Case Study ①
-------- Crossing The Streets --------
Have you ever noticed how irritating it is that you would like to cross the road but just the traffic light never seems to turn red, and the green man is forever on the break? Look around a bit more, and it could just be your naughty fellow resident in Singapore getting bitten by the sloth bug. The largest group the writer has observed recently reportedly includes 11 people from all walks, and all ages, all waiting for our green man to start running, but amazingly, after 3 minutes of standing and staring at countless vehicles whiz by, no one bothered to press a simple button to signal the start of a fruitful waiting process - one whereby the light will EVENTUALLY turn red. The ending for this? 9 of them jaywalked (that would have been 9 x 20 = $180 extra for our public funds arising from fines) while I pressed the button after Ms-I-Am-Oversized-But-I-Li
Case Study ②
-------- Alighting from a Bus --------
Funny. It's highly amusing how Singaporeans seem to have a fear of Bells and Buttons. First, it was the traffic light button, and now it's the bell to alert the bus driver of a passenger wanting to alight. You could say it's reminiscent of the "I-Dodged-Last-Game", which roughly goes along this concept:
"A huge truck is charging towards you. To show how gutsy and courageous you are, dodge it only at the very last moment. The person who dodges last to safety is the UBER-HERO and he/she wins."
So the passenger who presses the bell last but still doesn't miss his/her stop is the coolest passenger I guess...but I always spoil the game for the others :( No wonder I keep receiving all the "You Cowardly Kiasu Loser!" dirty stares~~but at least the driver and mechanics appreciate the less frequent occurrences of jam-brakes, and hence repairs :)
Seen some passengers press 2 stops ahead of their destinations though, don't agree with those.
Case Study ③
-------- During Q&A Sessions --------
Ever made a presentation in Singapore and during Q&A, hocus pocus, no one has any questions? Well, there sometimes are questions but they might be grudgingly asked, or just for the sake of 'participation points'? Welcome aboard, cos you're not alone! Even at information sessions, it is sometimes alarming to the writer why people never bother to clarify their doubts and when asked on why they do not intend to apply to the company at issue, the response is many-a-time related to issues that could have been easily clarified during the information session. Perhaps our brains weren't working on a fine morning whereby our favorite football team had a tough match the night before, or perhaps we simply did not put enough thought into the prospects of the job on offer.
With no more ranting tonight, the writer hopes that by showing how Singaporeans have lacked initiative in 3 scenarios, they have effectively short-changed themselves, having to resort to breaking the law (Low Crime Doesn't Mean No Crime - that includes jaywalking, no?); facing the totally unnecessary risk of missing your stop; and to possibly miss out on a career prospect, or on a more general scale, being unable to clarify your doubt. The writer would also like to take this opportunity to propose a cycle, which consists of 3 phases - Initiation, Experimentation, Innovation, whereby Initiation is both the start of something new, and the start of improvement, thereby leading to value-add. Now, with "Productivity" being the latest word in town, wouldn't it be just about time to take more initiative?
Good luck and Good Night (before I catch a cold again...just recovered from one)
