Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Not too happy abt the way things are turning out recently, so wrote a mini-essay to show how I feel...

Traditionally, it has been said that there are seven deadly sins that will inhibit one's goodwill and at the same time, creates disharmony in lives. These sins include sloth, pride, wrath, gluttony, greed, envy and lust. Whilst it is legitimate to say that they are indeed major detriments in our lives, it is fallacious to say that these are the more deadly sins in society, especially in the Singapore context, for I have encountered an even more major sin -- inconsideration for others.

There has been many a time whereby Singaporeans have been disparaged for their inconsideration in public. Though many may choose to turn a blind eye away from such acts, it is hard to avoid the fact that it is actually an occurrence that is rising at such exponential rate that we, as Singaporeans, should all be ashamed of. I for one, used to feel that minor unintended inconsideration was tolerable as long as they were not of malicious intent. However, recently I have experienced numerous blatant outright inconsiderate acts that were almost impossible to condone. Worse of all, these offenders were not in the least penitent about their malfeasance.

As society advances, more and more people are beginning to think more about themselves and do not take into consideration of other people's feelings at all. Worse of all, these people are often myopic and only look at the obvious side of the situation, which often may not even be true at all. That is besides the fact that many chooses to act in infantile and egomaniacal behaviors that leaves one to ponder why were they not stuck in the pre-school era in the first place. Why do such people think only about their own interests all the time, and not consider the difficulties that others face as well?

I would like to think that the society is made up of one populace, instead of many individuals. If everyone only cares about his or her own interest, then Singapore will cease to exist as it is now. Thus, in order for us to progress, we have to forget about our individual self-interests and work towards the good of the nation. Only then will we be able to strive as one and eliminate this sin --- the sin of inconsideration.