Revival???

Courtesy is for free;
Courtesy is for you and me...


Those born in the 70s and before would probably know this tune pretty well. I sung it while I was in early primary, in the 80s. It was the movement for the residents to be more gracious to the people around us.


Then there was the anti-litter bug campaign that started in the 60s and remained active till I was well into secondary school in the late 80s, if my memory did not fail me. There was also a campaign against "killer litter" where residents in HDB flats hurled big items out of their flats, that will result in serious injuries or even deaths.


I suppose these were needed then considering that the country just got independent and was flogging itself to have a position in the world economy. Its people were getting the education that was badly needed so that the country can be more gracious, as well as make it more attractive for FDIs (Foreign Domestic Investments). FDIs clearly played a very crucial role in providing skilled jobs for the residents, even till now.

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Yesterday, while shopping at United Square, I was surprised to see that the Courtesy Lion had reappeared. Splashed over the media recently - both TV as well as printed newspapers - was a campaign against anti littering.


Perhaps I have not been aware that these campaigns had remained active all these years? I do not know. To me, the Singa Lion was new and re-emerging. A call for the citizens to spare a thought for those around.


Our literacy rate currently stands at 96.3% with 89.6% holding secondary school qualification and above for age group of 25-39 (taken from Singapore Statistics, 2009 figure). This is definitely considered a very huge jump from the 72.7% in 1970. And taking the population back then, 2.013M in 1970 vs 3.7339M in 2009 (Singapore residents only), we are looking at a growing number of people who are educated.


The first thought that hit me very hard was this: if for all the education that the residents have received, where has all the consideration gone? Are these not a social requirement that are inculcated both at home as well as in schools, bearing in mind that Singapore is still considered to be traditionally embedded in the Asian culture and values?


The literacy rate has increased, the economy has progressed faster than anyone can imagined. From a developing country back in the 60s, it now stands proud to be a 1st world country in the 1990s. Yes, within a short span of about 30 years, the country has come a long way.


However, like I mentioned in a previous entry, the social graces have not picked up as fast as the country's progression. To me, this is almost like a degeneration? We are picking up where we started from when the country was developing. Or optimistically speaking? We have not progressed since then. Education and economic prowess does not equal social graces.


I would like to think there has been progress but along the way, in the chase for all the comforts and materials in life, the families have lost their focus on simple values like these. Perhaps the schools have not done enough? Whatever the reasons, I think there is a need to relook at the country internally, besides having a meritocratic system to measure success - the best infrastructures in the world, etc. - but living in a rotten core. Maybe, just maybe, meritocracy was never meant to be?