Admittedly, the issue of reserved seats has been discussed at length in our society. But imposing a "S$5 fee for sitting on reserved MRT seats" (Dec 28) may not be a feasible solution to the current problem.
I agree with the writer that reserved seats are located for the convenience of pregnant women, the disabled, senior citizens and those with young children to get on and off the train with ease.
However, it could also apply to those who are feeling unwell.
Or what if there are two pregnant women and a senior citizen standing next to a reserved seat?
I am six-months pregnant and this happened to me during peak hour recently when I was in a cabin with another mother-to-be and a frail, old lady.
I had to ask a woman to give up a reserved seat to the old lady, who needed the seat most, I felt, among the three of us.
In such a situation, other passengers should give up their seats, too.
The point is that the act of giving up a seat, reserved or otherwise, is a beautiful gesture of social graciousness and responsibility, and imposing fines on people sitting in reserved seats would not send this message across or lead to a gracious society.
I have noticed in recent years that it is the elderly and those in equal need of a reserved seat who would give up the seat to the next needy person.
I am saddened to see teenagers and young adults who are often oblivious to those around them.
Education on this should start with parents. Social campaigns, the media and schools could complement proper upbringing.
In years to come, I believe that our society will learn and the giving up of seats will be second nature.
[Updated 30 Dec 2012] The Straits Times Managing Editor Han Fook Kwang has summed aptly up the despair state of the third world social behaviours in Singapore in an article titled "The dirty truth about Singapore". He started by giving an impression of a recent visit to Taiwan and was surprised to see the level social consciousness from active recycling, no littering, queuing up at the MRT, exceptional services etc despite the negative portray of Taiwan by our local media. He lamented the years of anti-littering message, lack of recycling and the lukewarm response to the "return your tray" and the "move to back of the buses" campaigns and concluded that it was not that the "Chinese" factor for bad behaviours, rather it is that the Singaporeans "don't feel strongly enough that they are one community ad will look after one another." Askmelah feels that what is left unsaid by the author is the constant import of immigrants and foreign workers make this place like a hotel rather than a home for its inhabitants. Before a social behaviour is entrenched, it will be disrupted when a new wave of immigrants and workers are brought in. Don't like it here? Migration is always an easy option, this is unlike the homogenous societies such as Japan, Taiwan and Korea where social consciousness rank very high despite its Asian origins.
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Littering penalties and fines being reviewed
Source: Todayonline, 16 Oct 2012
The National Environment Agency (NEA) is reviewing penalties and fines for those caught littering, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.
Responding to a motion tabled by Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah on the standard of cleanliness in Singapore, Dr Balakrishnan added that senior members of non-government organisations and grassroots organisations - armed with a warrant card and given proper training - could also be roped in to enforce against littering in the community. Last year, the NEA received 5,232 complaints about litterbugs, up from 4,449 in 2010.
Dr Lee had earlier shared with the House her experience of how bags of rubbish were collected in her Nee Soon South ward last Friday, after she told Town Council cleaners not to do any cleaning from 5pm onwards.
"I'm sure this is not uniue to Nee Soon South and it happens in a lot of places in Singapore," said Dr Lee. "And perhaps we have indeed become complacent."
Dr Lee said she used to "take delight" in hearing tourists and foreign friends express admiration over sparkling pavements here. Such a picture, however, is fading, she noted.
Citing a successful scheme implemented in Seoul, Dr Lee suggested that the authorities here could start a campaign, named "Shame on you litterbug", where citizens could post the culprit's "bizarre acts" online.
While Singapore has transformed itself through meticulous cleaning, public campaigns and strict enforcement in just over four decades, being known as a clean city internationally is not unique today, noted Dr Balakrishnan. He, however, stressed that being a clean city is "a source of competitive advantage" and "a badge of honour", which is something Singapore "cannot afford to backslide on".
Merely increasing fines or having more anti-littering public education messages broadcast on television will not be sufficient, said Dr Balakrishnan.
Rather, the authorities also need to work with MPs and community leaders to "create peer pressure" in maintaining a clean environment, he added. Amanda Lee
Have affluent, educated Singaporeans become too self-centred and insensitive to other people’s plights? Can Singapore be considered a First World city with such boorishness? A mature, developed country isn’t defined only by wealth and education; it is also about humanity and concern for others.
JUSTIFIABLY or not, the disastrous Sichuan earthquake has sparked off a re-look here at a Singaporean characteristic that overshadows his economic achievement.
In a TV interview, a tourist who just returned unhurt complained angrily about his encounter with airport delay and telephone breakdown at a time when the Chinese were frantically rescuing people.
One viewer commented: “He kept complaining bitterly as if the whole world owed him an explanation about the airport delay.”
Another added: “the man was practically shouting at the camera. His behaviour was really shocking.”
In the face of the terrible suffering, the middle-aged Singaporean’s insensitive complaint about his personal inconvenience spread consternation and a sense of shame among viewers.
It highlighted a trait often attributed to affluent, educated Singaporeans that they have become too self-centred and insensitive to other people’s plights.
After years of social campaigns, tales still abound of people rushing for train seats or refusing to give one up to the elderly, ill treatment of maids, littering or inconsiderate driving.
The Singaporean tourist, instead of lending a helping hand, was fuming about his own safety – even after he was safely back home.
“Typical ugly Singaporean the sort that makes other people dislike us – totally self-centred,” said a blogger.
Others disagree, with one defending it as a normal reaction for a foreigner desperate to escape quickly. “He may have put it badly, but he was scared and obviously wanted to return to his family,” he said.
“Realistically speaking, not every one can be highly principled about helping in a disaster in a foreign country,” he added.
Most, however, condemned his insensitivity. “It reflects the overall selfishness and self-centredness of middle-class Singaporeans,” said ‘investor’.
“My general impression is that they are the second most selfish and self-centred people in Asia, next only to Hong Kongers.”
The debate raised the question whether Singapore could be considered a First World city with such boorishness.
A mature, developed country isn’t defined only by wealth and education; it is also about humanity and concern for others.
Several days earlier, a girl who refused to give up a seat (meant for the elderly and the handicapped) to a pregnant woman, called her a “bitch” because she had stared at her and shook her head.
Some blame it on the environment, especially an elitist, each-man-for-himself mentality.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch” is a theme that has been drilled into every child and adult. A whole generation has grown up believing that if Singaporeans get into trouble, they can expect no help from anyone.
It may be a good teaching for a small city without resources, but it has also spawned an antithesis: If you can expect no help from others, you also do not need to care for others.
“Living in a society where only money talks makes all of us less human and less caring,” says ‘Anonymous’.
Another writer said he was a typically an apathetic, uncaring Singaporean until he went to live in the United States.
“Two years into my stay there and having been offered help by plenty of strangers on the street, I found myself doing the same,” he said.
“The typical Singaporean reaction when they are offered unsolicited help is a suspicious glare. Certainly not encouraging to would-be helpers,” he added.
The person who has the single biggest influence on how Singaporeans think and behave is Lee Kuan Yew. Many of the current leaders and civil servants as well as older Singaporeans, emulate him.
The Minister Mentor has never been too concerned about his own – or Singapore’s – popularity as much as its interests. Giving charity to countries in need, for example, has rarely been its forte.
The political elite, followed by and large by the citizenry, takes after Lee’s generally no-welfare, harshly competitive and unsentimental leadership.
Last year, the “survival of the fittest” type view, believed to prevail among the top elites, burst into a public furore following remarks made by the scholar-daughter of a government MP.
Condemning a young professional, Derek Wee, who wrote about the pressures faced by the common people, the student, Wee Shu Min lambasted the critic as wretched, an idiot and “leech”.
She appeared to be defending the class divide in Singapore or “a tyranny of the capable and the clever” saying that “the only other class is the complement.”
She ended by telling Derek: “Please, get out of my elite uncaring face.”
Her MP father criticised her intemperate language, but supported some of her sentiments expressed.
A nationwide condemnation ensued.
The issue would have ended there if it were just regarded as a teenager’s rants. It was more than that.
Because Shu Min was a scholar designed for a possible leadership role and daughter of a People’s Action Party MP (from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s constituency), it instantly became a political hot potato.
The critics said it reflected a government perception that a class divide was inevitable and may even be necessary to encourage people to strive harder in life.
The target of her invective, Derek Wee, was actually echoing a popular public sentiment when he said Singaporeans were suffering partly because the government failed to understand their plight.
Shu Min’s message was that failures were caused by laziness or lack of capabilities, which the persons themselves were responsible – with no words of support or care for those in need.
More report can be found here.
Other incidents of ugly commuters in Singapore reported on Stomps!
Source: The Straits Times 7 Jul 2012
TRAVELLERS complaining about the shortcomings of budget carriers should be aware that these airlines can offer low prices only by standardising their products, which are essentially seats and weight allowances, which can be chargeable, for hand-carried and check-in luggage ('No solution from budget airline despite 10 calls, two hours' talk time' by Mr David Yeo, Forum Online, yesterday; and 'Budget airline's extra charge for wheelchair users is unfair' by Mr Colin Michael Poole; Tuesday).
Their modus operandi is similar to that of fast-food restaurants, which offer relatively affordable and standardised products.
The fees charged by budget airlines for non-standard services, such as bulky luggage or wheelchair passenger facilitation, bear out the principle of uniformity of budget airlines.
I doubt budget carriers station their own staff in overseas stations as station managers. The job is likelier to be outsourced. This also means that the role of such representatives is restricted to narrower confines.
Travellers with 'non-typical' luggage, which is best understood as anything not in the form of a travel case or bag, such as prams, wheelchairs, bulky consumer electronic products and sports equipment, are better served by full service, or legacy, airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.
Such airlines charge a premium because of the resources they commit to meeting passengers' needs, from employing their own staff at overseas stations to handling almost all manner of check-in luggage.
Finally, travellers should note that budget carriers typically offer low prices for advance ticket purchases. Booking closer to the travel date, the price advantage budget carriers offer is diminished, or negligible.
However, this long-term commitment is not necessarily reciprocated by the airlines due to their high plane use; a delay in one flight will affect subsequent flights since the same aircraft is used. A spare plane and back-up crew for service recovery are rarely available for quick deployment.
Alvin Tan
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Not sure what are these ugly Singaporeans are thinking, I am sure there will be a revolt if all our employers cut back our current 2-day leave to 1 day per week.
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]]>The particular EGM was a shareholders' meeting to elect a new group of directors, some ugly scenes witnessed that are simply mind boggling:
Such is the "first world" behaviour! While I can understand if they are poor and desperate, but no! These are savvy investors who can afford to buy shares and probably lots of shares! I am speechless......
]]>"How sad! There are citizens amongst us who do not appreciate such priceless facilities for our own aged parents, relatives and friends living amongst us. There are citizens who want to fully utilize such facilities but refuse to live near them fearing that their property prices might be affected!" - Gin Tai
It is getting more than a little bit out of hand and sometimes fuelled by the Kiasu attitude of the MPs to accommodate such nonsense. We are not talking about building a nuclear plant or a graveyard here, the latest episode is the residents in Woodlands Street 83 petitioned against the setting up of an eldercare centre at the void decks of Blocks 860 and 861. Some disingenuous residents complained of potential impact on the property prices, the possible rises in death cases, the parking woe etc are plain rubbish. But one resident has a point, there is no lack of vacant places everywhere, why take away their little spaces left, for once I agree and the Government has a lot to explain why they left so much vacant spaces empty for decades while encroaching citizens' fast disappearing communal space.
[Updated 27 Aug 2012] One parent was angry his child was given homework during the school holidays, while another was upset that his child was not. An elderly resident urged the Government to quickly build an elder care facility in his estate "before more people object", while a young man wanted an entire school to be relocated because it was too noisy. These are some situations Education Minister Heng Swee Keat has encountered since he entered politics last year. He said: "Some ... make me worry; some lift my spirit. But each raises an important question about our future. In the fight for space, will our elderly be pushed out? Will our young succeed here, or do they have to emigrate? Will we have citizens who seek to contribute, or will they just advance their own interests?" (Source: Todayonline "National conversation must be inclusive")
"Our void decks are fast disappearing, and along with it the feeling of open space... there's also the issue of overcrowding, which leads to an increase in social tension."-Colin Tan
"After years of the Government championing asset enhancement in the value of flats, owners have bought into the idea that their homes are a source of investment for monetary gain." - Wong Say Ming
"The old folk will be groaning right into my home". - Bernard Lau, who lives in Block 182 Bishan
Other ridiculous episodes of the "not in my backyard" fiascos include:
- Aug 2012: At Ang Mo Kio St 52, some residents of a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project are upset over plans to build a BTO project less than 50 metres from their development. some of the residents at Park Central - who obtained the keys to their homes less than a year ago - include the dust and noise that would be generated, and whether there are sufficient amenities, including car park lots, to cater to another cluster of flats. (see Park Central, a sign of self-centredness?)
- May 2012: The MOH plans to build a six-to-eight storey nursing home in Bishan St 13. A group of residents who live in the three blocks directly facing the proposed site in front of Block 181 have petitioned against the plan, citing various reasons such has Blockage of airflow, overcongestion and too near a school. (see also "Majority of residents support nursing home plan")
- May 2012: Residents at Jalan Batu, an estate near Mountbatten Road, raised their concerns over a proposed expansion of an existing daily rehabilitation centre at a dialogue session with their Member of Parliament, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, in May. (Source)
- Apr 2012: Some HDB residents near Little India want to bar foreign workers (of Indian descent) from loitering in their void decks (Source). Askmelah's Note: they don't call Little India for nothing. These residents want the prime location yet don't want the nuisance. They should not have applied to buy these public houses from the Government in the first place and there are many Singaporeans will be dying to take their places (and the "nuisance"). As the writer rightly pointed out: "it was not so long ago when upper-crust clubs in Singapore displayed "No dogs and Chinese" signs, which we rightly find appalling today. Putting up permanent barriers to keep foreigners away from void decks is just as abominable."
- 2012: Some Toh Yi residents opposed the building of studio apartments for the elderly in their estate.
- 2011: A (or all?) water tank was replaced where a dead body was found. I wonder how if the Bedok residents also campaign to clean the entire reservoir now that there are more than 7 deaths found in the last one year?
- 2011: Residents of the Maplewoods condominium also came together to oppose the siting of a launch shaft for the construction of the Downtown Line in front of their property.
- 2008 - over reaction to the building of a dormitory for foreign workers in Serangoon Garden estate. The episode could have caused the downfall of a minister and MP of that estate Ms Lim Hwee Hua.
- 2007 - No funeral parlours in Sin Min estate.
- A few years ago, a proposal to build a communal hospital was protested by residents in a housing estate (Ang Mo Kio?).
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What message are we sending to the young? There are easy money to be made? No need to work hard, just queue. As one "queuer" said" "ten dollar an hour is quite good because you are not doing heavy work. I've done service-related jobs at restaurants and the rate is abut $7 an hour."
There should be a law to ban such ugly and disgraceful practice!
Agents vying for Bedok Residences enlist their help on part-time basis
Source: Todayonline 23Nov2011
The appointed marketing agent for Bedok Residences has come out to explain why there were students being paid by agents to stand in line.
The project - a development by CapitaLand - will be launched today. But since Sunday, a queue had formed, with students (picture) spotted among the hundreds of people who have been queueing.
Contacted by Today, ERA Realty key executive Eugene Lim said: "Agents can only queue for one space and they might have more than one buyer so they have to get people to help them out in the queue."
He added: "The reason why there are students in the queue is because it is the school holidays and they see this as a part-time job."
According to ERA, the queue had been forming since Sunday. As of yesterday, there were about 500 people in the queue, ERA added.
Mr Lim noted it was not possible to determine how many of those in the queue were teenagers hired by agents as some of them could be relatives of genuine buyers.
Meals are provided by the agents and as there is security, it is safe for the teenagers, Mr Lim noted.
"They are doing what they would usually do at home, playing on their phones or computers, and by sitting in the queue they get to earn money," said Mr Lim.
ERA also said that they had done an audit at midnight on Tuesday to ensure that all Ministry of Manpower guidelines on the age limit for part-time employment were strictly being adhered to. ERA staff also performed an identification card check on those in the queue.
According to Mr Lim, only those over the age of 16 had been queuing overnight. Younger replacements - aged 13 to 15 years - relieved them in the day.
He said that the students are mainly personal contacts of the agents and are mostly Singaporeans. The rate at which they are paid varies and is determined by the different deals struck by the agents and the students. They are paid either on an hourly basis or on a project basis, said Mr Lim.