I REFER to the commentary 'Can't be understood? Blame the bosses' by Mr Daryll Nanayakara (my paper, May 27).

I agree with the view that the business owners are the ones who should take the blame for not ensuring that their employees are able to communicate with the customers.

Considering the fact that even service staff in neighbouring Johor Baru are being trained to communicate in English to cater to shoppers from Singapore, I find it unacceptable that our own business owners here are unable to do the same.

If these businesses consciously choose to limit their clientele to only those who can converse fluently in Mandarin, then, perhaps, we should grant them their wish by not patronising them.

After all, these businesses, by employing frontline workers who cannot speak English, have clearly shown that they are willing to disregard the customers' needs for the sake of cost savings through cheaper staff.

This should be obvious as to how much the businesses value their customers.

In any case, if a business can place such low emphasis on such a basic requirement of communication and service, what are the chances of its having high regard for the quality of its products?

Mr Melvin Lin Jun Wei

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