Singapore - a few seconds of discpline

Of all the moments that I will remember from my Singapore trip, one of the most memorable was on the morning of Jan 1 at around 3 a.m. After the New Year party, when the whole city was jostling for cabs and the streets were extremely populated, I hailed at one of the few cabs that were running empty. Next to me were 2 girls and 1 guy, all waving at the same cab.

But, the minute the cab stopped next to me & they figured that I had waved at that particular cab BEFORE them, they backed out. Infact, it was so evident, because that girl right next to me, just turned right and waved at another cab.

This may seem like a very menial and normal thing to do i.e. backing off when somebody else gets the same cab that you waved at; but, coming from Indian conditions, where public transport is generally a nightmare + the indiscipline of the public here, it was a great moment to see the self-discipline on the part of the Chinese. I could never dream of anybody in India letting go of a chance to get a cab at 3 a.m. in the night, especially when no cabs were available, to somebody else. That too, JUST because, somebody else waved at the same cab BEFORE you did.

This sort of discpline speaks volumes about the culture of a land. It also speaks immensely about the kind of discpline that people in a nation are brought up with. I LOVED it and respected it immensely.

I will remember that level of discipline for life. It can be very well applicable to numerous other streams in life, not just public transport.