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June 21, 2006
As a Singaporean, I felt embarrassed to read Mr Bill Toppin's letter 'Need to address lack of common courtesy' (ST, June 19).
I don't know what it is but after 40 years of nation-building and rapid economic growth, we as a nation remain oblivious to the things that others consider as common courtesy.
Everyday we let instances of anti-social behaviour pass as if they are perfectly normal.
We are a highly educated country that sees nothing wrong with people barging into the trains and buses before the alighting commuters get off.
We are a society that proclaims to respect our elders because of our Asian values and yet fit and healthy young people slouch in their seats instead of giving them up to the old and frail.
It's not as if our nation lacks a basic understanding of what constitutes courtesy. We've had decades of courtesy campaigns that were designed to tell people how to behave decently.
Yet none of the campaigns seems to have worked because Singaporeans seem oblivious to courteous behaviour and we need the occasional foreigner to tell us about it.
Some may argue that Mr Toppin as a foreigner does not understand Singapore culture. This is a spurious argument. Surely Singaporeans should be mature enough to realise that tolerating anti-social behaviour benefits nobody.
If such behaviour is part of our culture, we should be intelligent enough to change it. Decent behaviour makes life more pleasant for everyone.
Perhaps we could have more campaigns but since these seemed to have failed, what else is there for us to do? One suggestion is to punish anti-social behaviour in the penal system.
Fines and public humiliation seem to be effective in keeping Singapore clean and it may be effective in making Singaporeans behave properly.
But wouldn't it be a sad day if Singaporeans act decently only with the threat of government sanctions?
Tang Li
Copyright: Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (C) 2006
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