today Friday May 11, 2012

Voices
Letter from Brian Nelson
HAVING visited Singapore, one of our favourite destinations, many times in the past 25 years, my wife and I were shocked at the deterioration in attitudes towards tourists. The signs were already there on our last visit four years ago. The first thing we noticed as elderly people, particularly when using the Mass Rapid Transit, was that the youth have no respect for the elderly and the seats reserved for them and pregnant or handicapped people. It is also dangerous getting on and off the train when one is shoved out of the way time and again. Another observation is that nobody

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Where are the friendly Singaporeans I knew?

smiles or returns a greeting any more. Taxi drivers, particularly, used to be a wealth of information and eager to point out areas of interest but are now, mostly a surly lot. Service has also deteriorated in shops and restaurants, where many of the staff can hardly speak English, are rude and abrupt. As for the words please and thank you, they do not exist. It will not be long before it becomes just a rat race, like in many other cities. Has progress taken away Singapores soul, the essence of being human, of recognising one another? Your city is beautiful, your buildings tall and proud, yet to walk along the streets and see the surliness of a face is disheartening.

Thank you to a meticulous doctor ...

Letter from Angela Wong
I THANK Dr Ng Hsueh Mei from Outram Polyclinic for her meticulous approach towards my fathers condition. My father fell off his bicycle about a month ago and later complained about frequent headaches, even after visiting the accident and emergency (A&E) department twice. He acted oddly for a few days, such as forgetting what he was doing. We thought he was getting dementia and brought him to the polyclinic. Dr Ng suspected that he had a blood clot in his head and referred him to A&E for a CT scan. Indeed, it confirmed that his fall had caused blood clots. A&E departments should pay more attention to the elderly who have a fall, and CT scans for them should be made compulsory, as severe vibrations or compaction may cause internal bleeding despite no visible injury. My father went to A&E and was not given any scan. If it was not for Dr Ng, his condition would probably be more crucial and complicated.

... a responsive town council property officer

Letter from Khoong Tuck Wai
I THANK Mr David Ang, a senior property officer at Tampines Town Council, for acting on my recent feedback about residents who do not dispose their trash properly at the common corridor rubbish chutes. After listening to me, he placed posters on each level at my block in Tampines Street 45 to educate residents to Dispose your refuse properly. Keep it up, Mr Ang.

... and a young gentleman

Letter from Jessica Ng Zi Kai
MY grandmother, who is above 80, recently fell on her way to the market at Block 49 Sims Drive. My family offers our heartfelt thanks to the young gentleman who tended to her and called for an ambulance.

TOWN COUNCILS SHOULD NOT ENTERTAIN UNREASONABLE COMPLAINTS

Get a QR code reader app from your smartphones app store (simply search for QR reader) and scan the code using the app, or visit http://tdy.sg/tccomplaints on your browser for a letter from Tan Chek Wee.

Want another car? pay extra

I REFER to the letter Try HDBs balloting system (May 7) and agree with the one-car-perhousehold idea. If a household buys a second new car, a 50-per-cent surcharge could apply to the

Certificate of Entitlement. It could be 80 per cent for the third car and so on. This would benefit the Government, in terms of revenue, and families in real need of a car. Letter
from Jack Kang