Vision is hardly 20/20

Just the other day, as usual, my younger son, with his profound questions asked me, "Will our country be a very developed country in 9 years?" I, as usual, could not give a straight forward answer but take him on a long journey of circumlocution and make him more confused than he ever was!

To me, being a citizen of the developed nation mean all its citizen have a certain to play. It is not just a matter of having lots of money to spend, mammoth buildings for others to awed, seamless cheap infrastructure for its entire citizens to use for free. With great powers come great responsibly. A citizen from a particular first-world nation is expected to behave in a certain socially acceptable way, just like any professional body has a code of ethics for its member to emulate.

Certain current events do not speak well on our journey to be a developed nation. The ruckus and free-for-all that occurred during the Energizer Run is one living example that I witnessed myself. And the worst part is there were Singaporeans amongst the participants. Guess they will now have something else to snigger or sneer about over their nocturnal chocolate drink or Chinese tea made with New Water (water recycled from sewage treatment plant). People throwing big plastic bags out of their half a million ringgit car are examples of why money cannot buy you proper etiquette.
Being highly developed to me means include being cultured enough not to look down others who are not so fortunate.

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