<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>'Work on being gracious' <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Zakir Hussain
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Last month, a bid by Suntec City's Fountain Food Terrace to get its patrons to return their trays saw dismal results. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
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SINGAPORE'S men know how to clear their tables and return their trays during National Service, but when they eat at food courts, their behaviour puzzles Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
'I don't understand. Every National Serviceman knows exactly what to do in his cookhouse. Maybe we need more reservist training,' he said, creating roars of laughter from his audience of 1,700 at the University Cultural Centre on Sunday night.
=> FTrash: Oh, sure!
Mr Lee described this commonly-seen habit of uncleared trays in highlighting the need for Singaporeans to improve their social graces, for the well-being of Singaporeans depends not just on bread-and-butter issues but also on how people behave and relate to one another.
Speaking at the National Day Rally on Sunday, Mr Lee noted that there had been 'all sorts of campaigns' from getting people to queue up, be courteous, not spit, flush toilets, and give excellent service.
'Sometimes people laugh at us. But actually these are things which we can work on and improve,' he said.
If we can make people aware of their behaviour and conscious of the impact on others, we can educate them and they can learn new habits. They will respond and our social norms will upgrade.'
There had been progress, he noted.
People living here might not notice, but infrequent visitors could see the difference, he added, citing Madam Doreen Wissmann, who was in town for the second time in 40 years and was so moved by what she experienced that she wrote to The Straits Times Forum to say how everywhere she went, she met only kindness.
Mr Lee quoted her letter: 'I was in a shopping centre and asked a young girl the way to the MRT station. She offered to show me the way, and taking my shopping bags, led me to the station..Shopkeepers gave me water to drink, people waiting for a bus walked with me to the correct bus stop, people helped me cross the street. I have never experienced this sort of kindness anywhere else in the world.'
Said the PM: 'She must have been a very nice lady. But the people who behaved so well to her flew the flag for Singapore.'
Mr Lee pointed out that the Singapore Kindness Movement conducts surveys of social behaviour considered important, that show where some problems are.
One thing people were good at: Sitting properly at the cinema. 'Don't put your feet on the chair in front of you. Very difficult for tall people like me,' he quipped.
But in other areas, like clearing tables and returning food trays, there was a need to improve, he noted.
Last month, a bid by Suntec City's Fountain Food Terrace to get its patrons to return their trays saw dismal results. 'It's going to take time to change the mindset, because the mindset is, I go to the foodcourts to eat and not to clean tables,' he added.
