Hi folks,
I need your thoughts on the quickly.
The tickets his government agency had arranged were
$2,600. I hate to add that cost to us, but I also feel bad about passing
this on as a personal cost to him. What do you all think? Do
something like split the difference and give him an allowance of $2200?
Or should we just allow him to eat the whole difference? This isn’t an
issue like with Amano… we’re not talking about a ticket upgrade here, nor are
we talking about someone who can run it through their business. This will
come out of his personal pocket.
Karen
From: Benito TAN
[mailto:Benito_TAN@nparks.gov.sg]
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 11:02 PM
To: krandall@rdrcpa.biz
Subject: RE: My airfares to Atlanta City from Singapore
Dear Karen,
Thanks for your
kind offer again to help me book a return airfares from Singapore to Atlanta
City and onto Toronto for my trip to the US this November to give a talk at the
AGM of your organization. It seems that the situation, in my case, is
getting more complicated with the rising costs of air travel in Singapore these
days. : (
There are a few
things that I need to explain in a "nice way" to you as the
background information to the situation where I am in now vis-a-vis the
purchasing of my return airfares. I did not reveal this background information
to you earlier because of the on-going system of monitoring incoming and
outgoing mails at govenment offices, and also not to worry you.
You see, as a
government employee working for the Singapore Botanic Gardens, there is a set
of bureaucratic rules and regulations that the govenrment has laid down for
public servants to follow. First, all official travel booking for air
tickets and other forms of transportations must go through the officially assigned
travel agency of the government offices. Not to do so will require paperworks
prepared for a justification to be approved by the higher authorities.
Secondly, all government employees are "encouraged" to fly with the
national flag air carrier, the Singapore Airline, on official trips overseas.
Again, not to do so requires paper works to justify.
I have started
the process of asking the travel office of the Singapore Botanic Gardens to
explore the itinerary and find out the prices for my November trip to Atlanta
City and return. The cost quotation given by the Gardens' travel agency, no
doubt, is on the high side, because of booking me on the Singapore Airline.
I have also decided to buy separately my own air ticket from Atlanta City
to Toronto and return to Atlanta so as not to confuse the travel office of the
Gardens since this portion of my travel is personal..
Anyway, to make
the story short, for me to pull out from bothering the travel office of the
Gardens at this point of the arrangement will give a wrong impression to the
officer in charge of the travel that I do not trust him. In order to
facilitate my paper work and its approval later for my official trip as an
invited speaker at your organizational AGM this Novemner, it is better for me
to continue to work within the system and work out for a lower travel expenses
internally. Hope that you can understand the situation.
By the way, I
was told by the travel office of the Gardens that the air ticket obtained from
the internet often does not include the additional travel charges imposed
locally by the government. The airfare includes only the airport taxes and and
the other charges imposed by the airline company. So, I suppose that
there are items of travel charges levied by the government in Singapore that
the US government (Federal and State) do not impose on the American travellers.
I was told that even if I will get a discounted low priced air ticket
bought from the internet, I will still have to pay out the required additional
travel charges imposed by the governemnt here on the day when I will leave the
airport to go overseas..
To simplify the
matter, here is my proposal, can I request that your organization sponsorship
for my return airfares be fixed at US$1,900 for my travel from Singapore to
Atlanta City in November? Whatever the differences that will come up in the
total airfares of my travel to attend your conference at the Atlanta City in
November will be absorbed by me. Can this be arranged?
Please advise
again. I need to finalize my travel plan soon because of the seat availability
on the flights that I prefer... I am sorry that my air ticket matter has
taken so much of your precious time when you will be busy now organizing the
programme and the reception for the inviited guests at the AGM.
Hope that this
long message will pass through the monitoring system set up for outgoing mails
to reach you on time...
Sincerely,
Dr Benito C. Tan§
Keeper of Herbarium/ Botanical Library§ National
Parks Board § Tel: +65 64719923 § Fax: +65
64674832
Privileged/Confidential information may be contained in this message. If you
are not the intended recipient, you must not copy, distribute or use it for any
purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. Please notify the sender
immediately if you receive this in error. § Check
out our website at http://www.nparks.gov.sg
|
"Karen
Randall" <krandall@rdrcpa.biz>
17 Oct,
2008 07:27 PM
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To
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Benito
TAN/NPARKS/SINGOV@SINGOV
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cc
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Subject
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RE:
My airfares to Atlanta City from Singapore
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Hi
Ben,
Thank
you, and thanks for getting back to me so quickly on this. Let me know
what you can work out!
Karen
From: Benito TAN
[mailto:Benito_TAN@nparks.gov.sg]
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 4:01 AM
To: krandall@rdrcpa.biz
Subject: My airfares to Atlanta City from Singapore
Karen,
Thanks for the information. I got it at my yahoo.com mail. It is strange and uncomfortable to
know that the government here is strict with the incoming emailings of its
public employees.
I checked the Expedia and found the information of the cheapest flight ticket
to Atlanta from Singapore that costs about US $1900. I have shown it to
my travel agent here in Singapore. My travel agent explained that the cost
charged on the internet does not include the additional Singapore airport
service tax and the fuel tax. Anyway, my travel agent will follow the itienrary
that I got from the Expedia and see if he can find a seat for me on the
suggested flight itinerary and re-calculate how much will be the total costs
fior my return airfares. I will keep in mind your suggested budget allocation
of around US $1,900 to 2,000 for my return airfares to fly to Atlanta City from
Singapore.
Will keep you informed soon on my final search for a reasonable return airfares
to join you and your group at the AGM in Atlanta City in November.
Sincerely,
Dr Benito C. Tan§ Keeper of
Herbarium/ Botanical Library§ National
Parks Board § Tel: +65 64719923 § Fax: +65
64674832
Privileged/Confidential information may be contained in this message. If you
are not the intended recipient, you must not copy, distribute or use it for any
purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. Please notify the
sender immediately if you receive this in error. § Check
out our website at http://www.nparks.gov.sg