Taking full responsibility

The CEO of DBS Bank said that his bank will "take full responsibility" for the 7 hour failure of ATM and other banking services. What do these words "take full responsibility" mean? Is the bank giving monetary compensation to their customers who have been inconvenienced by the failure of the services? Will they be making a big donation to charity or paying a hefty fine?

In Japan, "takes full responsibility" means a full public apology followed by the immediate resignation of the president of the company. In older days, the responsible person is expected to undergo harakiri, a painful process of suicide by cutting off the stomach.

In Singapore, it is easy to utter these hollow words and there will be no consequence. I do not wish to have anybody punished seriously for an unfortunate mistake, but I wish to see credibility and integrity - and that words that have been uttered should coincide with appropriate action.

Tan Kin Lian