While waiting for sanctions, should we rely on reminders from people around us and on the awareness of each individual to stop offensive behavior in the metro and public places?
A man doing pull-ups on metro train No. 1 on the afternoon of March 12 - Photo: TM
Once, while riding the train in Tokyo (Japan), I saw many children, wearing the same hats, seemingly from the same class or school, standing in neat lines and all looking at the train moving into the station.
Queuing for the metro, escalators, keeping public places clean... is that difficult?
When the train stopped, another group of students, also of kindergarten age, wearing hats like the other students, lined up neatly and boarded the train one by one with the support and guidance of two teachers.
While the train was running, the children obediently surrounded the teacher, attentively observing and listening to her, in a soft voice, sharing something.
According to my Japanese colleague's explanation, the teacher was instructing the children on how to ride the train, the instructions on the train, as well as the rules for getting on and off the train in an orderly manner, to avoid disturbing others.
This is a fairly popular extracurricular activity.
Normally, kindergarten students will be taken out to experience the world around them. This includes learning to ride a train and use public transportation in a civilized manner.
Perhaps this is what has more or less created the discipline and good awareness of the majority of Japanese people on the train lines as well as on the bus: keeping clean, keeping quiet, lining up neatly and many other civilized behaviors.
Civilized cities and civilized means should include educational activities to equip skills, knowledge and behavior in public places.
Should schools, especially kindergartens and primary schools in places with metro like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, also carry out extracurricular activities to help students gain real-life experience?
Knowing how to line up neatly on the escalator, waiting in line to board the train, and keeping the train clean and orderly - these things are not too difficult.
But these things will certainly bring excitement and long-term benefits when the children themselves will become the next generation of civilized citizens when there will be dozens of train lines covering the city.
Teaching children to line up while you yourself cut in line
Community awareness is another beauty that is gradually forming on the metro lines of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City when I witnessed the image of passengers sitting neatly, picking up trash on the train or keeping the candy wrapper in their hands, waiting to get off the train and then throwing it in the trash.
Good deeds should be spread and responded to by everyone, not only on the train, at the station but also outside.
It is this "learning" and "imitating" that makes many places, such as in Taipei (Taiwan, China), not only train stations, but almost any public place very clean despite the lack of trash cans.
Because the government encourages people to take their trash home, sort it and dispose of it properly.
When visitors come here, they are initially surprised because they can't find any public trash cans.
After that, I had to pack up and bring the trash back to my place to put it in the bin according to regulations. I didn't dare to litter because I saw no one around me doing that.
Besides, creating awareness and nurturing civilization requires the cooperation of the family, specifically parents and adults who set an example for children.
We teach children to queue, but we ourselves jostle and push to get a place.
We teach children to throw trash in the right place, but sometimes when I am on the road, I have to quickly dodge the "sprays" and spits of the people driving next to me. It is interesting to see fathers and mothers throwing milk cartons and foam boxes straight onto the road while still carrying their children.
Then when getting on the train or going to the hospital, you still carelessly turn on the loudspeaker loudly. How can you teach and set an example for children to know how to keep quiet in public?
It is agreed that all of this must be accompanied by strong sanctions, with fines for violations on board being made public and used as a criterion for punishment, as Singapore has been doing.
While waiting for the above mentioned sanctions to be applied, should we rely on reminders from people around us and on the awareness of each individual in the hope that ridiculous behaviors such as doing hoops and swinging on bars on the metro will not happen again?
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/song-chuan-o-noi-cong-cong-phai-ren-tu-be-20250313142056444.htm
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