It’s that time of the year when we reflect on what we have done for the whole year and then contemplate our resolutions for the coming new year.

Yes, tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve! Before we are even finished with the twelve days of Christmas and the new English year, we are bombarded with reminders out there in the neighbourhood shops and shopping centres that Chinese New Year is also just round the corner, for the Year of the Goat new year greeting cards and decorations have come out in full force in these places.

As a Late Baby Boomer*, I have been privileged to witness and to experience what Chinese New Year has been like through the years - from the 60s to the 70s, then the 80s and 90s and in the debuting years of the new millennium. I particularly relish the fact that I was able to play with firecrackers in the 60s right through to 1972 when the ban came into effect.

Now that’s a privilege youngsters nowadays are not privy to. But, as I begin to feel sorry for these youngsters, I suddenly remember that in my time as a youngster, I didn’t quite have the trappings that modern-day lifestyle has provided for youngsters of today - things like, jeans, T-shirts, PCs, handphones, McDonald’s, Play Station, etc. The list goes on and on.

Yes! Indeed, I should envy these youngsters, for they are born in the right time - of peace, prosperity and progress here in Singapore - and need not see or experience the sufferings of those born in an earlier timespace - people who had to live life in a different world - of world wars, and civil unrest.

Do the youngsters think they are pretty lucky, then? I doubt so. Many of them do not have time for such thoughts. They are caught up in the struggle for ownership of handphones and other whatnots. They are busy comparing what others have that they do not have and yearn for more buying power, much to the chagrin of their parents.
 
So what’s the future for Singapore when our young are more interested in their own gains than pondering about our island’s future? Is the competition for material benefits just a passing fad in that tumultuous teenage period or is it a symptom of a disease that will plague our youngsters of today in Singapore when they come of age?

Only time will tell, but we simply do not have that privilege of waiting, for statistics are against us. In the 1970s, when I was a teenager, for every one (1)** old person over 60 years old in Singapore, there were more than eight (8) economically active people - thanks to the post-war baby boom from 1947 to 1964.
 
And in 2030, when I will be in my 70s, for every one (1)** old person over 60 years old, there will only be 2 economically active persons supporting that person. Now that’s a heavy burden for the youngsters of today to shoulder when they join the employment market.
We certainly can’t stop time. But, we can change the perceptions of our young - before it’s too late. Already, the Government is making it compulsory for those at school to do project work. Now, that spells good news for the Baby Boomers. With exposure to the community, these young minds stand a chance of being broadened. Think of it not as a brainwashing of their minds, but rather, as a nurturing of the correct attitudes so that they will more than spare a thought for others, especially the elderly.

That’s certainly a step in the right direction. But, we, as parents, need to let go of our instinctive urge (yes, we do want them to have what we didn’t have before) to spoil our kids. We should not give in to their every whim and fancy but stand firm. This way, we will not do harm to the Government’s efforts at imbuing our young with the correct mindset to take care of us when we grow old - for we will grow old.

So my new year resolution is pretty straightforward. I hope to see our young thinking of others first before they think of themselves. It’s another 30 years or so before the 2030s; I believe our young can come around.

Have a wonderful end of the year!

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*Pre-War/War-time cohort: 1935 - 1946
*Early baby boom cohort: 1947 - 1954
*Late baby boom cohort: 1955 - 1964
*Statistics quoted from The Baby Boomers in Singapore (June 2000)
**Statistics quoted from The Elderly in Singapore (June 1988)

Last Friday, while I was in a queue to pay some Housing Board charges at HDB’s Hougang Branch, I noticed something interesting which I thought I should share with all of you.
It’s about the quality of service dished out - something that Singaporeans like to complain about to their family, friends and almost everyone else. Anyway, that’s how bad news get spread around almost instantly.

But, this story I am going to tell you isn’t about something bad. On the contrary, it’s about an HDB officer’s win-win way of handling a difficult customer’s request.

There I was, watching an episode of Mr Beans being aired on a TV set in the branch whilst I was in the queue - which, mind you, stretched all the way round the roped stands to the entrance and snaked out into the open grounds outside the branch. There were more than 70 people in the queue.

I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between a counter staff and an HDB tenant; the man was almost shouting. He insisted on the enquiry-counter girl allowing him to pay his season parking fee so that he needed not queue up. His reason? He was in a hurry so he didn’t have the time. Obviously, he must have thought that those in the long queue - which included me, of course - weren’t in any hurry at all! I mean, all the people in the queue didn’t have anything better to do than stand in a queue for more than half an hour, watching Mr Beans on the TV screen.

When the staff politely explained that he couldn’t cut queue, he bellowed to her that he should be allowed to pay at her counter since he was paying the HDB, quite oblivious to the fact that those in the queue, too, were paying the HDB.

The counter staff referred the problem to her officer, who took just under three minutes to resolve the situation without letting him cut queue, but at the same time, not letting him storm out of the building empty-handed.

The HDB officer told the man he could return on Monday to pay his season parking fee. And if he received a parking ticket for parking his car without a valid season ticket over the weekend or on Monday, the officer would squash the ticket. However, he said this was contingent on the man renewing his season parking on Monday 2 Dec 2002 and no later.

That sent the man off, jubilant that he need not queue. As I stood in the queue, I thought to myself that the officer’s way of handling the difficult man was something to marvel at. He provided a win-win solution. It might have been easy for the officer to do it, since he must have come across such situations many times. But, honestly, I ask you - how many officers would have bothered to do what he did. I am sure most of them would have waved the man off without batting an eyelid, after all, rules are rules.

I never thought that whilst in a queue, I could learn something on people management, but I did. Kudos to that HDB chap!