**Reminder: If you select this task, you need not do Articles #2 and #3.
Go to this website and read the newspaper article by S M Ong, first published in The New Paper. Comment on this post in this format, using your full name.
1) Do you think the author, S M Ong, is positive about the initiative launched by HDB? Why?
2) Quote from the article, 2 phrases that back your answer in (1).
3) Do you agree with S M Ong’s point of view in this article? Explain your answer.
All 3 questions must be answered to be considered as a complete answer 
Article 1#
1# I doubt that the author is positive, I think that he is pessimistic about this.
2# As he states:
Now I want better neighbours as much as the guy living next door to me, and another statement is :It assumes HDB residents want to be good neighbours but are too oblivious to know.
3# Yes, I agree that we should all try to be better neighbours in everything we do and also talk to neighbours that cause some problems and try to work it out.
1: S M Ong was not entirely negative and against the idea of publishing the book. However, he felt that the book would not come in handy. This is because he thinks that Singaporeans cannot be bothered to do their parts in making the neighbourhood a better place. Therefore, I would say that he is not positive about the guidebook published by HDB.
2: The two phrases are ‘don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious.’ and ‘they do so because they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours’.
3: I do agree with S M Ong. I think that most Singaporeans would not download that guidebook due to laziness. Also, I suppose that majority of the residents would not do anything to help improve the relationship between their neighbours and themselves. In contrast, others may take any opportunities to bond with their neighbours rather than getting a guidebook to tell me the steps they should take.
1) He was not really positive about publishing the guide book. He felt that many Singaporeans will not care to read the book as they are busy with their work and they think that small things like being a good neighbour is not as important as working.
2)They are ‘don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious’ and ‘they do so because they couldn’t care less about being a good neighbour.’
3) Yes I agree. Many people nowadays are too bust working that they even forget about their family members, how could they even have the time to think about being a good neighbour? Now, they are many activities to bond with our neighbours so some people will not read the guide book anymore as they think that they had bond enough with their neighbours already.
1. No, i do not think that the author is optimistic about the initiative launched by the HDB. He thinks that Singaporeans do not care if they are good neighbours or not.
2. The phrases are ‘they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours’ and ‘display anti-social behaviour without consideration to their neighbours’.
3. Yes, agree with his point of view. We should all avoid things that would negatively affect our neighbours so as to achieve peace and harmony with them.
1)he was not positive about it. He wanted to say things that are not in the guidebook
2)He said that not to waste our time and money on a guidebook that only states the minor things
3)I agree with his point of view since singaporeans maybe too lazy to download the guidebook and to read it.
1) He’s being very negative in his response. Singaporeans know how to be a good neighbors, but they could not be bothered because they are lazy. The book would never come in handy if Singaporeans were to care less about it.
2) Phrases like, ‘something that is not in the guidebook: Don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious.’, and ‘they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours, much less downloading any book to teach them how to be good neighbors.’
3) I agree with S M Ong’s point of view. Don’t try to state the obvious in a book , Singaporeans know, but they could not even bother to download a slim volume that states on ways to be a good neighbors, much less even reading it. However, there might be the few that may simply try to get along with their neighbors, but the way to getting peace in your neighborhood community is still a long way to go.
1) He was not really positive about publishing the guidebook. He felt that Singaporeans would not have time to read the guidebook as they would be busy with their work and wouldn’t have time to even bother about being a good neighbour.
2) He wrote “Let me contribute something that is not in the guidebook: Don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious.” And “people don’t behave inconsiderately because they lack a guidebook to tell them how not to. They do so because they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours, much less downloading any book to teach them how to be good neighbours.”
3) Yes, I agree. As many people nowadays are busy with their work and may not have time, besides, there are always activities that allow us to bond with our neighbours and after they attend these activities they would think that they would already have bond with their neighbours and care less about reading the guidebook.
1) He is not positive. He think Singaporean don’t have the time to look at thee guidebook as children will be busy studying while the adults will be busy working. And they won’t even bother to read the guidebook. Firstly, they are not free. Secondly, they are lazy. Thirdly, they dun think being a good neighbour is as important as their job.
2) “Don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious” and “they couldn’t care less about being a good neighbour”
3) Yes, i agree with S M Ong’s point of view. As now everyone is busy, they don’t have the time to read the guidebook. Even they have the time, most of them are lazy to read. They don’t think it is very important.
1)He was not really positive about guide book as he feels that the guide book would be helpless to those who just could not care less about being good neighbours or if they do not have the time to do so.
2) He wrote:”Don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious.” and “people don’t behave inconsiderately because they lack a guidebook to tell them how not to. They do so because they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours, ”
3) I agree with his point of view as i feel that we do not need a guide book to guide us to be good neighbours, if we were to really want to have a good bond between our neighbours we could do so without a guidebook to tell us what to do, We would take the time to grow that strong bond between our neighbours by being ourselves and not by following rules or what to dos .
I don’t think that S M Ong is positive as he does not show much interest in helping others to become better neighbors. Instead,he pours cold water by saying that everything is “misguided” and i feel that he feels that guidebooks to help us become better neighbors is somewhat useless and states the obvious only. One of the two phrases i would like to point out is, ” Don’t waste time and money coming up with a guidebook that states the obvious.”. This phrase shows that he does not think that guidebooks are good enough for people like us to use such that we can become better neighbors. Second phrase is,”people don’t behave inconsiderately because they lack a guidebook to tell them how not to. They do so because they couldn’t care less about being good neighbors”. I agree with S M Ong’s point of view as what he say is true. We do not need a guidebook to help us to become better neighbors. But for people who are not so outgoing may use a guidebook first before speaking to their neighbors. Being a good neighbor is not done overnight,there must be patience and tolerance before the relationship between the neighbors become better.
1) I do not think that S M Ong is positive about the initiative launched as he thinks that the guidebook is useless, moreover, people are lazy to download it and also cannot be bothered to read it.
2) The two phrases are”Don’t waste time and money’ and ‘they couldn’t care less about being good neighbours’.
3) I agree with S M Ong’s point of view. It is clear that being a good neighbour is way better than being a neighbour who is oblivious to how they are affecting their neighbours. We should be harmonious, kind and helpful to our neighbours. We can also take some time out to chat among our neighbours to foster better relationship.