Who cares if …

A TIPPING point has been defined as the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development, in other words, a turning point.

It has been used in many fields – journalists apply it to social phenomena, demographic data, and almost any change that is likely to lead to additional consequences.

Recently it has been used commonly in relation to climate change, namely, something big and of serious impact.

I experienced my personal tipping point last Sunday. Okay, it was a small matter and it only mattered to me. In fact it was more of ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ variety.

Let me backtrack to three weeks ago. I was at Miri Airport waiting for my flight to Kuching. There must have been about 200 people in the waiting lounge.

It was a busy time of the day. It is quite easy to distinguish between seasoned travellers and newbies – the innocents abroad.

The former would park themselves in the seats (and not necessary nearest to the boarding gate) coolly open a newspaper, book, computer or smartphone and lose themselves in their own world.

The newbies carry an anxious air about them, watching the boarding doors and straining their ears for the boarding announcement. That day they were particularly anxious, and with good reason.

The loud speakers in the lounge were not working properly. Every so often one would hear something like: “Ladies and gentlemen, flight (crackle, crackle) is now (crackle, crackle and more crackle) … boarding at gate … (static, static).”

The poor ground staff had their hands full. On top of making the announcement, manning the doors and checking the passes they had to attend to the inquiries of anxious travellers. “Is this my flight?”

“Is this the flight for Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, etc?”

I just shook my head and went, “Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

During a lull in the activities I drifted to the staff counter and said sympathetically, “Very busy, ah.”

“Yah lah. The loud speakers are not working properly.”

“You should report to the authorities.”

“We did, a few weeks ago …”

“And?” I asked.

They just shrugged their shoulders in resignation. I got on my plane later and did a mental ‘shrug of the shoulders’ and did not think about the matter any more.

“The loud speakers in Miri do not work, so what?”

It happened that last Sunday, just two weeks later, I found myself at the same airport. I was rather tired, having made a circuitous trip of Kuching-Kuala Lumpur-Miri.

I sat right in front of the staff counter, took out a book, read a few pages and fell asleep. The wheezing and crackling of the malfunctioning loud speakers passed me by completely. The next thing I knew was someone tapping me on the shoulder.

“Sir, your flight is boarding.”

The gate was empty – they had all gone. It was a good thing that I engaged the staff at the bag drop counter in conversation, something about the new rule of limiting to a single item for carry-on. He remembered me. I could have missed my flight.

That realisation was my tipping point. Prior to that I was thinking “The loud speakers in Miri Airport do not work, so what?”

“Who cares if …”

What happens when a writer reaches a tipping point? He writes and rants. So this is it! There must be someone who is paid to care about such things. So whoever he is, it is time for him to earn his keep and do his job.

The irony is that the loud speakers in the toilet in that airport worked fine. Of course, I can only refer to the Men’s; I cannot vouch for the Ladies’.

While we are on the subject of those important small rooms, I realise that I have yet to come across a public toilet where everything works. (Here I am not including the toilets in the coffee shops and other cheap eating places. I don’t think we have the guts to go into that arena.)

There seems to be always something broken – the latches are wobbly, hangers missing, taps leaky, seat covers broken. Well, at least the flushes work, fair enough. However, I am sure there must be somebody responsible for maintenance.

We certainly cannot tolerate the ‘who cares if …’ attitude among these paid personnel.

I am running out of space so let’s talk about this, certainly not the last nor the least of peeves. Have a look at the accompanying photo. Yes, it is the ‘one price for the benefit of two spaces’ syndrome. It is a common phenomenon.

It makes one’s blood boil, especially in a situation of limited car parking spaces. This malaise has been going on for some time in Kuching and is not showing any sign of abating.

I presume if one were to bring this matter up with the relevant authorities, the pat answer could be that they don’t have the relevant law to prosecute these errant drivers.

Yeah right. Don’t they have an army of people diligently issuing compound tickets for infringements like parking over time, not punching the correct date or time, etc?

I have yet to see any attempt by the parking attendants to deal with this annoying and selfish action.

Some may feel that I am being pedantic and nitpicking over small matters. It is really not just about these specific issues. It is about the attitude of ‘who cares if …’ which forms the basis of a debilitating culture.

We are just about seven years from the year 2020, by which time we as a nation (at least according to one politician) should have developed into a “caring society”.

To have a society of caring people is a rather tall order. I would settle for a vision less grandiose. I just want the people who are paid to do their jobs, to do the jobs.