AFTER striving for 10 years, Singapore has made made it back to the top 10 ranking for customer orientation in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say announced the good news at an annual excellent awards ceremony on Thursday morning.

Going foward, the challenge is to maintain and better the ranking, said Mr Lim, who is also the NTUC chief.

Sentose Luge Company's supervisor Lee Xun Zhong and Sheraton Towers Singapore assistant manager of food and beverage Michelle Ee are among the 10 winners who received their SuperStar Excellent Service Awards Mr Lim at the presentation at Suntec Singapore.

Both have gone out of their way to attend to customers needs.

Although Mr Lee's job was just to look after the rides at the attraction, he spent over an hour after work driving around Sentosa island helping a worried tourist track down her two young sons who went missing.

Eventually, he found the lost kids and drove the reunited family back to their hotel.

For Ms Ee, the extent to which she was willing to serve a customer won her the award. Once at the Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant where she works, a customer's baby soiled his diaper but forgot to bring extras. She managed to get a diaper from another diner who had a baby in tow.

The annual awards are given to 10 outstanding individuals who stand out from the rest for their great service. This year's winners were selected from 13,952 nominations. A total of 358 companies participated in the awards this year.