Pulling Strings in Singapore

Have you ever noticed how service suddenly improves or everything moves really smoothly if you know the boss or you;re somehow related to the boss of an establishment? I am sure all of you have sometime in your life "pulled some strings" to get something done. Since my mum was warded in TTSH after suffering a stroke and a heart attack 4 weeks ago ; I have had to pull so many strings to get things done , I'm beginning to think that without these strings to pull in Singapore , you;re really at the mercy of the system.
After a week in the hospital , they were ready to send her home......were they kidding? She was on several tubes ; including a feeding tube and catheter. Then they wanted to move her to the AMK Rehab hospital to which we objected to saying she was in no condition for even rehab. After pulling some strings......(couple of really big ones), the staff said it was a misunderstanding and that she could remain for as long as she still needed medical attention and was not in a stable condition. She's been there for 4 weeks now and will move to AMK Rehab hospital next week.
SO, in the midst of all this we were told we needed a maid to look after mum when she gets discharged. The hospital was willing to train her so the quicker she was on board the better it would be. So I put in an application and thats when I realized how biased the maid system is against singles ( but thats another piece I shall address another time) . As I found out singles under 60 cannot get a maid. I had to apply for the maid under my mum's name. Complication number one; her address and mine are different. Complication number two she needs to have a bank account with $50,000 in it. I can;t just prove that I have the money to sustain the maid's employment. I just happened to have a joint savings account with my mum so I rushed down to the bank and deposited the money and because it would take a day for the check to clear I used the deposit slip as evidence that the money is in the account and submitted that with the application. The Ministry of Manpower obviously felt it was not good enough so the application was rejected. This time I was told to go to the bank to get a letter from them stating that the joint account did indeed have at least $ 50,000 in it. So I went down to the bank and was told that I needed to fill out a form and the letter would be ready in 24 hours. I told the clerk that it was urgent and I needed the letter no but she very politely told me that it was not possible. So, I filled out the form stating why I needed the letter etc and left . She said they would call me when the letter was ready and by the way, there was an administrative charge for the letter ( tacky). Two hours later I got a call from the bank asking me what I needed the letter for and to whom should they address the letter to. At that point I was just about ready to strangle someone. I told them that the letter was for a maid application and in my most sacarstic voice told the caller that I was doing it on behalf of my mother who is lying in a hospital bed unable to come to the bank to do it. I decided at this point to "pull some strings" so I sent an e-mail to a friend who is up there on the organizational ladder of the bank. I told her my "problems" making sure that I was not out to get anyone into trouble but that I thought the bank could have been more sympathetic and flexible in my situation. At 8.30pm that night I received a phone call from the bank branch Manager telling me he was dropping off the letter personally at my home and by the way there was no administrative charge! So again string pulling had worked.
Why does this need to be done at all? Surely our systems and service levels in Singapore have not deteriorated so much that you have to now rely on the kindness of friends, family and connections to get what you want? What about the average man in the street who does not have any strings to pull and is at the mercy of the system? Heaven help them.
I am now waiting for the approval on my second application for a maid for my mum. I am ready to pull some strings if I need to................by the way , anyone out there know any big guns in the Ministry of Manpower??!!