When I Was Young

I agree with this person. Courtesy should be spontaneous, and not given too much thought or consideration. That is why courtesy, as part of our value system, "is caught, not taught."
If that were true, I wonder what is SKM now trying to achieve. This is my thought, open out loud.


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KINDNESS MOVEMENT
Shy or not, kindness must be spontaneous and without any conditions

Letter from Murat Korman

I refer to “Are we ungracious, or just shy?” (April 1).

In my opinion, kindness has got nothing to do with being shy. You either have it or you do not have it. If you have to think about giving your seat to an elderly lady standing in the train, calculate the odds of her accepting or rejecting it, evaluate the pros and cons of your action and then reach a decision, it is better that you keep the seat for yourself.

Kindness should be unconditional and spontaneous. How can someone be afraid of being rebuffed for a kind gesture?

If this happens, it can be only seen as the bluntness of the other party. I agree that there are many kind Singaporeans, but I cannot generalise it to the whole nation.

I have been trapped many times trying to get out of a train while “shy” Singaporeans were pushing in.

I strongly support the Singapore Kindness Movement and I believe this beautiful country will be an earthly heaven once it achieves its aim to make all Singaporeans more courteous.

But the kindness movement has to be realistic and not make excuses for bad behaviour.


From TODAY, Voices
Friday, 03-April-2009