Public phone

All along I feel Singapore is very efficient and convenient in many areas until today. The public phones problem in Singapore is really bad! Today I went out with a friend and he needs to go off for a while. Then, I realised my handphone is flat and so I want to look for a public phone to call him. But what the hell?! I cannot find one in sight! Terrible! After walking for a while around the neighbourhood, finally found 3 public phones cluster together. But what the hell x 2?! None of them is a coin operated phone! So I run to nearby 7-eleven to purchase a phone card. But what the hell x 3?! The sales person asked me:"You want a Singtel one or Starhub one?" I say:"What is the diff?" She said:"Singtel one can only use on Singtel phone. Starhub one can only use on Starhub phone." What happen to the old one-for-all phone card? In the end, I bought the Starhub one cos it looks nicer and cheaper (starts at $5 value as compared to Singtel $10). I am wondering if I happen to be a tourist, I will be a dead meat.