Singapore campaigns for courtesy<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (JP): A common view on Orchard Road, and elsewhere
\nin Singapore, is the young men, with earphones seemingly glued in
\ntheir ears, oblivious to their surroundings.<\/p>\n
Notable to a visiting Jakartan is also the absence of smiles
\non the street, except for wide welcoming grins from store
\nkeepers.<\/p>\n
Singaporean girls, a fellow reporter, said, \"are pretty but
\ncold. It's hard to get a smile from them.\"<\/p>\n
But his impression altered when he was received by a family in
\nClementi, in the west of the island state.<\/p>\n
The hosts, a mother and her two daughters, were very kind and
\nanswered his numerous questions about living in an apartment.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, they are nice and kind and they make me feel at
\nhome,\" the reporter, Norman, said.<\/p>\n
Still, the launching of a courtesy campaign by the Singapore
\ngovernment last month proves that the impressions were not
\nNorman's alone -- but of Singaporeans themselves.<\/p>\n
Lack of warmth and respect toward the elderly, for instance,
\nare blamed on the spread of western influences, hence the push to
\nre-instill \"eastern values.\"<\/p>\n
The Strait Times daily quoted Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong as
\nsaying that Singapore is still \"half a generation\" behind in
\nmanners despite its economic progress.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister also observed that his country has turned
\ninto an urbanized island where, he said, people are not
\n\"ingrained with the need to be courteous.\"<\/p>\n
Goh said the campaign should make Singapore number one in the
\ncourtesy stakes.<\/p>\n
People will be advised to hold the elevator door open for
\nothers, keep the television volume low and dry a wet mop indoors
\nrather than allow it to drip into the apartments below.<\/p>\n
And senior citizens should get seats in public buses and on
\nthe Mass Rapid Transit trains if youngsters get the message.<\/p>\n
However until recently, the campaign was still overshadowed by
\nSingapore's main attraction, the Great Sale.<\/p>\n
Do Singaporeans think they need such campaigns?<\/p>\n
\"It does not mean we have a problem with our manners, but
\nmaybe the younger generation has started to neglect good
\nmanners,\" Adida, a tour guide, said.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, we are taught about courtesy from elementary-school
\nage but it seems it cannot be practiced in society. The young
\ngeneration is more and more influenced by western culture,\" Adida
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
She says the vanishing of 'Asian values' is because
\nSingaporeans are too busy working every day.<\/p>\n
\"They don't have time to socialize with their neighbors,\" said
\nAdida, who is in her 40s.<\/p>\n
\"We are too tired to visit or talk with our neighbors. But it
\ndoes not mean we do not know them at all...we just don't
\nassociate often,\" she said, a view echoed by the family members I
\nmet in the apartment.<\/p>\n
Adida thinks the island's super-efficient system contributes
\nto limited socializing.<\/p>\n
For instance, almost 86 percent of its three million
\npopulation live in apartments. Every conflict is settled through
\na council which represents all the residents.<\/p>\n
It is efficient and quick, but in the end residents have fewer
\nchances to relate with neighbors.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have to meet our neighbors to settle something, we
\ncan do it through the council,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian ambassador to Singapore, G.H. Mantiri, said
\nthat the Indonesian government should follow Singapore's steps.<\/p>\n
He said that although tourists appreciate Indonesia for its
\nhospitality, the government should make sure that such behavior
\nwill not vanish because of new lifestyles.<\/p>\n
The Ambassador was referring to the onset of high rise living,
\nparticularly in Jakarta, vociferously encouraged intensively by
\nthe municipality. High rise living, Mantiri felt, could be the
\nstart of a decline in contact and courtesy with neighbors.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot let that happen and we should anticipate it. It
\nwill not do any good if we lose our reputation for hospitality
\njust because we are living in apartments,\" he said. (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/singapore-campaigns-for-courtesy-1447893297",
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