i was driving home from town last evening and was driving on the inner most lane of the expressway. i reckoned my speed was about 70km/hr and i was casually chatting with mum as i drove. as usual, i kept a safe distance from the car in front. i was near the bayshore exit when a black bmw 7-series zoomed pass from my right and cut into my path. i had to jam brake to avoid hitting the car. naturally, to warn the driver about the danger he had created, i flickered a high beam at the car. and guessed what... the driver wind down the window and gave me a centre finger.
cannot understand these people. disappointing to see such behaviours. i am increasingly experiencing people driving big expensive cars behaving in such unruly manners. i do not want to generalise, but it seemed that the richer we get, the more unruly we get. and i hope this is not a sign of how we as a society is evolving - that we begin to loose our basic virtues of courtesy, respect and good conduct with increasing material wealth...
hmmm...
Hi Jeffrey,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it seems, this has become an international problem: people who engage in public displays of wealth acting entitled.
I hope Singapore doesn't also have an increase in schadenfreude (joy in others misfortune) that seems to be the growing reaction: large expensive SUV that try to cut close in front of semi-trucks being bounced down the road (these can be horrible accidents that people describe with an unsettling level of joy).
Take care, Edwin
Hey Edwin,
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad to see such things happening. As for schadenfreude (thanks! i learned a new word), I can also see signs of it happening here.
Sometimes I wonder if this development is a result of the country getting too successful too fast. Successes that result from being overly achievement-centric and the implementation of policies that had not place enough emphasis on character-building and value inculcation...
Hope you've been well. As always, it is very nice to hear from you!
Jeffrey