12/12/2005
quote of the week
'we must not create an environment where we have to pay extra for politeness, honesty, safety and cleanliness...while travelling in a taxi or shopping in a retail outlet.' by forumer jeffrey law lee beng in the today paper.
what is revealing here is that this mentality that everything is money, everything can be bought, has sunk in so deeply in the psychic of many people that it is becoming a part of them, of their thinking process, of their behaviour and decision making.
now you can't blame the people for wanting to be paid for their good service, for their smile and politeness, for their honesty, for doing a good job, for keeping the place clean and safe. what next?
shouldn't we be cultivating a people that is gracious, honest, polite, responsible etc as what is expected from a good and decent person? can we singaporeans be proud of any of these character traits that is part of them? or singaporeans did not have any of these, that they have to be paid to be good and decent, and honest and to do a good job?
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7 comments:
Singapore is going to be a soulless nation if this money-oriented trend continues. Everything is equated to dollars and cents.
One good example is to look at how our government justifies the obscene and super high salary she pay herself for looking after 4 million people in a small little island.
uh..err..i don't look at myself in the mirror often. even if i do, i always see a handsome and goodlooking bum smiling at me.
Hi redbean,
There is nothing wrong with money. It is what it is - a tool of exchange. In fact, money is necessary for in a modern economy, which supports life as we know it, money is the root of ALL good
check it out in Capitalism Magazine:
http://capmag.com/articlePrint.asp?ID=1826
What do you expect after 40 years of grilling into a super efficient machine of 4 million people with one purpose in life - making money and more money and never enough. Money is everything in Singapore and the Singaporeans are so money minded that if you continue along this path, you will charge me if I ask you for the time.
I have just returned from my little hometown in Malaysia. They unanimously condemn the Singaporeans as money grabbing, dirty and ugly. I personally do not entirely agree (only half agree) with my hometowners as my wife is a Singaporean. I do not wish to sleep in the car tonight.
money is essential for the nice things in life. but when is enough enough? and when are those who have more than enough say, ok, give a little to those poor buggers. share the pie a bit. or let them have a little of the crumbs or leftovers.
what we are seeing is this madness in grabbing as much as you can. on the other hand those who can are expected to beg.
what is the point of having a huge national reserves when it is not serving the interests to the larger population?
and they think they can get away with it forever?
National reserves is only to be used in emergencies only.
it all depends. how big is the reserve and what it is being used for?
cannot be another nkf type of mindset where the reserve should continue to pile up without any notion of what is enough and how much is enough. and present needs are sacrificed for future security.
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