Ultimately it's the hand that rocks the cradle...

He was goading the gentlemen who was driving, who apparently was his father to zip ahead and be first. The gentlemen seemed equally tense scanning the chaos around him trying to figure out which space he could plunder and swing ahead. The incessant, unnecessary honking was not the sound of music and to top it all, squirts of beetle nut juice doing a super semicircle across and on vehicles around seemed like a mundane happening.

This sure was food for thought. I forgot I had to cross the road and stood thinking... what will Gen Next be? Will the same crowd behave this way had they been touring Singapore or anywhere abroad. So why this indifference in our own country where a road is like a Formula 1 racing zone and compound walls are easy targets for those wanting to relieve themselves and streets look less picturesque without traces of beetle nut juice all over.

My thoughts flew back to the little child. His daily routine must be a car race in the morning with a proud declaration later to his friends about how they came first. “You must come first,” we all know is a daily mantra in many homes. Have we become commodities our large fancy malls display? Be it in a school or any public place, the process of you not I has taken precedence. There is never a queue and it definitely is not first come first served, more suitable is, ‘Push ahead, you will get ahead’. Our children are a mini us. They watch our every action and never miss a word so should we not be cautious and be careful of what we do and say. Patience is a virtue and I definitely think we would stand to gain by using a polite ‘Please or thank you,’ which is so rare these days. Holding a door for the person after you or getting up to give another a place in a crowded bus are rare sights these days. Getting innumerable degrees has become easy, with our new malls shopping is a cakewalk, with ready to use foods life is a pleasure. Amidst all this let us not forget our values.

Ours is a great nation known for warmth and hospitality. Suppose each of us decides to put in a little effort on being a little more civilised and caring how much more would it add to the beauty of our place. Bill Crosby’s “Teach your children well....” comes to mind and ultimately it is the hand that rocks the cradle that can create a change for the better and bring up a better nation.