paul's e-scrapbook

I AM almost inclined to believe that Singaporeans, being genetic descendants of low-educated migrant stock from Southern China, still carry the same peasant characteristics till today.

We see tall, spanking new HDB blocks [of apartments / flats], but the grass verges and pavements are strewn with dog poo. The wafts of dog poo complements the daily pungent drafts of the rubbish chutes.

It is the latest fashion to keep pet dogs as symbols of a more refined culture. But the basic caveman-like, inconsiderate mentality of pet owners leaving their darlings' excrement for others to smell and step on remains stronger than ever.

The walls and exteriors [of the apartments / flats] may have been upgraded and now become modern, but the software [i.e., mentality, mindset, psychological make-up, and sense of social responsibility and grace of the"wetware", as we computer-science types referred to "life" or "living beings", especially "human beings"] somehow lags far behind.

You see tonnes of junk mail such as flyers strewn on the ground daily. Lazy people simply throw whatever they don't want, such as broken fans, shoes and boxes into lifts [or "elevators", as Americans would have it], and expect others to clear the rubbish for them.

Sadly, we have not outgrown our caveman ancestry despite the modern trappings of a civilised country. Our behaviour remains obnoxiously uncivilised and anti-social. [See also: "An Uncivilised Society"]

Having an expensive pet dog or driving an expensive car does not confer class or refinement unless our behaviour follows likewise.

      -- LIM BOON HEE


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