PUBLIC MINDSET: Some things are worth the risk

From TODAY, Voices

Friday December 12, 2008

 

Many of us stay in our comfort zones without realising it

 

Letter from Jimmy Ho Kwok Hoong

 

I REFER to “Don’t wait, just do it” (Dec 10), which described how a group of Singaporeans took five minutes to offer an umbrella to someone in the rain.

 

Even though I am not a psychologist, allow me to forward my views for this.

 

Most Singaporeans are brought up in a spoonfed environment. Through time, they lose the conviction to act in a “grey” situation or one that requires decisiveness.

 

While what is often necessary in life is to take risks in a calculated manner, many stay within their comfort zones without noticing it themselves.

 

Two decades ago, Singapore started to go global in a big way. During that time, when an opportunity arose, the Taiwanese and the Hong Kongers could be seen running towards it. Singaporeans, on the other hand, would side-step to assess the risk and reward ratios, or strengths and weaknesses before moving ahead.

 

Many of us have also invested in China thinking that the Chinese would change their business system to ours, and without accommodating for their public mindsets.

 

We have tried developing initiatives but the internal systems continue to be auto-penalising to those thinking out of the box, whether in education or within the business circle. We took too long to accept the negative psychological effects of our primary school streaming system.

 

Likewise, creativity is being compromised in business practices, sometimes by those in control to secure their own positions.

 

In my view, our traditional system of conservatism only serves well in circumstances such as our tripartite union action, involving the workers, the employer and the Government during bad times, where the majority look forward to top-down instructions.

 

In the case of Mr Tan Kin Lian who was speaking in the rain, I would guess that, initially, everyone was waiting for others to offer him the umbrella first, in order not to be seen as directly being associated with him.

 

They failed to calculate the risk involved and in the process, lost the opportunity to be — simply — a considerate human being.