A Singaporean Pursuit of Kindness
If you search “Why do Singaporeans” on Google, a few questions immediately surface, such as: Why do Singaporeans not recycle? Why do Singaporeans complain so much? Why do Singaporeans not volunteer? The list goes on, but you get the general idea: it seems puzzling for some people (or even Singaporeans themselves) to discover that Singaporeans exhibit such characteristics of ‘ungraciousness’, or in Dr Tommy Koh’s words, Third-World.
Some have identified the overwhelming sense of kiasuism as the culprit. Kiasuism seems to permeate every aspect of the Singaporean society: from queuing for the latest bubble tea craze to rushing for the last empty seat on the MRT. Considering these examples, it would appear that the fear of losing out combined with the desire to win at all costs seem to trump any inkling of social graciousness. In other words, kiasuism creates a heightened sense of self-preservation that prevents us from being a kind human being.
Nonetheless, is kiasuism the only reason for the lack of civil mindedness in Singaporeans nowadays? Singapore’s notoriety as a highly competitive society seems to play a big role in nurturing traits like kiasuism, especially when people are expected to one-up each other. This starts from their schooling days in a quest for better academic performance and subsequently in the workplace as they climb the never-ending corporate ladder. It is no wonder that recent surveys rank Singapore as the most overworked city in the world and among the 10 worst countries in handling work-life balance. When someone is constantly forced to improve oneself at the expense of others, kindness feels like the last thing on our minds in a dog-eat-dog environment.
But should that be the case?
Before Singapore, the Japanese has been the poster boy for competitiveness, to the extent that they would have terms like ‘karoshi’ (working oneself to death). Despite this, the stereotype of Japanese people has always included words like ‘kind’ and ‘polite’, which is epitomised in their concept of ‘omotenashi’. ‘Omotenashi’ exceeds the normal definition of kindness; it includes meticulousness, paying extra attention to the needs of others, and most importantly, putting the effort to go beyond what is necessary. This juxtaposition between competitiveness and graciousness clearly shows that the former does not necessarily have an effect on the latter, and in the case of Singapore, it shows the potential for its citizens to embrace the spirit of kindness even in an atmosphere where it might be deemed to have no place at all.
Furthermore, the case study of Japan highlights the most important factor in inculcating kindness— the mindset to do good. In the case of encouraging Singaporeans to be gracious, as previously mentioned, it has not been rather successful. It might be easy to point at the enduring trait of kiasuism as the fundamental cause behind the lack of civic mindedness in many Singaporeans, but the existing attempts by the Singapore Kindness Movement deserve a lot of scrutiny as well. As much as education and raising awareness via campaigns seemed like a fail-safe method in imparting social values, the issue with such programmes (and many government-led efforts in general) is that the use of a top-down approach may not be effective in promoting something that should be organic, like a predisposition towards kindness.
Therefore, a new approach towards advocating the virtue of kindness should and must consider the existing social mindset in Singapore and adapt, rather than seeking to ‘revolutionise’ it. Man is born for deeds of kindness, as the Roman stoic Marcus Aurelius once said, and I believe that Singaporeans are no exception to that rule.
