My name is Benjamin Lee, and I am also known as Mr Miyagi. I must be getting old, because I felt a little peeved that you were so presumptuous, addressing me as “Friend” when I hardly know you.
I have re-read your email several times and, as I was saying about my advancing age, I seem to keep missing the word “please” anywhere in your request for my endorsement of your campaign apart from asking me to “please kindly send my logo/header/diagram.”
However, I do “wish to encourage youths of today to make a difference and take ownership of the destiny of this nation”, and I do believe it begins with courtesy and good manners. The link between Fairer Transportation Fares and the destiny of this nation is a little more tenuous, but I’m willing to give this a shot.
I, like you, believe that students should have cheaper public transport fares too. I mean, you are the future of our nation, and once you stop having to worry about unaffordable fares, you’ll have time to learn to write nicer and more courteous emails to older, crankier folk like myself who have no right whatsoever in asking for lower transport costs.
You have my endorsement.
Warmest regards,
P.S. Your organization’s name is too long. If I were to pause and read out the whole thing, I’d miss my bus stop.
P.P.S. I can’t find how to download your logo. Please help this old man.
On 11/11/2008, at 11:54 PM, petition4fairtransport@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Friend,
My name is Bernard Chen, 23, a student at Temasek Polytechnic, one of 10 young Singaporeans, who are initiating a nationwide National Petition for Fairer Transportation Fares for Polytechnic/ Tertiary Students to collect between 30,000 to 100,000 actual signatures of support.
For more information on this nationwide campaign, please refer to http://www.petition4fairtransport.org
We would like to obtain your official endorsement to promote this youth campaign.
If you wish to encourage youths of today to make a difference and take ownership of the destiny of this nation, please kindly send your logo/ header/ diagram/ picture to petition4fairtransport@gmail.com. Basically, we need something that readers can identify you with.
We will be putting your your logo/ header/ diagram/ picture up on our website under the “Endorsements” page and visitors to our website will be able to access your site through a direct link found on the logo/ header that you have provided us.
We would also appreciate if you could put up our campaign logo on your website.
We are pleased to also announce that TheOnlineCitizen (http://theonlinecitizen.com) is the official media channel for this campaign.
I must reiterate that we are a non-profit organisation, just a sincere group seeking your valuable support.
If you require more information, do feel free to contact me @ (+65) XXX-XXX-XX.
With your official endorsement, we will be taking a giant leap towards a successful petition campaign.
Thank you!
—
Regards,
Organiser(s) of the National Petition for Fairer Transportation Fares for Polytechnic/ Tertiary Students
Website: http://www.petition4fairtransport.orgEmail: petition4fairtransport@gmail.com
Note: To be fair – Bernard did write immediately to apologise, and was exceedingly courteous, but I won’t publish it here because it’s not funny the way a rude email is, you know?
Update: Silly me, Bernard attached the logo in the email. I should always check for attachments whether or not the sender tells me it’s attached. Here ’tis:
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