e-lifesl

I thought I saw a catchy campaign awareness ad in the papers last night. It has a dual lingo catchy logo which says ‘I-WATCH” and “AWAS-I” (couldn’t find it in the online paper). The tagline says something about ‘I see’, “I report’ and “I something” ,…can’t remember exactly – either my memory power is failing or the campaign cut thru is not working well.

Anyway..the campaign encourages us to CALL 999 when we see ‘something’….I excitedly thought – “finally we can be the eyes of the Police!” BUT..it is peculiar to me why was the campaign launched by the Minister of Telecommunications, Eergy & Water??? I couldn’t figure out why until I see a related news in the main page which says the following..:

….Call '999' if you spot someone stealing metal parts or electric cables belonging to public utility firms as it affects your safety and comfort. ...This message comes as part of a three-month public awareness campaign jointly launched by the country’s utility companies and the authorities to fight the metal theft menace. …..

It’s actually a campaign initiated by the said ministry to fight thefts of metal parts or electric cables. While I applaud the initiative by my favourite minister…I personally feel that the campaign could have been designed to cover a broader scope like ALL OTHERS i.e. robberies, burglaries, illegal parking, illegal racing, etc etc. Why just ONE form of theft? Can I call 999 when I see a snatch thief?

Secondly, I also doubt the 999 call centre’s ability on handling these calls based on my personal experience and countless complaints that I have read about.

I see two issues here…sometimes it’s just a matter of choice:

• Whether we choose to ‘tackle’ at the bigger problem or just be ‘smart’ or ‘sensible’ by just taking care of our own ‘territory’.
• Whether we choose to unearth and revamp the basics and rebuild or just ‘touch up’ what is obviuos and visible to bare eyes

I am not targeting mainly at this campaign per say , it’s just a general observation of attitude towards life (work, family, personal) issues. I am also very guilty myself …most times. It’s just so much easier to close an eye or BOTH ……….