Chivalry dead?

Read this: Uncommon Courtesy

Wow, did this article brew up a storm here in KL and nearby PJ! We Malaysians pride ourselves as being kind, polite and courteous, as well as having all the 'Eastern Ideals' we show to visitors to our humble country. To all you KLites out there, you really believe that? You really believe that we deserve to be ranked higher than the lowly 33rd we have been accorded? Then come forward and prove me wrong!

Granted that the tests performed to assess our 'manners' were crude, narrow and woefully inadequate in number, but I think that it actually tests our spontaneity to a situation, which I agree is a better measure of our manners than a questionnaire of sorts (something akin to our Moral exam papers, hah...even a five-year old boy can pass that crap!!)

Before we browbeat others into submission, deny the facts of the survey, and flood the newspapers with excuses, hang on for a moment!! Do we actually, hold the door open for others behind us, or stoop to help a person picking up their fallen belongings, or say thank you to a customer? Do we? We have to be honest about ourselves...

I think we would probably do best in the third category, and last in the first. Most of us do get a 'Thank You' when going to a shopping complex, fast food joint etc. but less if we go to a government department, especially in the LHDN (read Income Tax Dept!!) I guess the former two are just not in our blood. Like some of the excuses given by particpants questioned: afraid of being mugged, need to rush off for work, or just plain simple 'Why should I?'

Some would say that the younger generation has lower tolerance for courtesy compared to the older generation, but not simply true. I have seen the 'older generation' shout obscenities, show the finger, cut in line, much to my chagrin. So much for being a good example. But we do not let the young ones off the hook either. There is a definite deterioration in the values of young ones today, and we have to stop the rot at the root of it all: the family core.

Luckily they have not expanded the survey to things peculiar to the ugly Malaysian: like giving way to oncoming cars, standing in line to get on a bus or God forbid, allow others a chance at the food during an open house. Now with that survey, I wouldn't be surprised if we rank so low that even the esteemed Reader's Digest would blush at publishing...

So over the weeks there are many opinions: from the man-in-the street to the top politicians, but there is one unescapable fact: we are that uncourteous. And we need to admit that, before we can move forward and improve ourselves.

Or are we too proud to admit to the obvious?