Thoughts on National Day ~ 09 August 2007 (Thursday)

On this day we celebrate our nation's birthday ~ our achievements, our success!

On this day, in Japan where I penned down my thoughts;
hoping to leave behind yet another memory of what all these while has meant for me.

Singapore has come so far and today we have become a colorful City; known to many.
How far more are we going? How near are we to our dreams?

In living standards, we have progress from Kampong -> HDBs -> Condos -> Landed Properties;
Switching from harmony, closeness -> individualism.
Is this what we have been aiming for ~ being known solely as an individual, who ONE is? What ONE is capable of? Competing with one another, in terms of wealth, ability + intelligence.
Or have we somehow & somewhere, unconsciously, have mislead ourselves.

We are brainwashed to have to 4ever strive for improvements, to 4ever be flexible to changes.
We now see children's scheduled filled with endless tuitions and ECAs...
We have entrusted all our dreams of SUCCESS into our children's hands; making sure that our SUCCESS is passed down generations after generations...have we not conveniently 'erased' their supposedly-carefree days of childhood! Shouldn't we be assisting them in achieving a healthier physic, an independent mind, a determined yet warm personality.

We talked about providing 1st Class Service ~ have we?
Scenario: DFS ~ almost 99% of tourists from all over the world.
Not to mention the name of the BRANDED shop, these are what I observed:
Staff(s) commented: 1) "Our shop do not gift-wrap", 2) "DFS DOES NOT have a gift-
wrap counter."
3) Cashier Counter staffs chatting over personal matters while serving customers.
4) Staff A interuptted Staff B who is in the midst of attending a customer, & the
latter went on to 'assist' Staff A, leaving perhaps the not-so-important customer
waiting in vain.
5) Staffs' friends bought a brand-new camera and was 'testing' the sharpness of the
camera IN the shop; the staffs were all busy posing for the camera!!!
Are we really moving towards 1st-Class Service or are we telling people that we do not provide such 'low-class' or 'simple' tasks or simply 'we have more important things to do than to gift-wrap' & we are so 'FRIENDLY'???

1st Class Service oriented - まだ、まだ、we still have a LONG way to GO...

Striving towards a better nation, we have alot more to learn;
Personality, self-discipline, sensitivity, initiative, observations....

Life is NOT about competing with our neigbours,
It's about surpassing oneself,
It's about self-rating,
It's about self-achievement.
It's about self-realization.

The world is not about YOU or ME;
It's about US and how OUR strength can make WE a better tomorrow.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY, SINGAPORE!