looks like somebody is reaping what he sowed:
Modernity without grace
Singaporeans are richer, smarter but short of something that makes
them a truly developed people.
By Seah Chiang Nee, littlespeck.com
Jan 27, 2008
FOR years image-conscious Singaporeans have been buying expensive
pedigree dogs and abandoning them shortly afterwards when they get
tired of them.
This perverse hobby is prevalent among the rising upper middle
class, which thinks nothing about throwing a few thousand dollars
on a high profile pet for their children and then discarding
it.
Every time a popular movie that features dogs whether Shepherds
or Dalmatians hits town, sales go up, invariably followed a year
or two later by more abandonment.
That would happen when they find out that the glamour of owning
these pets wears off after a while.
Animal organisations have had a hard time advising people about the
social responsibility of ownership and, when that fails, of looking
after their mistake.
The level of graciousness in Singapore, whether towards people or
animals, has improved through the years but lags the pace of its
economic progress.
With better education and numerous government campaigns,
Singaporeans are more courteous today than 40 years ago.
They spit less, cuss less and are generally more helpful to people
in need compared with the past.
But weighed against its ambition to become a vibrant global city,
Singapore is pathetically short in social graces.
Stories abound of bitter feuds between neighbours over petty
matters like a pair of shoes, housewives abusing their maids on a
daily basis, or road rage flared over a parking space.
Singaporeans still jump queue, litter public places, shove their
way into trains or cast racist remarks.
Many commuters do not give up their seats to a pregnant woman or a
senior citizen, said a student. They pretend to sleep when they
see one.
Another common complaint: Young people walk past you without a word
of thanks when you open the door for them, or talk loudly on the
mobile phone in a restaurant.
Smiling salesmen turn impolite when you bargain too hard or, worse,
leave without buying.
To be sure, boorish people are a minority. Most Singaporeans do act
responsibly and considerately, but there are enough rude,
ungracious people that cast a shadow over Singapores clean and
green image.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew does not believe that a gracious
society is achievable during his lifetime.
I will not see it. Maybe you will live long enough to see it. I
wish you well, Lee told an audience of diplomats, academics and
government leaders last week.
Even the British, with 150 years of lording over an empire and a
high level of culture, are still being invaded by football
hooligans; and new foreigners are coarsening their society, Lee
said.
So its very difficult to get a rough society onto a cultivated
plane, and its very easy to bring it down, he concluded.
For Singapore, the idea of a gracious society, where people are
considerate to one another, where you dont make more noise to
upset your neighbour than you need to, where you tell the other
motorist 'Please have the right of way', was hard to come by, he
added.
On a similar theme a few days later, Lee called for a cultural
renaissance in Singapore to the levels of Italy and Austria in 10
to 15 years.
If you go to Florence, Venice or Rome and see their churches and
museums, you will see sculptors and painters sitting outside trying
to copy Leonardo da Vinci. You know that was the beginning of the
renaissance, Lee said. That is a great civilisation.
These things take a long time to nurture, but Singapore was
achieving some success, referring to home-grown troupes featuring
traditional Indonesian and Chinese musical instruments.
The push for a cultivated society must be buttressed by economic
growth.
You cannot have a cultivated society if you have an underclass
sleeping under your bridges, in the (street) corners, or in the
parks; nor can you have your old abandoned, Lee added.
Some people say that, while pursuing economic growth, Lee had
neglected this area for too long, and its something that has to be
corrected urgently.
Several factors make Singapores task a difficult one.
Firstl, it is a small, overcrowded place where millions live in
tight apartments on top of one another a living that requires a
great deal of patience and tolerance.
Second, amid this sardine-packed environment is added a million new
foreigners, who bring with them their diverse habits, languages and
cultures with little bond or loyalty to the country.
Third, is the nature of Singaporeans. They are highly competitive
and kiasu, many of them tending to fight hard for their space in
society.
The older generation tends to be influenced by what Lee says and
does.
The trouble is that, in his earlier days, Lee often showed his
rough and arrogant ways when confronted by political rivals.
He often talked of breaking heads or meeting them with a
knuckle-duster in a back street.
He showed little graciousness towards people who disagreed with
him, one former journalist said.
Some of this arrogance has rubbed off on Singapores scholars and
better educated citizens who grew up with the belief that they had
to talk and act tough in order to impress.
Singapores longest serving senior civil servant, now retired,
Ngiam Tong Dow, said that many of Singapores civil servants
thought of themselves as mini Lee Kuan Yews.
The difference is that Lee had achieved much in history, not them,
he said. The same can be said of many Singaporean citizens as
well.