Sometimes I wonder, are Singaporeans too engrossed in our pursuit of material gains and possession that we sometimes tend to neglect those who need more help than us?
Things that I saw recently seem to tell me so.
I take the MRT very often. In fact, it's so often that I always see the ugly side of many Singaporeans. And the scary thing is that I see more bad than good.
1st Incident
Last sturday on my way to meet des and drew. I got into the train at tanah merah station. There were no seats available but my eyes were drawn to 4 SAF recruits on the seats. Nothing wrong with that, people would say. Yup I agree too.
But but
As the train approached the city, more and more people got onto the train. At Paya Lebar station, an old couple(walking canes!) got into the train. Nobody got up. Not even the recruits. After a while, a seemingly elderly man, probably about 50 odd years old got up and gave his seat to the husband of the elderly couple. The elderly woman remained standing till tanjong pagar. No one else offered his/her seats. The recruits continued chatting, totally nonchalant about the elderly woman.
Oh ya I was standing all these while.
Just when you thought it looked bad enough, things got worse.
At the next stop, a lady and her 2 young kids got into the same carriage. Nobody offered their seats again! I got off at outram park so I didn't know what happened afterward.
2nd Incident
I was returning from camp. Went there to submit a specialist letter to my MO. Again the incident took place onboard the MRT.
I boarded the train at clementi station. The train was the newer one, so it had less seats. The seats were all taken up so I had to stand. Passengers sitting were a good mix of young working adults and some elderly.
Train reached commonwealth station. A few elderly people(60 plus years old) got in. A man reading a book, presumably in his thirties, as if the elderly people had a 'sleeping curse' on them, fell asleep immediately. A lady which I think was in her twenties, started reading her Today newspaper, trying to ignore the situation. Others who didn't exactly looked disabled couldn't even bother to offer help.
At the point in time when the two incidents occurred, I could help but felt angry. Angry that our education system has not been able to teach the right moral values to our citizens. Angry that my generation of Singaporeans do no understand the need to help others. Where was the compassion and kindness? We can make millions of dollars of donations to charity show but we cannot even give up our seats to the elderly?
I'm not a saint and I've erred many times in my life but I for one, always give up my seat to anyone who I feel needs it. Even during my recruit days, I always insist on giving up my seat to the needy beacuse I feel that I need to do it not just as a fellow citizen but also as a role of a protector.
If the soldiers cannot even give up their seat now, would you expect them to protect the people in times of war?
Things that I saw recently seem to tell me so.
I take the MRT very often. In fact, it's so often that I always see the ugly side of many Singaporeans. And the scary thing is that I see more bad than good.
1st Incident
Last sturday on my way to meet des and drew. I got into the train at tanah merah station. There were no seats available but my eyes were drawn to 4 SAF recruits on the seats. Nothing wrong with that, people would say. Yup I agree too.
But but
As the train approached the city, more and more people got onto the train. At Paya Lebar station, an old couple(walking canes!) got into the train. Nobody got up. Not even the recruits. After a while, a seemingly elderly man, probably about 50 odd years old got up and gave his seat to the husband of the elderly couple. The elderly woman remained standing till tanjong pagar. No one else offered his/her seats. The recruits continued chatting, totally nonchalant about the elderly woman.
Oh ya I was standing all these while.
Just when you thought it looked bad enough, things got worse.
At the next stop, a lady and her 2 young kids got into the same carriage. Nobody offered their seats again! I got off at outram park so I didn't know what happened afterward.
2nd Incident
I was returning from camp. Went there to submit a specialist letter to my MO. Again the incident took place onboard the MRT.
I boarded the train at clementi station. The train was the newer one, so it had less seats. The seats were all taken up so I had to stand. Passengers sitting were a good mix of young working adults and some elderly.
Train reached commonwealth station. A few elderly people(60 plus years old) got in. A man reading a book, presumably in his thirties, as if the elderly people had a 'sleeping curse' on them, fell asleep immediately. A lady which I think was in her twenties, started reading her Today newspaper, trying to ignore the situation. Others who didn't exactly looked disabled couldn't even bother to offer help.
At the point in time when the two incidents occurred, I could help but felt angry. Angry that our education system has not been able to teach the right moral values to our citizens. Angry that my generation of Singaporeans do no understand the need to help others. Where was the compassion and kindness? We can make millions of dollars of donations to charity show but we cannot even give up our seats to the elderly?
I'm not a saint and I've erred many times in my life but I for one, always give up my seat to anyone who I feel needs it. Even during my recruit days, I always insist on giving up my seat to the needy beacuse I feel that I need to do it not just as a fellow citizen but also as a role of a protector.
If the soldiers cannot even give up their seat now, would you expect them to protect the people in times of war?
posted by Geng at 11:10 AM
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