I would like to register my agreement with all those who've advocated or implied that we should all be heading towards ICAO standards, something that I foolishly thought we all did anyway!
I've listened into a number of web sites where you can hear ATC comms and in some cases, I've hardly been able to understand what's going on, and this after 25 years in the job. It only seems right that all ATCOs, no matter where we are, should be positively encouraging a much higher standard of comms, setting the bar higher, so to speak, and then enforcing them in our 6-monthly checks. An almost impossible dream in our part of the world, but one that is going to have to be more seriously looked at in light of the huge growth in movements here.
To all the guys and gals that we serve in the air, please don't take this as a cheap pot shot, or another us vs them thread. I'm only asking that we take pride in our collective efforts to get the travelling public safely to their destinations and this topic is one that really needs to be addressed in order that we don't needlessly endanger anyone. We don't have the right to insist that we can use our own methodologies in radio comms because of our personalities or temperaments or the need to sound cool or friendly.
Bottom line, we're paid to be professionals and, even after all these years, I still want to be a better controller.