Even Stars Bleed

Societal Issue: How do we train courtesy?

  REFLECTIONS:  I refer to an article in the July 2006 issue of the Reader’s Digest, “ HOW POLITE ARE WE?” Reader’s Digest conducted a survey in 35 cities around the globe (Singapore being one of them) unfortunately, receiving some unpleasant results. Singapore was ranked in 33^rd place, under the list of the “ Least courteous places” along with Moscow, Russia. I decided to reflect upon this topic as I over-heard this conversation between 4 women dining at a table adjacent to mine in a restaurant. (I did not mean to eavesdrop) They were discussing about Singaporean manners and how bad it was.
   Apparently, what was most striking in Asia was how few people held doors open for others. Many Asians simply don’t include door holding in their notions of courtesy. I remember this having been posted as an article in the Straits Times not too long ago too. Singaporean newscasters were sent to various places around Singapore, conducting their own courtesy tests to find out the rude truth of Singaporean manners. Sad to say, the Reader’s Digest polls were exactly right. Almost no one held the doors open for the newscasters, and of all the people they held the door open for, almost none reciprocated with a word of thanks.
    I was pretty upset and troubled by this and I think that this is one of the major downfalls of our developing country. Basically, it all boils down to our upbringing and our culture. In other countries, being courteous is what they were brought up and told to do. To them, it is sort of a natural thing to do and not a chore or whatsoever, they do it without any ulterior motive. I also wrote this journal based on my own personal experience of being a victim of an irresponsible Singaporean. I was 15 minutes late for my classes one day. Why? I fell down while getting off the bus. Why? A bicycle hit me.
   I cannot see the bicycle coming by the side of the bus (its too low) and dear cyclists… when a bus door opens… guess what! People are about to come out! This fact escaped the rider so as I got off I was blindsided by the bike and tumbled to the floor (hence scratches). Ok accidents happen. I COULD have been more observant or slower or cautious but getting hit as I get off a bus is not one of the main concerns of my day.
   But the most frustrating part is that after I fell… the guy just looked at me for a while (no words at all) AND RODE OFF! GASP! Hey I am not some Japanese “ Ringu” ghost. Should I have chased him down, tackled him off the bike and demanded an apology? No. Because I managed to take control of my anger at that point. The scratches are ok but the RIDING OFF IS NOT!
    Now, I understand that different cultures have different levels of so called “niceness” – in some countries maybe I get a hug and a kiss on the cheek if I get hit? However, hit and run is way below par! Something is seriously wrong here. If you or I had accidentally hurt somebody what would our response be? I hope this person is not representative of us as a nation that would be sad. Here is where each of us can make a difference. Each action counts. Just like we train daily if we want maximum physical performance, character also needs training probably even more often.
   The theme of my journal would be on the Singaporean culture. What do you do when you see someone looking lost?
   You offer directions right?
   When you accidentally elbow someone in the bus, you apologies, right?
   Wrong.
   Instead, you walk away, looking lost yourself.
   Instead, you glare at me as though my belly has caused an abrasion on your polished elbow.     
   These are some few scenes, which really make me feel like migrating to Australia or some nice little westernized place sometimes – maybe New Zealand. A place, which I spent, last years December holidays at. People along the streets, even bikers along the road were so kind! Always ready to help, a biker even stopped for us at the roadside to give us directions while in Singapore, many would have most probably rode off.  People were sincere and nice. And those smiles – they never failed to make my day.
   I thought that because it was pretty obvious my family and I were new to the town, the people felt obliged to make us feel at home.
   But as weeks passed, I observed that people there were not just nice to foreigners, they were nice to everyone – themselves included.
   In Singapore, we are only (if we even are) nice to foreigners. And that is why we will never move ahead in our service standards. If it’s not our innate reflex in us to be nice to ourselves, how can we be expected to be nice to others?
   How are we to play host to thousands of international delegates when we won’t even treat ourselves with respect and graciousness?
   If you are a Singaporean or sound like one, perhaps you won’t get as much attention simply because a blonde-haired guy is sitting next to you is sure to get more attention.
    Be nice to fellow Singaporeans?
    No need lah! We are all family-family already, what is there to be nice for? And like our beloved Singapore girl, we only treat people nicely because we have an ulterior motive, and we expect something back in return. I.e. If we are nice, tourists will come back – rather than a way to encourage the idea that all humans deserve to be treated well. It’s sad, but true.
   Westerners are equally cordial with each other in their Wal-Marts counters- and no, we are not talking about scripted courtesy, but sincere enquiries such as:” You look good today, did you find everything in the store fine?” that you can’t help but respond to.
    My mum says that it is because Singaporeans are selfish and I couldn’t agree more. Given the mad rush, the pace of society, it is hard not to be selfish. We have become so embroiled in our own needs that we have lost our sense of context. We hardly consider the feelings of people around us. That is the price we have paid for becoming one of the fastest countries to jump from a developing state to a developed state. Our society has become one that believes in the concept of “ I do unto you what you do unto me.”
  I feel that when it come to being nice, the best place to start would be at home, being nice to your own family members and friends. A simple “ how is your day?” always makes a huge difference. Be nice to you those around you, even the cleaners who you see faithfully cleaning up the school for you everyday.
   No culture would develop overnight. However, there has to be a starting point somewhere.

Politics: The Great Biomed Debate

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/170442.asp

Brief Summary/ Foreword: I may not be an economic expert, but I chose to use this topic and share my views with the little knowledge that I have in this area and the brief research that I did. Even though politics may not interest many, I feel that it is relevant and important for us as students to keep up with Singapore’s current political affairs. This can also serve as a preparation on evaluating views in a debate. The article speaks about Singapore’s race to breach the next big biomedical frontier. The debate between Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr. Philip yeo, centers on whether Singapore should continue pursuing our current areas of research. Dr Lee Wei Ling feels that we should concentrate on other areas of research such as hepatitis B and head injuries instead of competing with other world-class centers that are chasing the same thing. On the other hand, Mr. Philip yeo feels that this is no reason for concern, since the biomedical sector has churned out very healthy and encouraging results and he feels will continue to.

Reflections: What caught my attention was the double helix DNA strand but more than that, this article concerns Singapore’s future and two politicians who strongly feel about their points of view. There is no question that both Dr. lee and Mr.Yeo have Singapore’s best interest at heart.
But their opinions couldn’t be more different- change direction and minimize the damage says one, stay the course and reap the rewards, says the other.
The stakes are high. New research shows that around the world, biotech’s shine could be dulling. A recent Harvard business school article quoted business administration professor Gary Pisano as saying that the biotech business – caught between the differing needs of business and science, had under performed. The industry needed to realign itself to integrate research and focus on long-term efforts, he said.

While both have their strengths in their points of views, Dr Lee has already pointed out that we should not compete with world class powers and concentrate on other sectors. Having done her own research, she says that hepatitis would be good since 5% of Chinese have this, and head injuries would comprise the main cause of disability in children and otherwise healthy adults which could have been economically productive to Singapore.

Mr. Yeo says that our current biomedical sector has account for 5% gross national product (GDP) and accounts for many high-valued jobs.

While Mr. Yeo may have been right that the current biomedical sector has been doing very well, pitted against international standards. However, I feel that he also has to take into account that the fact that people are investing heavily into Singapore’s biomedical industry is not solely based on our multi billion-dollar research drive. Other factors such as the generous help from our government to set up strict intellectual property (IP) laws, Singapore’s efficiency as well as our highly English-speaking environment are many other incentives attracting foreign investors.

I also feel that Dr. Lee is right in not competing with other world-class centers chasing the same research field. While this may seem that we are advocating the fact that Singapore cannot be world-beaters, I feel otherwise. Yes, Singapore can definitely be world-beaters, however, while being daring and optimistic, we definitely have to be realistic and tactical as well. Singapore too must have the appropriate research strategy in this case and concentrate effort and resources on the areas where we have a competitive advantage. After all, with the many limitations that Singapore has, we can be personified as David who has to use brains and faith to defeat the goliaths.

Next, while I belief that both politicians have done equal amounts of homework, I feel that in politics especially when economics is involved we definitely have to look long term. Dr. Lee here has taken a long-term view and predicted that the biomedical sector will flourish taking into account the opportunity costs incurred by people with head injuries, we can see from here the depth of her argument. On the outside, head injury may not be favorable sector to invest, however, if you look at the many problems linked with head problems, we can see the whole cumulative effect.

Other than politics, I feel that debates show how different people have different perspectives and mindsets. It also shows us that opinion is very subjective and different people have their own points of view. There are many things we can take out of this as well such as while we can be ambitious, we must consider our limitations and pit ourselves against challenges that are realistic therefore we will be a thinker rather than a mindless savage, brave but stupid. It also teaches us to look at an issue in more ways than one, where something can be the product of many things and not just one thing. This teaches us to be more analytical and not look at things in a shallow fashion.