Courtesy campaigns have not yielded results. We need to press
on
http://www.straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,356425,00.html?
We are supposed to give our seats to senior citizens on buses and
MRT trains.
Yet I have observed many times on the buses that our senior
citizens put their shopping bags on the seat next to them. This
prevents other people from sitting. Students tend to do this too
with their school bags.
In Australia, commuters on buses and trains are reminded not to
place any baggage on empty seats. I hope the SBS will do this
too.
As our society progresses, it is sad that we become more
indifferent to our neighbours' need. This could be the result of
living in a concrete jungle, compared to the good old days of
kampong-living. We hardly mix with our neighbours, especially in
HDB apartments.
Only a handful of residents join in the activities of the RCs and
NCs. Hence the social behaviour to share and be considerate with
our fellow neighbours is lacking.
This inadvertently develops into self-centredness. My rights are
more important than others and I'll do what I want regardless of
the environment. It's a decadence of social courtesy. It's
shameful.
Our national courtesy campaign each year yields little results. It
is like when the traffic police are around, most drivers behave but
when they aren't around, the drivers' true colour reveals.
It takes two to tango. Senior citizens should show an exemplary
example to the young. The schools should emphasise social etiquette
with regard to the students' behaviour on buses and MRT
trains.
The younger generation will be the senior citizens one day. The
cycle is never ending. Eventually we may achieve a graceful society
of courteous citizens.
Patrick Lee Song Juan
====
The next time a guy tries to rush into the train before I can
alight, I am going to step on his foot with my high heals.
