Though I am not trying to prove that it can be done during his lifetime, I wish to highlight that it was during MM Lee's term as Prime Minister that the Singapore Government introduced the 'Speak Mandarin' campaign. This has resulted in us having three generations or so of people who speak Mandarin fluently, although many of them can't speak their dialect unfortunately (except the occasional foul words, perhaps).

By implementing the same exercise, that is, starting from the schools (primary and secondary), I am confident we can and will create a gracious society.

If our younger generation were to practise saying 'Please' for any request that they want, 'Thank you' after receiving anything done for them, 'May I' or 'Hold the lift' when they see someone with two bagfuls of groceries approaching, give way when someone else is opening the glass door from the opposite end, etc, we will have a gracious society groomed in 10 to 20 years. When they reach adulthood and become parents, teaching the same traits to their kids, it goes on. By then, hopefully, we will have less honking on our roads and more people giving way to each other.

When we talk of Thailand, we think of a people who clasps their hands when they greet you. When we think of Japan, we think of a people who bow when they greet you or wish you goodbye. Let's create a society that other nations can remember us by. Good Gracious Manners.

Ian Tan Choon Hian