The lack of graciousness in our society

I read this letter to the Straits Times Forum with interest.

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Home > ST Forum > Online Story

1 April 2009

Accident victims ignored till foreign workers lent a hand

ON SATURDAY, my wife and I were on our motorbike travelling from Lentor towards Yishun when the car in front of us braked suddenly. To prevent crashing into the car, I turned right and hit the curb. Our bike went up the sloping grass patch and we fell off.

I suffered a gash which needed five stitches. I sat on the grass patch while my wife checked if I had other wounds. Many passing drivers looked out of their windows, but did not stop. When my wife started waving for help, a few drivers drove off, while others ignored her.

Finally, a Malaysian lorry driver stopped. The few foreign workers on the lorry ran over to help us. They carried our bike out from the drain and tended to my wounds. They even pushed my bike to a safe corner across the road onto the pavement.

A while later, another man stopped his car and tried to calm us down.

Both my wife and I would sincerely like to thank them all.

However, we are utterly disappointed with the other Singaporeans. Singaporeans usually despise foreign workers, but when we needed help, the foreign workers were the ones who extended their hands to help us.

They may not be as educated as we are, but they have a heart of gold.

Kelvin Toh

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As a cyclist, I try to avoid Lentor Avenue. My fellow cyclist friends feel the same way. Particularly busy with vehicles moving at high speeds, it is difficult and dangerous for slower-moving vehicles to filter lane due to the constant stream of vehicles entering and exiting from the expressway.

The crux of this topic is not about how dangerous Lentor Avenue is.

Reading Mr Toh's account reminded me of two incidents which happened yesterday.

The first was around 1.30pm when I was walking towards Amoy Food Centre. A motorcyclist lay in the middle of the road, apparently knocked down by a car which had emerged from a smaller road. While he was conscious, he appeared immobilized and the ambulance paramedics were trying to secure his leg which had obviously taken the impact. It is difficult to pinpoint whose fault it was in causing the accident since I had not witness the whole sequence but chances are, it lay with the car's driver.

Many drivers just fail to obey the "Stop" sign. I believe the driver was guilty of that and he emerged from the small road, only to see a motorcyclist cross his path. Too late.

In fact, just yesterday, I waited at the zebra crossing for a few cars to pass. They did not even bother to stop, despite the blatant "Stop" sign and zebra stripes. It is an accident waiting to happen.

I boarded the MRT train at Tanjong Pagar (towards Eunos) in the evening. The doors closed and as the train pulled away, I saw an Indian man (most likely a foreign worker from the way he was dressed) lying at the foot of the stairs leading from the platform to the upper level. Obviously, he had fallen down the stairs, face first. And he was struggling, or perhaps, muttering in pain. Yet no one helped him. Our dear Singaporeans just stood fixtated to the spot, as if shocked.

It takes just a couple of seconds for the train to pull out of the station. In that short period of time, I could completely comprehend and assess the situation. Unless the people around him were all suffering from some form of mental retardation, there was simply no excuse to stand by and do nothing.

Many have raised the lack of graciousness displayed by Singaporeans, yet each letter / post online is met by strings of insulting comments. Apparently, most of our fellow countrymen cannot believe these disgraceful acts are committed by their fellow citizens and are more than willing to push the blame to foreigners.

Obviously, this is greatly unfair and severely tarnishes our country's image. True, there are black sheeps in every society but we must be willing to take the blame if we are at fault. We should stop our childish acts of putting down foreigners when they are commended for their kindness.

If Singaporeans are jealous of the praise foreigners get, then it is time for us to reflect.

There are many societies which are very much less well-off than ours. Yet, they exhibit the "human" touch. For a start, we should look at our neighbours.