TUOITRENEWS: After an opinion article on the Vietnamese bad habit of
coming late by Max Murta, several local readers have responded with their own
stories and experiences of this issue.
“It’s embarrassing to come early”
I am a member of a sports club. One time, we
were sent an invitation to a birthday party starting at 5pm.
When I arrived at 4.45pm at the rendezvous
from which we would depart together, I was surprised to find half of the
members still playing sports. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry, although the
party would be starting soon.
When I asked why they were still playing, I
heard this reply: “The invitation says 5pm but the party actually starts at
6pm”. Someone started to go home to take a shower and asked us to wait for them
to come back. In spite of this, some members and I decided to go to the party
immediately instead of waiting.
What I found surprising is some people were
ready for the party and had to wait for the late ones. The excuse was that it
is embarrassing to arrive early and it is better to go in a group.
I do not know why they feel the need to be
embarrassed and how we can condone such a wrong perception. I hope we can find
a way to eliminate this idea of “rubber time” from our culture.
Ngoc Diep
“Better to make someone wait for you than for
you to wait for them”
Sometimes, my friends who came late joke, “Why
do I need to come early and wait for others? They need to wait for me!” It has
showed that unpunctuality originates from some people’s large egos and lack of
consideration for others. . That is why event organizers have had to change
their schedules as a way of adapting to the habits of those who do not respect
time.
This small bad habit has become a negative
trait of the Vietnamese in foreigners’ eyes. I think we need to change
gradually, starting with event organizers. You can include a sentence like
“Please do not come late” and carry out the program as scheduled. By doing
that, those who do not arrive on time will feel left out of a community
comprised of people with higher awareness.
Men Oanh
People coming late should be looked down on
I don’t know when “rubber time” became a part
of Vietnamese culture.
Since childhood, I was taught to be on time
and usually try to come 10-15 minutes early. Many times, I was the first one to
show up. People have various reasons for coming late: taking their children to
school, traffic jams. However, behind those excuses is the basic bad habit: a
disrespect of time.
For example, one of my colleagues lives next
door to me, so our company is just a few hundred meters away. However, he has
hardly arrived at the office on time since when I leave for work, he is still
watching TV! So whose fault is it?
At my office, those coming late to work will
be made fun of, or even receive punishment for making the whole team wait. When
we go on fieldtrips, especially, we always depart on time. Those who are not
punctual will need to catch a taxi or go home. We do not wait if there is no
sound reason or advance notification.
Thus, we need to teach ourselves the culture
of punctuality, in order to be civilized and to build a modern country.
Huynh Van Binh
TUOITRENEWS
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