Tuesday, November 11, 2008

there's something about ..... tissue


So some graduates are trying to change a social behaviour in Singapore.


I really think this is sad.


They don't realise this "tissue chopping seat" behaviour is phenonmenon.
This is "uniquely Singapore" as how our Tourism Board like to portray us.

This is one "invention" we can show the world and be proud of. We don't need A* Scholars to spent hundreds of thousands to think of another way of "chopping seats", like how US Nasa spent millions inventing a pen that could write in space, when Russian just uses pencil.


With about 1 million foreign workers/expats in Singapore, we can spread this Singaporean practice into a world-wide practice.


"..which aims to encourage Singaporeans to be more gracious through simple acts of kindness.." or "... a pack of tissues plonked down at an empty spot which practically screams 'Find another seat!' "


Why should putting a tissue be ungracious? Why should putting a tissue on empty spot scream "Find another seat"?

Why can't we be positive.

We should view this as an act of graciousness. By putting a tissue on the seat, the message we give is "Thank you for having interest on my seat. Sorry to inform you that I came just a few minutes before you and currently queuing up for my food before my misery 1 hour lunch-time is up. Please find another seats which I am sure you could. Have a nice lunch."

So gracious.

Not only that, we save people's time so that they do not have to second guess about the availability or asking those beside whether the seat is taken.

To me, this is the best "invention" of the last decade in Singapore.

Also interestingly, while they think that putting a tissue is ungracious, and they wanted to encourage kindness, their message on the card screams "rudeness" to me.

"The seat is NOT taken. IT'S YOURS" sounds rude, don't you think?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Anonymous said...

or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen

There exists a common urban legend claiming that because a standard ballpoint pen would not work in zero gravity, NASA spent $11 million developing the zero-g capable Space Pen, with the humorous note that the Russians used a pencil.[1] In fact, NASA programs have used pencils (for example a 1965 order of mechanical pencils[1]) but because of the danger that a broken-off pencil tip poses in zero gravity and the high flammability of both the graphite and wood present in pencils[1] a better solution was needed.

NASA never approached Paul Fisher to develop a pen, nor did Fisher receive any government funding for the pen's development. Fisher invented it independently, and then asked NASA to try it. After the introduction of the AG7 Space Pen, both the American and Soviet (later Russian) space agencies adopted it. Previously both the Russian and American astronauts used grease pencils and plastic slates.[citation needed][2]

Another rumor has it that the Apollo 11 astronauts accidentally snapped off a switch which was necessary to permit them to fire the engine to return to the Earth; and that a Fisher Space Pen was used to press this button. While the incident did occur, Buzz Aldrin has stated that he in fact used a felt-tip pen for this.[3]

Anonymous said...

regarding the tissue, I came across an funny incident.
This happens at amara food court. An Indian foriegn worker knows about the trend of chopping place using a tissue. but instead of tissue, he use toilet roll (roll out a big stack). So he put it on the chair then went to buy food. A cleaner came by, saw the toilet paper and then just throw it inside her rubbish bin. So when the indian came back and saw that his table was occupied. Start to search for his toilet papers and couldn't find it. So no choice got to find another seat.
So please, use only tissue to chop seats.

Fm superkid49