Personal space and common courtesy (lack of)

[Beeroclock]

It's possible to find examples of polite and unpolite people in any society, but talking about the average or norms I still agree with OP, and let's not get started on road behavior

[Brah]

Funny, reading this thread, stuff I was saying at- or before my 4-year mark, and how I just got bored and tired of talking and complaining about it all.

It ain't gonna change, key thing is, don't let it change you from the norms of where you came from. Unless of course you discover better norms.....

[taxico]

...today. I walk toward 4 guys on the sidewalk of Anson Rd. They walk side by side taking up the entire sidewalk. I have eye contact with the for a long time but none of them makes an effort to take a step back and give me a space to go through their 'line'. I end up bouncing straight through between two of them pushing them away to get through..... and don't get me started on people playing PSP and looking at their mobile devices as they walk on sidewalks, with absolutely NO idea what is coming towards them.... Bounced into a couple of those this week as well....

i'm a pretty big cat... so what i do these days is... STOP.

the crowd will make way for you. stopping and standing still is easier than me having to go sideways or perform some kinda shoulder dance as i pass THROUGH them.

as for the elevator/train door lice... my wife does the heavy lifting - she will curse out loud how inconsiderate and space hogging they are.

she HATES it (as do i) when i hold the door for her/others and a few people (not the intended party) insist on running forward to slip in with some sort of superb timing. i have no way of rectifying that but my wife yells rude terms at them some times.

we decided there is not much we can do except to (try) invoke a sense of shame in them.

[maneo]

I lived in Bangkok for two years and I only ever met almost ridiculous friendly and courteous people and attitude. The foresight mentioned above was there in abundance. And I might add that I lived in the Sukhumvit area where the population per sqm is higher than here but was always amazed at how people managed to posses exactly the opposite qualities as to what I described in the original post. Been to Tokyo many, many times too and it is the same with respect, courteous behavior.... so it is not something 'Asian'.... China does have some of it but I still feel it is worse here...

Agree about the abundance of courtesy in Thailand.
It really is the "Land of smiles."

However, after several years in Shanghai I found it quite nice to come back to SG where people are generally more polite and gracious.
Shanghai may not be representative of all of China, but there are a lot of people from all over China intensely pursuing their dream.
It's all somewhat relative.

[local lad]

IMO, as the society progresses, people inevitably become apathetic. What an irony. The strive to better things somehow lead to the discontentment of matters that were once held dear in their lives. When will society learn to be appreciative of struggles that once one had gone through before. People are getting self-centred nowadays and I am unsure whether it is one of the ill wills of a modern society. Education on social grace has to be widely spread to the norm. I kinda feel uneasy on this but somehow STOMP has been doing a good job exposing unacceptable manners or behaviours lurking in all four corners of this city-state.

[JR8]

Education on social grace has to be widely spread to the norm. I kinda feel uneasy on this but somehow STOMP has been doing a good job exposing unacceptable manners or behaviours lurking in all four corners of this city-state.

Despite a decades long 'social graces' campaign in SG, I can't see it's changed a thing.

Only one minor change I perhaps register, that of young children occasionally holding open doors for 'Uncle JR8' . Is that recent, I don't really recall?

STOMP changes nothing for the good IMHO. It is just a 'behind closed doors' mechanism for spreading mirth at others, if not encouraging hatred. Hardly socially a positive.

[sundaymorningstaple]

STOMP changes nothing for the good IMHO. It is just a 'behind closed doors' mechanism for spreading mirth at others, if not encouraging hatred. Hardly socially a positive.

^This.

[Fortan]

STOMP changes nothing for the good IMHO. It is just a 'behind closed doors' mechanism for spreading mirth at others, if not encouraging hatred. Hardly socially a positive.

I have to agree with JR8 on this. I really don't STOMP. Pictures snap in a mili-second does not always tell the truth about what really happened and it is widely used to hang individuals out to dry. Finger pointing for the sake of it, not thinking through the fact that there might be another reasonable explanation to a situation, besides the one presented by the contributor.