RECENT media reports have cast Singaporeans in a rather unsavoury light.

Some people saw the haze crisis as a money-making opportunity and sold masks at sky-high prices. Similar profiteering behaviour was observed for Hello Kitty toys.

And just this week, the National Day Parade committee had to emphasise its ban on sales of parade tickets as a black market for the balloted tickets began to emerge online.

With these incidents in mind, one could be forgiven for thinking that many Singaporeans are opportunistic and lack compassion.

It was therefore greatly redeeming to learn of the honest deeds of transport service staff (“$70,000 found and returned”; Monday). They deserve our respect and recognition for returning the large amounts of money they found.

They demonstrated great empathy for others and showed us that personal integrity is infinitely more valuable than materialistic inclinations.

To see that the simple values of honesty and kindness remain important in our society is greatly inspiring. It is perhaps a timely reminder for all of us to always go back to the basics of common morality and decency.

These honest Singaporeans have shown us that we can all make the choice to do right by those around us.

Dr William Wan
General Secretary
Singapore Kindness Movement

First published in The Straits Times – July 11, 2013