So sheltered that it obsoletes the umbrellas ☂️
In Singapore, it rains often and can be unpredictable. In the past, no covered walkways and bus stops could be just a pole showing the bus numbers with no shelters. I would dash out of the bus once it stopped and the doors opened. Umbrellas are needed. During heavy rains, we would still be drenched with umbrellas and wet shoes.
I marvel at the extent of the covered and underground walkways connecting buildings so seamlessly that there are no gaps and umbrellas are not needed:
- We can walk for kilometres with a mix of covered and underground walkways and HDB void decks/buildings.
- Even in areas under construction, they constructed temporary covered walkways that keep changing with their progress.
- The pavements are flat enough that do not accumulate puddles of water.
- They are wheelchair and mobility-scooter-friendly.
- The train stations in the new lines have several entrances with a web of covered and underground walkways to a wide area.
- They provide a good shade; making the hot weather much more bearable.
- We even jog on some less crowded long-covered walkways during rainy periods!
Sometimes, it is a cheap thrill to figure out a way to walk and not get wet without an umbrella!
Covered walkways as part of public transport strategy
According to Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA), since 2018, some 200km of sheltered walkways have been added island-wide as part of the Walk2Ride programme. It has a range of projects to improve connections between homes and public transport options and to upgrade infrastructure for greater safety, comfort and convenience.
The key objective of LTA’s covered linkway programme is to connect large numbers of commuters from major public transport nodes to key amenities such as schools and polyclinics, in a manner that is fiscally prudent. Covered linkways are provided within a 400-metre radius of major transport nodes, which include MRT and LRT stations and bus interchanges. There are no plans to expand the current criteria of the programme, as our priority is to stretch our limited financial resources to cover more locations and benefit more commuters who travel within 400 metres of these transport nodes.
Minister for Transport S Iswaran’s written response to a parliamentary question, 1 Aug 2022 on covered walkways for residents who live within 800-metre radius of MRT stations
Considering Singapore’s small size, population and building density to the number of train stations, schools and amenities, many of us enjoy the benefits of covered walkways.
Good UX
It is Apple UX design-like. The covered and underground walkways are part of the broader UX of the country — seamless and user-friendly; amenities are more convenient and easily accessible.
A luxury in most countries
In many countries, we are careful with what we step on; the pavements can be uneven with dog poops, water puddles and trash. The streets may not be well-lit. There may be potholes, traffic jams, road safety, public safety, dirty streets and smog. There may be slums, stray dogs and rough sleepers. Connectivity within cities and the country is a priority.
Besides public amenities and transportation, there are many other pressing needs for public money — education, employment, housing, healthcare, homeland security, defence; the list goes on and on. Covered walkways, even if it is relevant, are a luxury. A case of too many needs, too few resources, or being less productive?
Yet, Singapore is well-covered with walkways.
Sheltered and dry
Covered walkways are a metaphor for the extent to which we are being taken care of.
身在福中不知福 (translation: live in plenty without appreciating it; not to know when one is well off). Many may not be conscious and oblivious of them. Other examples include the availability of exercise corners and playgrounds, parks and gardens, greenery and other amenities. The metro train networks are becoming very convenient. The country is well-planned and developed. There are many instances of user-friendly and long-term services and policies by the government.
Being born, educated, working and living in Singapore, many will take these for granted. We may believe this is how the world works and how people live (to a large extent). We assume the availability of opportunities and attribute our educational achievements and personal success to ourselves (rather than the systems and structures in place).
Unfortunately, the reality is far from it. Singapore is an exception. Talk to the foreigners in Singapore or the locals in other countries to notice the differences.
With the rising standard of living, many are well taken care of and sheltered. The young are usually well provided for — enrichment programmes, tuition, laptops, mobile, restaurant food and overseas family trips. We can be living in our world.
- What makes us born in Singapore in this era? We are lucky. Our grandparents or great-grandparents decided to leave their homeland to come here to make a living. Hereon, they went through World War 2, the chaos thereafter and the nation-building that we are enjoying the fruits of labour now.
- Will we have the same success and achievements if we are born in a different family, different country and in a different era?
I am worried.
I am less concerned about what the government should do. I am worried that we take too many things for granted in Singapore.
In a major construction project, roads and pathways have to periodically change with the progress of the contruction.
My most astonishing experience was a small section of walkway (3 metre at most) with no shelter, there is a worker with umbrella to cover the pedestrians for that section during the light rain. We are too pampered.
Yes, we should strive to be better. However, we are becoming victims of our success. Our success has brought about rising expectations. We are not contented; we want more and more. We become more self-entitled and self-centred (unconsciously) being Singaporeans. We lack empathy and are oblivious to the realities in most parts of the world — political instability, economic challenges, social mobility, civil war, and natural calamities faced in many countries.
Many feel that they deserve more. They expect Singapore to be a heaven on earth (unconsciously). We compare and complain. There is no way to please the wants of every Singaporean with our small island with limited space and finite resources. People are unhappy over what they and others lack and want more without offering constructive solutions (aka judging and whining).
Every job looks easy when you are not the one doing it because the challenges faced by someone in the arena are often invisible to those in the crowd.
A case of too many wants and being too effective?
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
It is nice to stay sheltered amidst the turbulent world. How long will we stay sheltered? Can we survive and thrive when the shelter is gone? Few venture out of the shelter.
Circumstantial advantage as a double-edged sword
Circumstantial advantages create a good head start (access to good education, stable economy, safe and easily accessible environment) and confidence. However, it can also create a sense of self-entitlement, hubris and lack of grit.
Tocqueville effect (aka Tocqueville paradox; Progress paradox)
It describes a seemingly contradictory phenomenon: as social conditions and opportunities improve, social frustration can grow more quickly. The Tocqueville effect doesn’t imply that progress is undesirable. It simply highlights a potential unintended consequence of positive change. It doesn’t suggest that people are ungrateful. Instead, it emphasizes the power of rising expectations and the human tendency to compare their situation to others.
The Tocqueville effect reminds us that progress, while necessary, may come with its own set of challenges.
Stepping out of our shelter
Character is developed with scarcity and discomforts (i.e. stepping out of our shelter).
G. Michael Hopf sums up a stunningly pervasive cyclical vision of history.
Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.
G. Michael Hopf
We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.
Anonymous
No one can grasp the value of a dollar without experiencing its scarcity. We learn better through tough times, challenges, and hardships. Character and resilience forged in adversity. We can learn from good times (with money and resources) but the learning can be shallow; worse, it may create an illusion that we are great.
By creating an environment of abundance and ease, life is comfortable; there is no need to struggle. We are not preparing our children enough for their road ahead for the plausible challenges ahead when we are not around.
Some parents choose to be stingy and strict with their children. Scarcity teaches kids humility, character and creativity /entrepreneurship early in their lives so that they have the characters built to handle challenges better.
Learning that we cannot have everything we want is the only way to understand needs versus desires. This in turn will teach us about budgeting, saving, and valuing what we already have.
An insightful view from a 2022 interview by George Yeo, a former Singapore minister.
Gita Wirjawan (GW): What makes a person happy? What does it take to be happy?
George Yeo (GY): Inverting the question: Why is suffering so important to human society?
Characters and communities are forged in pathos; not in laughter.
It is when the people suffer, when a human being suffers, that something in him is forged.
My younger son has to fight for his life because of leukaemia, which relapsed twice. In the end, it was saved by a bone marrow transplant.
When I was newly married, I had plans for a family but all the plans came to nothing because all attention was focused on saving him. And the life of the entire family was distorted because of him.
Is it something to regret? To lament over? No. How can it be? Because he is alive. He is now a junior doctor.
And I watch his siblings. They are close to one another. If there was no suffering, no collective suffering, if life was all about luxury and travel and skiing, and choosing between cuisines, maybe we will be fighting each other.
So we look at society as a tribe, always look at the suffering and in the suffering, you find its character. And strangely, it is when we have that character, that we are able to understand the world with all its problems. And only by accepting the world for what it is and setting it in context, can we be happy.
If happiness is just pleasure, it will quickly lead to the opposite. But if happiness comes from an understanding of why we are human, from accepting the world for what it is, from being the floor of things, that is a philosophical happiness and I think that happiness is almost spiritual.
GW: It is also about accepting the non-permanence of state, right? That’s basically what it takes. I mean, people that are less happy or unhappy, are usually those that do not accept the non-permanence of a particular state. They think that it is permanent which is why there is a dissonance between expectation and reality. And I agree with you that I think taking one to the end of spectrum, call that suffering, makes you a lot more cognizant of what it takes to be less unhappy.
GY: And sometimes, it is by helping unhappy people, they will be achieving a greater self-satisfaction. If our preoccupation is just our own wellness, it is superficial and it cannot endure. The joy that comes from lifting someone up or making a difference in another person’s life or feeling yourself useful, that is deep. So happiness cannot be divorced from our relationship with others although sometimes, we feel that we are happier when we are rid of them. But I think that is an illusion.
Gita Wirjawan‘s interview with George Yeo *
* A good context: He elaborated in his book, Musings Series Two, under the chapter, Saved in the US:
- In 2014, his youngest son was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) when he was three and a half years old.
- Another son had a large tumour (the size of a man’s fist) in his right chest when he was an undergraduate in 2013. The biopsy showed that it was a malignant germ cell seminoma which slowly grew in the thymus gland over many years, maybe from birth. While the inside of the tumour was cancerous, the ‘skin’ was not.
- In 2017, his wife was diagnosed with sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC), a very rare cancer.
Pain + Reflection = Progress
Ray Dalio
What can we do?
- Do more, whine less
- See possibilities and opportunities than problems to whine about
- Fall and pick up ourselves
- Take responsibility for our actions
- Travel more often to developing countries to see and experience life
- Help and develop empathy for the less fortunate and others
- Travel and work overseas to see the world
These develop a much broader understanding of life and empathy beyond our usual social circle and Singapore.
Less can be good.
Savour and learn through challenges and sufferings to develop character, and appreciate happiness with what we have.
Focus on needs and fewer wants.
We will appreciate things and life better.
