole stick under the watch of the general public. Two of them and one more (not smoking) at the nearby eatery.

I got the usual "Thank you for your email dated...", "...is now looking into your feedback" and "will respond to you shortly", which essentially meant "damn it, another one. give us some time to think of a good excuse." Their templated replies had been used so often that they now number them so that when they received similar feedback, the manager or whoever determines how to respond will just say, "hey you minion, just reply that bugger with sentence 2, 3 and 4, and remember to ask them not to hesitate to contact you in the event they need clarification, like they are really interested!"

True enough, the excuse came in today.Not very convincing if you were to ask me.

"Thank you for your feedback. We note that the NEA officers whom you have mentioned had shifted to a location away from the eatery to prevent smoke nuisance to the patrons of the eatery. We have taken note of your feedback and have reminded our officers to conduct themselves properly at all times."

Notes:
- the NEA officers did not shift at all.
- it would be really troublesome for them to test wind direction before smoking everytime.
- the crux of the feedback is not about being a nuisance to patrons of the eatery, but really the irony when the ones coming out with the law broke them and get away unscathed.

This is Singapore government. Integrity, Service, Excellence.