Over the years, the level of
graciousness among Singaporeans has improved, said Emeritus Senior
Minister Goh Chok Tong on Sunday.
Speaking as the guest of honour at the
first Singapore Kindness Movement conference, Goh noted that the
habit of spitting in public is not as widely visible and common as
compared to the past years.
He also observed that Singaporeans have
grown more polite when speaking on their mobile phones at the
public places, albeit there are still cases of people being
inconsiderate.
“In my view, I think we have become more
gracious,” said the former prime minister.
The Member of Parliament also mooted the
idea of creating a “4G Home” which stands for “Great, Gracious,
Generous and Green home” for the whole of the Marine Parade group
representation constituency, which he represents.
This movement could later on be extended to
the other parts of the country, he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for National
Development and Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin, who is also MP for the GRC,
said that Singaporeans can choose to be kind and gracious or not to
those around them.
“We all make those choices every day. How
we treat our family members, how we treat our neighbours. When we
walk out and we see them, do we smile? Do we greet them? When we
know they’re rushing, do we hold the lift for them,” he
asked.
“All these little actions doesn’t cost you
anything,” he pointed out, adding that doing such acts of kindness
would eventually become second nature in people if done
regularly.
Tan also reminded parents that they also
had a role to play in instilling positive values in their children.
For instance, he said that the way parents interact in public could
have an influence on the behaviour of their
children.
“Do we as parents pay attention to the way
we talk in front of our children, the comments we pass about the
neighbours, about people out there. We are sometimes very loose in
the way we way talk,” he said.
William Wan, general secretary of the
Singapore Kindness Movement Council, also stressed that the
kindness movement is not a top-down but more of a bottom-up
approach.
“This is a movement; this is not a
government thing. This should be a people thing,” he
said.
And this year’s campaign theme “Say Thanks,
Make Someone’s Day” aims to ensure that Singaporeans are able to
participate even through the simplest act of kindness, he
said.
The conference was held in conjunction with
the World Kindness Day which will kick off at Orchard Road on
Sunday. Around 30,000 yellow gerbera daisies will be given out to
the public and they are encouraged to spread the idea and pass it
whenever they witness any act of kindness.
