A successful school?

Zaveed Husref wrote on how Victorians are unjustly criticized for their failure to clear trays in public eating areas. I somewhat disagree with his points. Ms Tan is not narrow-minded in making that assumption. Students, especially in their school uniforms, are judged in society for their ability to uphold their school values through their behaviour. Those students have caused their school to fail in its mission. They are not gentlemen, which does include the act of clearing trays. Such an elite school is bound to be judged through its students. Does this writer seem a little naive in presuming otherwise?

It would do the staff crew a good turn if trays were cleared by the customers, as people in the West do. It is not a matter of disrupting the job scope of the staff. This is referring more to fast-food restaurants. Why conform to the majority of people who neglect to clear trays? To clear them only based on one's own convenience speaks of a selfish mindset.

The numerous medals and rankings won by the school is not something to be excessively proud of though. This cannot replace nobility of character and civic-consciousness in its students. Is the criticism on the students truly harsh? The writer seems to wallow in the elitism that being a Victorian brings, and think that academic excellence and achievements are everything in a person's life. "Victorians...should be allowed the occasional lack of perfection..."? It seems to imply that Victorians are flawless except in certain incidents like this. Smacks of arrogance, I feel. A person is truly successful when he is noble in character and does good to people, not when he is academically and professionally excellent. It is even worse to behold a person who thinks he is superior because he holds a degree and works for a well-recognized company, but in actual fact, his degree is not as good as others' and his character/treatment of others need to be tweaked.

At the same time, I do agree that their conversation replaced their awareness of carrying out a civic-minded act. I certainly do hope that this was an isolated incident.