Singaporeans care only for themselves. Do you agree?

"We have received donations way pass the mark! yay!" Sharon Au, a mediacorp artiste cry in exuberant as the number of calls of donations are being flashed on the television screen. Yes Singapore are a generous lot. Every year without fail, charity organizations would like patients to doctor, queue up for that TV slot so that they can take the opportunity to " fleece" Singaporean for their monies by hanging a carrot of attractive prizes to tempt them. While one's tv is being shown the program, the newspaper on the coffeetable paint another picture. Articles like 'Members ignored injured man( Sunday times 26 2004)" appear in the newspapers here and there. An infotainment program by Channel News Asia, Get Real, recently found out Singaporean do not really care enough for the less fortunate. So the good old question, buried whenever charity shows are staged, are back on everyone mind again. Do Singaporean care only for themselves?

Every year without failure, Singaporean pour in calls by the thousands, hoping that their insignificant sum of money could alleviate the suffering of the cancer patients, kidney patients or whoever charity organization that plead for help on national TV. With the rising utilities bills, GST taxes and a increase in transport fees looming around, Singaporean still find that spare cash to donate to the charity. Okay perhaps its the prizes that they are drooling for and do not mind parting with $50 for a hundred thousand condo, but still, appaluse should be given for that they really did donate! The new paper, a local tabloid, often have articles which point out the familes in some dire straits. Whenever after articles of such genre have been published, cheques would be send to the newspaper for the family on annoynomity. The very fact of the cash or cheques send in annoynomity signalled the fact that Singaporean not only care for themselves, but also, wish no publicity on such kind act.

However negative articles like " Members ignored injured man" tinted the images of Singaporean. In that article, a man slipped, fell down, immortalised due to the pain, but no one came to render help except the country club's staff. Yes indeed, some Singaporean, bogged by supertitious and skeptism, would make a complete U-turn upon seeing people in need. Supertitious as they are afraid that the person would die during the trip to hospital or whatever and that the soul would come and haunt them. Skeptism is due to the fact that the society make Singapore to be a place where people are often vary to one another. So we can expect that helping another person, when a medium like mails or TV is used as a catalyse, we can never very well expect the average Singaporean to help one another.

So in my own opinion, to a certain extent, Singaporean do not really only care for themselves. We should always rejoiced every year that our charitable organisation can still sustain until now, our patients are still living and that we can still afford to provide monetary benefits for the needy.