I'm still thinking about the recent trip to Hong Kong. The abundance of cheerful locals in service-related jobs compared to Singapore was glaringly obvious.
Admit it, Singaporeans shun and look down on service jobs, like waiting at tables and attending to customers in a retail store. Not so the folks in HK. And attitudes have changed so much that there were smiles in abundance. Wifey and kids were fussed over at a street-side eatery at the height of lunch hour.
I'm still trying to put a finger on this difference in mentality. A wise friend of mine put it down to the HK-er's internal sense of self-worth. He feels that people in Hong Kong derived their worth not by the jobs they hold, unlike Singaporeans. He's probably right. Some years back the Singapore government announced that more jobs would be created when the casinos open for business, a friend of mine remarked sarcastically that these would all be service jobs like cleaning, waiting at tables etc. His comment revealed a lot about how Singaporeans look at such jobs.
Hong Kong is a dynamic place, owed largely in part to the dynamism of its people. At a time when LKY is fading, his son not filling his shoes too well and the average Beng/Mat/Thambi complaining away, Singapore has a lot to do to catch up with Hong Kong and other rising economies.
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