Letter to the Editor | Ugly & bad behaviour in civilised society and first-world country like Singapore

Dear Editor,

I read with disappointment about Auntie uses bus handlebar as footrest; commuter urges bus captain to call police (Jan 9) on The Independent Singapore news.

Undesirable, ugly or bad behaviours are quite often noticed in the civilised society and the first world country like Singapore. For example,

Burnt sugarcane left on a pathway: Netizen says, ‘the rubbish bin is just five metres away. What’s wrong with people?’ (TISG, Jan 31)

Delivery rider disappointed after getting S$0.90 tip from customer, says ‘please learn about tipping rules in Singapore’ (TISG, Feb 3)

Besides, we frequently see toilets have been dirtied at the wet markets, hawker centres, leisure parks, petrol kiosks and various shopping malls.

On our roads and expressways, we often notice “Road competition” such as speeding and cutting lanes without signalling, tailgating and failure to give way.

And then we have people making disparaging, baseless and unfair comments on someone’s article or even condemning someone on social media (such as on their Facebook or Twitter profile/pages).

Our public transport and private hire vehicle drivers are more easily prone to be verbally abused by their passengers as the identity of the passengers is kept confidential by the rider app platforms/operators. On the other hand, some drivers also conduct or have attitudes and behaviours that can be inappropriate, undesirable, or unacceptable to passengers.

All these only highlight an individual’s cultivation and his/her upbringing. Simultaneously, they also expose the ugliness of human nature – selfishness, self-centredness, stinginess, and improvidence. Thus, have we reached the stage of social gracefulness after our independence for a few decades?

We must foster and build a strong culture of tolerance and inclusiveness so that our society/country can gradually progress to the notable height of first-world standards.

Teo Kueh Liang

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Independent Singapore.

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