I have heard about Asian hospitality and how we Asians are a courteous bunch of people. Rich in the traditional belief of filial piety and respecting our elders. But even though these praises have been heaped on us, it seems that it has failed to manifest in our Singapore.
I was taking a bus the other day and as usual the lack of punctuality in our bus services led to a very crowded bus. Well the bus ride was half way done when and elderly couple got on the bus. When I say elderly, I don't mean 40 year old elderly, I mean 60 year old elderly. Well you could tell that they probably would not last the bus ride standing up (They had trouble already getting on board let alone standing there).
Yet as usual everyone sitting on the bus acted as though they were 'busy' with something, no matter how trivial that something is. I mean, how would inspecting the wires of your phone constitute to doing something that would not let you see 2 elderly people struggling to stand up and looking for a seat? Well, peeved at this I gave up my seat- which was close to the front- which the elderly person gladly accepted. Well it took another bus stop before the guy next to me-Mr wire inspector- to follow suite.
Well I guess there are 2 observations from this:
#1: The lack of compassion or thinking of the needs of others
#2: The obvious hesitance to do the right thing even when someone else has led the way.
Now all you older Singaporeans (30 and 40 year old), you have constantly complained on those reality talk shows that the youths of Singapore are without manners and without any courtesy. Well, shame on you. You don't even practice what you preach. Not only do you not set a good example for the young to follow, but you also fail to practice it when someone has already led the way. Tsk tsk tsk. I hope I do not grow up to become like you people.
Now some of you people may be going 'hey those older people may have legitimate reasons for not giving up'. Well if there was such a reason I did not see it. O maybe it could be that they needed to shop for a long time later and needed to rest their legs that sit on those Gucci slippers. Or could it be that their 3 inch heels will be spoil it they are stood on for too long. Could it be that it is too difficult to juggle both listening to your i-pod, to text message and hold the bus rails at the same time? Trivial and superficial nonsense!
There is something called the 'order of priorities'. What it means is that one should do something if the benefit is greater than the other. To apply this to this illustration. We all have reason to remain on our seats. Even I did. But the point of the mater is, we need to weigh our reason to the priority of others who need it more. I am certain that it does not require a rocket scientist to tell you that the reason why the elderly couple needed the seat is better than any reason that you could conjure up. Yet, you do nothing.
Imagine if everyone was like this. How 'fun' will it will be. The buses will probably watching something from a dystopian movie.Where the old are sideline and made to be at the mercy of the young. Where no one on the streets says 'hi' to each other and walk along their merry way shoving and pushing anyone that may stand in their way. Where no one goes 'excuse me' and how they sneeze or cough without covering their mouths. For the discerning few, you will realize that this is happening right now! How unfortunate for our society.
What I am emphasizing here is that we need to be more sensitive to the needs of others. How does one say that we are civilized when basic empathy and manners are missing. This is not civilized behavior, this is rabid animalistic nature! A winner take all mentality, a completely self centered nature. We need to change this, I challenge you to take the first step.
I was taking a bus the other day and as usual the lack of punctuality in our bus services led to a very crowded bus. Well the bus ride was half way done when and elderly couple got on the bus. When I say elderly, I don't mean 40 year old elderly, I mean 60 year old elderly. Well you could tell that they probably would not last the bus ride standing up (They had trouble already getting on board let alone standing there).
Yet as usual everyone sitting on the bus acted as though they were 'busy' with something, no matter how trivial that something is. I mean, how would inspecting the wires of your phone constitute to doing something that would not let you see 2 elderly people struggling to stand up and looking for a seat? Well, peeved at this I gave up my seat- which was close to the front- which the elderly person gladly accepted. Well it took another bus stop before the guy next to me-Mr wire inspector- to follow suite.
Well I guess there are 2 observations from this:
#1: The lack of compassion or thinking of the needs of others
#2: The obvious hesitance to do the right thing even when someone else has led the way.
Now all you older Singaporeans (30 and 40 year old), you have constantly complained on those reality talk shows that the youths of Singapore are without manners and without any courtesy. Well, shame on you. You don't even practice what you preach. Not only do you not set a good example for the young to follow, but you also fail to practice it when someone has already led the way. Tsk tsk tsk. I hope I do not grow up to become like you people.
Now some of you people may be going 'hey those older people may have legitimate reasons for not giving up'. Well if there was such a reason I did not see it. O maybe it could be that they needed to shop for a long time later and needed to rest their legs that sit on those Gucci slippers. Or could it be that their 3 inch heels will be spoil it they are stood on for too long. Could it be that it is too difficult to juggle both listening to your i-pod, to text message and hold the bus rails at the same time? Trivial and superficial nonsense!
There is something called the 'order of priorities'. What it means is that one should do something if the benefit is greater than the other. To apply this to this illustration. We all have reason to remain on our seats. Even I did. But the point of the mater is, we need to weigh our reason to the priority of others who need it more. I am certain that it does not require a rocket scientist to tell you that the reason why the elderly couple needed the seat is better than any reason that you could conjure up. Yet, you do nothing.
Imagine if everyone was like this. How 'fun' will it will be. The buses will probably watching something from a dystopian movie.Where the old are sideline and made to be at the mercy of the young. Where no one on the streets says 'hi' to each other and walk along their merry way shoving and pushing anyone that may stand in their way. Where no one goes 'excuse me' and how they sneeze or cough without covering their mouths. For the discerning few, you will realize that this is happening right now! How unfortunate for our society.
What I am emphasizing here is that we need to be more sensitive to the needs of others. How does one say that we are civilized when basic empathy and manners are missing. This is not civilized behavior, this is rabid animalistic nature! A winner take all mentality, a completely self centered nature. We need to change this, I challenge you to take the first step.
