I DISAGREE with Mr Phillip Tan Fong Lip that Singaporeans "are more gracious today than in the past" ("Don't be too quick to paint poor picture of S'poreans"; last Tuesday).
I grew up in a neighbourhood where doors were locked only at night, where one mother looked after children from an entire floor in an HDB block, where neighbourhood gangsters protected all the children from the block, even encouraging the studious ones to do well in school, where people were poor but didn't think twice about sharing a dollar or a cup of sugar, rice or milk with their neighbours.
Being kind and gracious was in our DNA. There was no campaign for it and certainly no Kindness Movement.
There are more sightings, more reports and more video clips of rude and inconsiderate Singaporeans today because there are more rude and inconsiderate Singaporeans today. And the number keeps growing, proving that education and self-awareness are non-starters in the era of "me, myself and I".
Just take a walk around town or your own neighbourhood.
You are more likely to come across lone Singaporeans occupying a table meant for four and continuing to be glued to their mobile phones while families with children and elderly relatives wait for seats.
You are more likely to come across Singaporeans being impatient as they wait for their turn, demanding that they be served or their complaints be taken seriously or else. And you are more likely to come across Singaporeans being rude to service staff, even adopting a condescending tone at the slightest inconvenience. Let's not even get started on what happens on public trains, buses, carparks and cinemas.
Singapore may be 50 years old this year, but more of us are like selfie-obsessed and self-serving tweens in the social media age.
Anand A. Vathiyar
I grew up in a neighbourhood where doors were locked only at night, where one mother looked after children from an entire floor in an HDB block, where neighbourhood gangsters protected all the children from the block, even encouraging the studious ones to do well in school, where people were poor but didn't think twice about sharing a dollar or a cup of sugar, rice or milk with their neighbours.
Being kind and gracious was in our DNA. There was no campaign for it and certainly no Kindness Movement.
There are more sightings, more reports and more video clips of rude and inconsiderate Singaporeans today because there are more rude and inconsiderate Singaporeans today. And the number keeps growing, proving that education and self-awareness are non-starters in the era of "me, myself and I".
Just take a walk around town or your own neighbourhood.
You are more likely to come across lone Singaporeans occupying a table meant for four and continuing to be glued to their mobile phones while families with children and elderly relatives wait for seats.
You are more likely to come across Singaporeans being impatient as they wait for their turn, demanding that they be served or their complaints be taken seriously or else. And you are more likely to come across Singaporeans being rude to service staff, even adopting a condescending tone at the slightest inconvenience. Let's not even get started on what happens on public trains, buses, carparks and cinemas.
Singapore may be 50 years old this year, but more of us are like selfie-obsessed and self-serving tweens in the social media age.
Anand A. Vathiyar
