That We Could Do Without in Singapore

1. The Proliferation of Portable Phones. The fact that Singapore has the largest percentage of cellular phone users in the world may be wonderful news for the telecom service providers, but it sucks for the rest of us. It probably wouldn't be so bad except that a large percentage of Singaporeans don't know when to use their phones appropriately. It horrifies me how many educated, otherwise well-bred people will talk on their phones in movie theatres, at business seminars, and in fine restaurants without a second thought. And never mind the even greater number of people who refuse to turn off their phones or pagers in these events or at least use a silent alert mode. In Tokyo, I have seen more than once a person who received a call on the train and deferred the call because he was actually embarrassed to disturb the people around him. While that's a little overboard, Singaporeans could take a lesson in appropriate places and times to use their phones.

2. Public Transportation. Did this appear in the list of things we love? Well, as much as we love public transportation, there are plenty of things to dislike about it too. Crowded buses with pushy passengers, some bus drivers who shouldn't even be allowed to ride a bicycle, let alone drive a bus, and most recently, people on trains who don't give up their seat to an 8 month pregnant woman (it happens more often than you think).

3. TCS (Singapore Television). Okay, maybe this is not completely fair. TCS does produce some pretty good quality Chinese language shows. But what TCS has done with English television is practically a crime. Since we've lived here, I can say that I have watched only one locally produced show that I enjoyed ("The Donny Lee Show", a comedy sketch show reminiscent of "The Muppet Show"). The quality of the American shows they import has improved, but in most time slots, is still a joke. The quality of Cable television is not much better either. In Singapore, there is a cable television station devoted completely to Infomercials. No joke, I'm afraid.

4. "Short Man Syndrome". In the US, there is a condition called "Short Man Syndrome" where a man of small stature talks and acts like someone much bigger to compensate for his lack of height (see Ross Perot). I am liberally applying this syndrome to the country (particularly the government) of Singapore. Everyday in the media, we are bombarded with how Singapore will be the "best in this" and "world class that". It's fine for a country to have lofty goals, but when you have to hear about it everyday, it begins to lose it's effect. Any educated person stops buying that crap after a week or two of hearing about it. Singapore, show a little humility. Maybe then the world can take your potential more seriously.

5. Censorship. One of the ways we are reminded that Singapore is not a democracy is in the way things are censored. After two years, I have yet to figure out how a country can call itself enlightened and keep up a policy of censorship that makes no sense. As the world evolves more and more into a "Global Village", it becomes more and more ridiculous to keep this up. Consider this: violence and language in movies can go nearly uncensored, even on television, but a hint of sex or homosexuality is cut in a second.

6. Taxi Service. When we first came to Singapore, I thought the taxi service in Singapore was excellent. As time went by, either the service deteriorated, or my eyes were opened to the truth. The truth is that getting a taxi in Singapore when you need one can be one of the most frustrating experiences of your life. The policies that govern taxis don't help the situation; currently taxis are not considered public transportation and are therefore not exempt from the fees incurred from entering some of the prime traffic districts. Therefore taxi drivers have devised their own ways to avoid paying these fees, at the cost of the convenience of the riders. I'm not blaming the drivers for this; they have to earn a living. But the solution is pretty simple, in my humble opinion: define taxis as public transportation.

7. Customer Service (or lack thereof). Entrepreneurs, take note! Want to make tons of money in Singapore? Offer a service to businesses to train their employees on good customer service. The market is huge, since 90% of the places you go, customer service is either lacking or downright non-existent. It is common to go to an upscale department store, purchase an item, and have not a single employee in the store say a word to you. I have been followed around stores by employees who don't greet or speak to me. I have dealt with Customer Service departments that are so inflexible about their policies, they give the appearance of not even caring about the customer. Singapore needs some help in this area, and from the looks of things, it's not going to come from inside the country.

8. Courtesy Campaign. It's true that Singaporeans need to be more courteous to one another. Many of our dislikes about Singapore stem from the fact that Singaporeans in general have a lack of courtesy. We believe this is fostered by the "Kiasu" (Me first) attitude that is not just tolerated here, but often encouraged. However, the belief that the government can teach people courtesy is outrageous. Courtesy comes when people believe that the rights of others are equal to or greater than their own. What is actually being taught, though indirectly, is to survive in this competitive world, you must be number one, and your rights to be number one are greater than the rights of others. Again, a little humility goes a long way here, and if the government wants to teach courtesy, it should start with some humility itself.

I should point out that the US isn't doing much better in this regard. Since the 80's, this spirit of "Me First" and individual rights has run rampant in the States, and we can see it taking it's toll on American society today. There is no reason for Singapore to follow in it's footsteps however.