A uniquely Singapore system based on first come, first served principle

May 29, 2011
 
Your letters

I am irked by people who question our uniquely Singaporean seat reservation system at hawker centres and foodcourts.

[And I am irked by your stupid letter and lack of comprehension.]

These places operate on a first come, first served basis.

[Ya, so I come first, see an empty space, go buy my food, come back and see packets of tissues "choping" the seats by people who came later than me.]

The people who find tissue packs placed on tables to reserve the seats are facing a fact: They have got there later than others. However, these latecomers refuse to accept this fact and, instead, start a flood of discussions and classify this seat-reserving behaviour as an embarrassment.

[So will you give up our tissue-choped seats to someone with a tray of food? Obviously if they have a tray of food, they were here earlier than you. Except that you plonked your tissue on the table first.]

In my experience, this tissue pack reservation system operates only in crowded places where there are insufficient seats available, such as in Shenton Way food centres during peak hours.

I seldom come across the practice in heartland areas like Ang Mo Kio.

I do not know if placing a 'reserved' card issued by the hawker centre will be any more acceptable to people who are against a reservation system. If they disagree with first come, first served as a principle, nothing will make them any happier - be it a card, umbrella, book or even bodies.

The tissue pack system is the cheapest to operate.

[But inherently rude and inefficient. If people got their food then look for their seat, there would be less space waste. As it is you see "empty" tables occupied by tissue packs while people with hot food unable to find a seat wander desperately about. This kiasu, kiaboh mentality is inconsiderate. But you don't see it, cos you are inconsiderate.]

If we decide that a First World country cannot practise such an 'unseemly' system and deem this an embarrassment, let's design one which includes issuing seat numbers and having a crowd manager. Then voila, we have a system resembling a restaurant.

Then my fishball noodles may cost $5 instead of $3.50.

But seriously, people should just live and let live, and let peace prevail.

Lam Wen-li (Ms)

To understand suffering, be prepared to persist

Mar 29, 2011

JOURNALIST Yen Feng asserted that "humans can never really come to grips with the why of suffering. We will never understand" ("Acts of God: It's how we react"; Saturday).

The nature and extent of the writer's desperation may sound familiar to many who have faced similar personal tragedies. An individual's own conclusion about not being able to find an answer is all right and understandable.

However, extending his helplessness to the whole of humanity is not.

How can we be certain of making a pronouncement about the whole of humanity? Can it be said with conviction that none has ever come to grips with the why of suffering? Not even sages, saints and gods?

Can it also be said that none will ever understand the why of suffering? The why and the wherefore of suffering are not difficult to understand, provided one is prepared to persist.

As is often said, the "guru" or teacher will appear if the seeker is earnest in his inquiry.

Pawan Kumar Modi

[Such simplistic arrogance. Only the truly naive who have never suffered can be so arrogant.]

MRT travails of a pregnant woman

[Usually I picked on silly forum letters. But this one not silly. It was the online comment (after the letter) that caught my eye. Uncourteous and ungracious and barely forgiveable. Rude and obnoxious (in this situation) speaks of an entitlement mentality and a self-centredness that would shame his parents.]

Oct 28, 2010

I AM almost seven months pregnant and I take the MRT and bus to work daily. During the course of my pregnancy, fewer than 10 people have given up their seats to me.

Last week, I was standing in front of a priority seat on the MRT. The person sitting on it got up as he was getting off the train, but a man in his 40s brushed past me to grab the seat.

[May be "racist" of me, but I suspect he's from China.]

In his haste, he pushed me just as the train was leaving the station. I almost lost my balance but he pretended not to notice me and fell asleep. I can understand that he was eager to get the seat, but I cannot accept such ungracious behaviour.

People have bumped into my tummy with their huge backpacks and handbags, and I have endured jerky train rides with no poles for me to hold on to as some commuters choose to lean on them. I have also had my feet trampled on and been pushed as some passengers rush to alight without so much as an 'excuse me'.

Is it so difficult for us to practise some graciousness in our everyday life? Pregnant women do not want to be treated like queens, but at the very least, be considerate to them. Even if no one gives up his seat to me, a person who asks if I would like to lean on the glass panel at the end of the row of seats would earn my gratitude, because at least someone notices and cares.

I have even given up my seat to an old woman who was walking with a tongkat. Are there no able-bodied young men or women around?

[Of course people will paint themselves in a good light, and yes, we only have her perspective. But the tone of her letter speaks of a lack of entitlement mentality that is laudable. I feel empathy for her and I wish Singaporeans would be more gracious, and I think she's right. A dim sum dolly ad is not going to work.]

I hope people can be more considerate to pregnant women and old folk. This is something our society needs to work on, and it can't be fixed with just a Dim Sum Dollies campaign.

Cai Suqi (Ms)

Online comment

An elderly passenger did not choose to be elderly. A handicapped passenger did not choose to be handicapped. Gestures of grace or sympathy are rightly due to them. But a pregnant passenger exercised her own free will, with eyes wide open, to be pregnant. So take responsibility for the decision you make, expect the vissicitudes of life that come with the decision, and shut up already.
Posted by: acsian12 at Thu Oct 28 10:50:54 SGT 2010

How rude. Wonder if writer is really from ACS or just trying to defame the school. Prime candidate for retroactive abortion. His/Her mother really wasted her time and made the wrong choice carrying it to term.

Obviously it is still a virgin. Or it would know that some women when getting pregnant (or trying to) close their eyes.

And of course the elderly has a choice whether to grow old... or die. Such closed minded "logic".

I highly recommend acsian12 to consider living fast, dying young and leaving a corpse. I don't know what it looks like so I can't say "good-looking corpse". Probably ugly. Like its soul.