Disgraceful Singaporeans

As I listened to the speaker from the SBS Transit Bus Company during the assembly today, I suddenly remembered the memorable journey I had on the MRT last Tuesday. This was what happened.

Last Tuesday was a school holiday due to the National Day Celebrations the day before and my church friends and I had agreed to meet up to watch the well - reviewed "Inception". So, I took a train from Bukit Batok to Boon Lay. Along the way, although it was just a small trip, I realised a lot about us Singaporeans, all of which are not positive.

First observation I noticed - Ungracious. As the doors of the MRT opened, the whole crowd who were waiting for the MRT at Jurong East just rushed into the MRT, without letting the people on the inside to alight first. I was terribly appalled at the lack of graciousness of Singaporeans and felt rather disappointed. Did all the effort from the posters that told us to let the passengers inside to get down first before boarding and all the talks in schools on proper behaviour in the MRT go down the drain? Was it to no avail? I was greatly disappointed.

Second observation I made - Ignorant. I didn't think that I would have ever noticed such an act before and I thought I would only come across such things in the newspaper. Anyway, I saw a group of boys playing sitting on the floor playing a game of cards. They were taking a lot of space and were also making a lot of noise with all their excitement that they were causing much disturbance to the other commuters. However, they were ignorant to their glares and stares and continued with their marry making. Ignorant can sometimes be bliss, but not in this case. I was greatly annoyed.

Finally, the last observation I made - Inconsiderate. Again, thisact seems unlikely, as it only comes out in oral books, or so I thought. Anyway, I noticed an old lady, who was holding a walking stick, standing on the MRT. To my dismay, no one bothered to give up their seats for this poor old elderly woman. Again, there are many posters that remind us to give up our seats for the people who need it more like pregnant woman, or elderly folks. However, these posters seem totally ignored. What's worse is that most of the people sitting down were young people. Young people whose legs can possibly stand for more than 10 times the time the poor elderly woman can. And yet, none of them gave up their seats.

Could this really be what Singaporeans are like? A day after 9 August, National Day. A day where we sang that we would stand up for our fellow man. A day after we pledged our loyalty to Singapore and promised we would do everything in our capability to help her. And this? This, to me, is utterly disgraceful.