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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Uniquely Singapore - Social Grace

April 18th, 2007

With a notice posted inside the lift cubicle, it's a message to tell the would-be culprit that we mean business, but this also tell our visitors that this housing neighbourhood has a social problem, i.e. someone (children and/or adults) is using the lift as a toilet! The message projects a wrong attitude to the would be offender. He is not doing the anti-social habit not because it is wrong to do it, but because he is afraid of being caught by the authority.

How to reduce the occurrence of such unacceptable social behaviour? I believe good social habits start at home - during the early stage of child development we called it toilet training. The next stage is in the play centers and finally it must be reinforced in schools. Down the process of living & learning, something must have gone wrong with a small number of people staying in housing estates (HDB) that have this kind of "urine in lift" problem. These people causing the problem does not know peeing in the lift is wrong. For those of us who have experienced intense need of a public toilet, occasionally, we definitely know the true meaning of "relieve" after the job is done in a proper environment - and definitely not in a public lift!

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