The Japanese are exemplary in pride in service or anything that they do. They will sweep the streets around their homes to keep it spotlessly clean. As an artisan or worker, they take great pride in their work and services. The British used to, or still have their high end butlers, impeccably dressed and well mannered, controlled and a bit snobbish, but providing an excellent service to their paymasters.
The closest that Singaporeans can come to this class of service is the taxi drivers. But not every taxi drivers, but those limousine drivers, with their long sleeves and ties. They are providing a service quite similar to the butlers, well mannered, well dressed, polite and willing to serve. I think that will be my next job.
There is another qualification for this group of professional taxi service. Most of them are likely to be ex PMETs and even with tertiary qualifications. They are unemployable under the current job market condition, and have no choice but to make a decent living in the best way they could. And they still have pride, and pride in what they could offer.
Don’t compare them with the ordinary uneducated and uncouth taxi drivers that would run you down if you are not careful. And they would share with you their stale tobacco smell with their cigarette butts left in a tin inside the cab.
Pride in service is not easy to develop among the lesser educated. But we will get there when more graduates start to drive taxis. And as a profession, they would not mind fetching the foreign talents everywhere, including the ladies to Geylang, to Orchard Road or Botanic Garden. This will help in our process towards a more graceful society.
In Singapore, it's not only the limo drivers who have this pride to serve well. Our ministers and ex-ministers are proud of their services to Singaporeans and would like to carry on as senior, mentor or emeritus and when dumped from the cabinet, advisor also can do. George entertained the idea of serving as president after the people had dumped him from Aljunied GRC. All our meritocrats have this pride to continue serving.
ReplyDeleteSaycheese
Not only would they serve with pride. Pah si buay chow. Die die also want to serve. Or they will die.
ReplyDeleteYa, Pay them real monkey peanut, see how many of them want to serve.
ReplyDeleteOur ministers have to be paid millions before you can talk to them about coming out to serve.
ReplyDeleteWhen they talk about their service, I wonder whether they feel pride or shame.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe minister of education talks about teaching pupils and students on character building and learning right values. It all must start with PAP ministers and MPs. Do they all have what needs to be called good character? Do they themselves have right moral values? Pupils, students, teachers and the public at large will always watch at how the PAP ministers and MPs conduct themselves. So far they have nothing to show exemplary good character or exemplary right values. Labelling Singaporeans who disagree with PAP policies as daft is outright show of arrogance and disrespect. Arresting, imprisoning and bankrupting opposition leaders is totally unacceptable and clearly shows the bad and negative side of warped sadistic characters. When politicians taking advantage of the people and the country to pay themselves high insane stratospheric salaries they have lost the high moral ground to talk about character building and learning right values. No one can believe them any more. People have come to know that they are just simply selfish, self satisfying, self aggrandizing and self important and all these personify their disastrous self egos. They are there to serve the money and not the people. That's the reason why the people are suffering and are so unhappy. If they don't change , come 2016 will change for them.
Let's hope for now the PAP ministers and MPs will have genuine pride to serve the people and the country and not master Money. They must be sincere and not seen to serve in a perfunctory and condescending manner.
SG