Consideration starts from the heart

In the past week, I have been greeted by a couple of people who have behaved rather interestingly. When my dad was driving I witnessed a lorry driver who did not want to give way to this other car which was trying to filter into the left lane. The next day, I was on the MRT, when I suddenly realised a loud sound of someone playing a pop song on his handphone. Later on, when I was reaching my block of flats, my mum was just about to turn into the carpark, when a family decided to hail a taxi just at the corner of the turn. We had to wait for them to board the taxi before turning into the carpark.

So, was the guy listening to music so desperate that he had to play it on his handphone in a packed MRT train?
Couldn’t the family have moved a little further off to flag a cab, and not have blocked traffic? Finally, was the lorry driver in such a rush that he could not slow down to let a car in front of him?

There has been an article in the forum (ST, Feb 5, Indiscriminate parking poses safety hazard), which I have included below, about motorcyclists parking along paths, and non-handicapped motorists who use up handicap lots. Such people would pose a safety hazard to others around them, if they end up causing accidents.

It is clear that inconsiderate behaviour has been exhibited here. But the main thing I want to talk about would be why. Do people do such things because they have no choice? Certainly not. I personally believe that it could be due to apathy and a certain degree of laziness. Apathy; such that people have become numb to the thoughts and feelings of others around them, and their feelings of empathy start to degenerate as they put themselves into others’ shoes less often.

I believe that us Singaporeans, especially teenagers are becoming more and more self centred; that we have become somewhat blind to the thoughts and feelings of others. Today’s youth have lived most of their lives in luxury, and the parents these days tend to fight for their children and protect them a lot more. This may cause them to think that they can do what they want without having to worry much.

What can we do about this? From my perspective, we are left with three main choices. Either we ourselves become numb to what is around us, or we try to influence our friends and family to be more considerate, or we just ignore these issues, and let people do what they want, as long as the majority remains happy. I would choose the second option – influencing our friends and family; the other two would make the current situation worse.

National campaigns may have an on the situation. But the main factor that would cause change would be the youth; changing their ideals and start spreading the thought of being considerate.

ST Forum, Feb 5