Page

Friday, August 6, 2010

The Lack Of The Courtesy



I went to government hospital last Sunday.

I arrived there quite early, coz u have to wait at least few hours to meet the doctor in a government hospital unless u have some kind of connection or link with Sultan or any Datuks.

After did my X-RAY scan, I went to the counter again waiting for my number being call. This time they asked me to wait at the small waiting room section. So I went to this room.

While I’m reading my newspaper and waiting for my number being called, I kind of noticed something wrong with my surrounding. I noticed something called the lack of courtesy.

Seating right in front of me was a teenager, who should have been in school at that moment - maybe he was sick I guessed. But he didn’t seem so coz he was so occupied with headphones plugged firmly into his ears. I can even hear his song selection at that time, Dear God by Avenged Sevenfold. The sound from his MP3 was loud enough to fill up an entire waiting room.

Then, I saw a flock of young guys age around 30-years old draped in their formal shirts and leather shoes. Hands firmly gripped on the briefcases.

They also waiting to meet the doctor I guess, and while waiting, their eyes never once left the screens of their handhelds. Some punched away email and short messages into their Blackberry; some were scrolling their expensive iPhone screens back and forth, back and forth. None appeared to give a damn about anything around them.

Then there were a boy sat between the MP3 teenager with his mother, with the latest version of Sony Play Station Portable clutched in his fingers. He was oblivious to his surroundings. Watching him, I was like, wow, this five years old kid already have the latest PSP! Well at least he didn’t make a lot of noise after all!

An exception, perhaps, came in a form of an old pensioner in ‘kepiah’ and walking stick. He sat quietly at the corner reading a copy of the Harakah. From this situation I can conclude that reading is decidedly a dying culture in Malaysia.

Then I kept glancing around, and saw a pregnant lady badly needed a seat. The bulging varicose veins threatened to pop out of her feet anytime now. And also there was an old makcik needed a seat, too, coz she looked tired. So I decide to surrender my seat to that old makcik.

Then I think how about the pregnant lady? She also need to seat.

Lo and behold, humanity was apparently a foreign concept in this waiting room. So I guess I must do something. Perhaps disturb the MP3 kid, shall we?

“Excuse me adik, could u please give ur seat for the pregnant lady?” All the eyes in the waiting room were all on me.

The teenager looked up to my direction. He sniggered. Then he rolled his eyes while saying: “Mind ur own business BRO.”

His headphone never left his ears. I wonder whether he could hear me talking or not at the first place. But with his answer just now, sure he heard me clearly. Fair enough. I should really mind my own business. Who was I to tell him to give up his seat?
The massive bloom of technology dissipates good old-fashioned inter-personal communication. Gone were the days where strangers could carry-on animated conversations anywhere.

Courtesy is very important in today's society because it is a way of showing respect for others. If there was no respect for others, the world would be a very unpleasant place to live!

Courtesy and respect for the elderly, or the helpless, diminishes bit by bit as the younger generation hold on to their handhelds and computer games. Reading, while passing time, can only be seen in pensioners and very few among youngest.

Often, for the sake of staying connected to the World Wide Web, we forget the simple pleasures of saying ‘hi’ or giving ‘salam’ to the person next to us. While we scour for information splashed on online news-portals, or keeping up virtually with friends on Facebook, we forget to take a break to smile at the person beside us.

Have we become a nation so infatuated with technology that we have chosen to forsake common courtesy and chivalry?

Remember, everybody can’t be the smartest person in town, but all of us can be courteous and considerate of the other person.


14 comments:

MOMMY CGG said...

thanks...

have a gud day!

Shaizul Sapar said...

when there is no more respect to others,when all people being selfish,when nobody care what happen around ; it's time where collapse of civilization began.

Fared Isa said...

@ cik GULA-gULA
thanks, u too..

@ Dakwat Basah!
and maybe we can say one of the reasons to this problem is becoz of the booming of technology...

Malik Danishmend said...

i would not hesitate to kick that damn arrogant kid off his chair if he said that shit to me..

malaysian are losing their cultural manners, especially city folks. i rarely seen malay youth bongkok sikit time lalu depan elderly or someone sitting lower than them. very rude. akal takde

malaysian are getting materialistic and selfish. easily influenced by western cultures, too occupied dengan benda yang melalaikan.

Fared Isa said...

@ Malik Danishmend
haha..i also would love to kick his ass, but im having problem with my legs, thats why i went to the hospital that time..

Otherwise I would happily whoop that boy's ass..lol.. xp

Asielah said...

you shud have just slapped the back of his head then. hahaha.. :D

i think parents play a big role in this, and teachers too. good values comes from home. good values shape who you become later on in life. they are the key to how you make a decision, how you treat people, how you perceive the whole world. if good values are not there to begin with, they will never be a part of you.

Fared Isa said...

@ Asielah

i couldn't agree more... ;)

term said...

i am so dissapointed that greeting people nowadays has become an odd thing in Malaysia.. when i travelled to another country, i found that the giving salam has become culture. even u enter the shop without giving salam, u will be reprimanded and sometime u will be reminded to say salam infront of them. even u take subway, board the bus, salam is a must. this situation differ in malaysia..greeting people with salam, hello and anything related to the greeting words is gradually diminished from the heart of the malaysian people.. even, they will stared at you.. maybe this is a consequence of focusing only to external and physical development, since Malaysia is a developing country ,thus neglecting the spiritual development and nurture the moral values in every Malaysian.. dats y in Islam, the definition of development is totally different with secular one. in Islam, development needs both, pyhsical and spiritual..

affandi said...

salam...
betul tu bro budaya hormat menghormati telah hilang di bumi malaysia terutama di kalangn remaja dan belia..

Fared Isa said...

@ term

yes, i agree with u! very well interpret from u..and thanks for sharing ur experience abroad... ;)


@ affandi

wsalam..
yes, and maybe we should do something about it...let us try to be a better person ourselves,insyaAllah..

Fared Isa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fared Isa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
atiqahmay said...

Wow..its true!!! im a teacher.u cant imagine how their's bhvr at school..so org utan...dont respect teacher n their peers...n parents go crazy when school administrator call they when their kid broke a school law...stress with tis!!!!

Diddy said...

soooo look like Malaysian la this post, "bro"... hahaha... i've seen so many like this also.... poor Malaysia, being third in the least courtesy in the world...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails