Boys on the MRT

This evening I was talking on MSN to friend Fiona, who mentioned to me about the social cleansing of youths in Central America, where the police (I repeat, police) physically assault or kill youths that they reckon as street vermins.

Street vermins are classified as wearing baggy pants, having a tattoo, and having a baseball cap worn backwards.

After thinking about that - and forgetting about the ethics behind it - I could relate it to my experience in the MRT. These days I usually take the MRT back home. So today was no difference. The train was a little filled with students, about 4 in every carriage at one point of time. I was looking out into our country, and headed for Jurong East. Meanwhile standing 2 metres away from me were a group of 2 Upper Secondary guys and 2 Lower Secondary guys from a school with blue uniform. I was as usual people-watching/listening, and they were to none of my surprise, the usual stereotype of neighbourhood schools.


Their speech was peppered with vulgarities, and one of them took out a biology textbook, flipped to the pages on sexual organs, and started talking very loudly about their thoughts.

Hey, it's ok to talk about that. That is, if you talk softly and don't affect others. That is, if you don't embarass yourself and your school. That is, if you don't embarass your country in the scenario should there be foreigners around. That is, if you're still very much immature and have no sense of respect.

There are many reasons that hamper me from getting my message across to all my friends and readers - one is that I'm talking simply because I'm from an 'elite' school and today I feel like I'm in the mood to criticize other schools.

Maybe that's the only one. But I'm talking from POV (point of view) from a 15-year-old Singaporean. I have had 15 years of life on this Earth, around the same as some of you out there. Including those guys on the MRT, maybe older - I believe by now they should have understood their limits and what is proper behavior.

Well the reason for proper behavior is simple. After all the reputation of one's school is in one's hand, and as I like to add, one's country. And at the end of the day, it is basically your own reputation. Imagine if your future boss saw what kind of employee you were - not a least sense of respect, understanding.

If this blogpost is turning into the lecture, I would like to say it isn't! Of course, we aren't going to physically assault or kill the guys on the MRT just like the police did in Central America. But I just want to sleep in the knowledge of that this blogpost has helped someone out there be a pride of his/her school, country, oneself someday.