I am from Singapore and currently working in Customer Relations.
When asked to describe a particularly good service here in Singapore, its hard to think of one. Don't get me wrong, service is generally fine (not fantastic,though) but yes, service staff greets you, smiles at you, and thank you at the end of every transaction. But problem is, I don't see any particular organisation trying to be different than the rest. Ironically, this makes the whole customer experience bland, even when service is still good.
Perhaps, rather than approaching Customer service excellence by simply benchmarking against others in the industry, one should try to identify how they can provide service that is unique and personalised. This will lead to an experience that is memorable to the customer.
As an example, I have been buying my groceries from a local shop near my residence. Despite its humble setup, I feel great buying items there. The owner would spare a few moments to say "hello, how's life" and even made a few recommendations to me, after noticing my purchasing pattern. Contrast that to the Big Supermarket where my family purchase items from once a month. While we are clearly repeat customers, we nonetheless feel like strangers each time we go there. Yes, there are cheaper offers available, checkout is fairly efficient and the range of products are better. But whats lacking is the personal touch, despite the Greet, Smile and Thanks that accompanies each transaction. Ironic right?
Just my 2 cents worth on the subject, thanks for reading. | 
