Daily Lesson from Life 21 August 2008

"Remove food tray after your meal: PM

Clearing the table by returning the food tray at food centres and food courts is a habit that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would like to see inculcated in Singaporeans.

Speaking at the National Day Rally, he said every national serviceman would remove their food tray after finishing their meal. So he could not understand why this was not practised when they were outside the army.

"I don't understand. Every national serviceman knows exactly what to do in his cookhouse. Maybe need more reservist training," he remarked."So it's going to take time to change the mindset", which is currently: " I go to the foodcourts to eat and not to clean tables", he added."

Interesting for the PM of a nation to comment about 'remove food tray after your meal' in public eating places indeed.

Lessons for me are:

1. when one claimed to be successful in nation building and producing loads of economics successes, one still has to concede that changing the mindset of people is harder! It takes time!;

2. changing behaviors is a process. It starts with awareness. Do you know what need to change? Do you know why you need to change? What are the costs and benefits - at the basic level; and at a higher and deeper level, regardless of cost and benefits as it is the right thing to do? Take actions to start developing the new habits!;

3. the most difficult thing to accomplish in this whole change process is to have the DISCIPLINE at the start of the new habit. Sometimes we need other people to remind us and keep us on the right track. Sometimes we need people to push us hard to keep the initial routine when developing the new habit. All the while with our consent, with our encouragement as we know we want partners to monitor our progress. This is what we called the support system! Or we can the people with the whip to whip us! But in the end, it is US who will decide if the efforts will pay off. No one can be with us every second of the time and forever. Ultimately it is still us who has to power to decide if the change is a success or not!;

4. Singapore is a great nation. 43 years old. Done a great deal. But, we are still FAR from world class in many of our behaviors.

Keeping working on improving my fellow Singaporeans. Just as I will continue to strive to be a practitioner of the 7e Way of Leaders.