Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Blind trust - there must be a reason?

Many practices are outmoded after some time, for example, immigration requirements, security checks, audit checks, registration in hotels. Some of these practices were introduced several decades ago and were needed then. But, the world has since changed.

Nobody wants to take the responsibility to review and update these outmoded practices. The burden of these practices usually fall on the shoulders of  the customers or ordinary people who have no choice but to comply with the rules.

Some people will defend these practices as follows: "There must be a reason to continue these practices. It must be serving a purpose". Has it occurred to these people that the most likely reason is that nobody cares. If the long suffering people do not speak up, who really bothers?

Some people said that there is no point in speaking up in Singapore as our views are likely to be ignored. While this is true, and is a sad state of affairs, I encourage people to continue to speak up. One day, the voices will be heard.

Most importantly, we have to avoid giving excuses on behalf of the people who are supposed to review the outmoded practices. If the reasons are still valid, let them come out and explain the reasons on their own. This will encourage accountability.

Tan Kin Lian