Are We a Nation of Copy Cats?

I am sick and tired of the ever prevailing herd instinct! I even have many people telling me that they will not patronise a food outlet if it has few customers. When they see an outlet with a long queue, they will just follow suit even if they have not heard about the stall. There are two shops at Short street. These shops are just next to each other. One shop is always crowded while the other has lesser patrons. Each time I am there, I will go to the shop with lesser customers. For very simple reasons. I can choose the seat I want and I get good service from an appreciative sales personell. The sales staff in the neighbouring unit tend to be impatient and almost rude, as their business is good. Sometimes, I find that they do not wash their crockeries properly, again due to an exuberant business. Frankly, I do not find much difference in taste. The bean curd and the soya drink taste almost alike.

When I first came to Singapore, I had to admit I was not interested in politics. I shared a flat with two other lady teachers from Malaysia. One day in exasperation, one of my flatmates, a young, vocal lady from Raffles Girls' School, declared, "I can't stand Singaporeans. They don't have their own minds. If PM Lee releases German gas, and someone commented that it is fragrant, soon many people will also agree that it is fragrant!" Both my flatmate and I could not resist being amused, because it was somewhat unbecoming for someone so pretty and dainty like her to express herself in such a picturesque manner; nevertheless there was some truth in what she had said.

Recently PM Lee brought up the issue of matchmaking for singles by matchmaking agencies. Suddenly we read that there was a surge of 20 to 30 per cent businesses for these agencies. It seems to me that sometimes our fortune is almost determined by the whims and fancies of the latest trend or issue that had been raised in Parliament. Instead of focusing so much attention on the singles, why don't we address the issue of growing divorce rate in this little dot.? Almost everyone I meet is a divorcee and some have even divorced twice! Perhaps the government should look into retraining and re-teaching the parties involved....the potential bride and groom and the potential parents-in-law. Improving better relationship so as to have more harmony and cooperation within a family are things that might partially help to sustain a marriage. Marriage is like buying a car....easy to buy, but more difficult to maintain. While it is also important to address the issues of singlehood, it it equally important to look into helping to sustain marriages so that when families are strong, the country will also become even stronger.

I applaud Dongfang Billy when he said that he has no regrets in never settling down because he knows he is not "marriage material". He will live a more meaningful and fulfilling life by being single. Yet not many people know themselves. They follow the norm, and even after marriage, they continue to live their self-centred lives, causing their families distress.

When property price has come down, everyone has the mentality that it will come down even more.! Suddenly everyone becomes an economist, declaring loudly that the price will surely come down lower. These investors often miss the boat; some have even missed the Ocean Liner! My friend lamented that her father had never bought a single property in his whole life. They had always been renting their homes!

Yet when property price is sky high, people still want to jump into the bandwagon, afraid that they will lose out. What happens then to the "economic instinct?" Who could feel the pulse of the property market more accurately than a property agent.? It is like the way a doctor feels the pulse of his patient! Yet these people would prefer to trust their banker and insurance agent friends!

Once I advertised my client's shop space of about 320 sq. ft. Whenever someone called me about the shop space, I would immediately ask if he had the intention of doing bubble tea business.

"How do you know", the caller would ask.

"Am afraid you are my 48th caller who wants to do bubble tea business! Don't you guys have better imagaination?"

Just because of the success experienced by the first person who set up the bubble tea business, others in the nation also follow suit. How boring!

Perhaps this is why the government has been trying to encourage us to be more innovative and creative in businesses as well as in our daily lives. Life will certainly be more interesting, colorful and challenging if we try to think through issues on our own, without having to just absorb like a sponge. It is important for us to take time to analyse and rethink.

As I have always said, I am not a philosopher, psychologist, theologian or politician. The above thoughts are just my humble two cents worth.

Gan Chau