NUS Students Are Getting Stupid

I’ve been wanting to say this for the longest time. Since receiving this mass email this morning, I thought it might as well be now. SOME NUS STUDENTS ARE REALLY VERY STUPID! Does it make sense to leave a notebook out there in the open, walk away from it, and expect it to stay put exactly where you left it when you return 10 minutes later?

Yet, I keep seeing it happen over and over again. I was thinking, maybe nowadays notebooks are cheap, and students are getting rich. What is $2K? If a notebook gets lost, just buy another one! No? Then why do people keep leaving precious belongings unattended?

This is a snippet of the email sent out.

SECURITY ALERT – THEFT OF LAPTOPS

Campus Security has received reports of laptop thefts recently. This week, there were four cases which had occurred in NUS canteens during lunch hours. In these cases, the victims had left their laptop on the seat in the canteen while they went to buy food. When they returned, their laptops were already missing.

…

The mass email then went on to talk about reporting strangers to campus security or the police. I think this is very silly. You should catch the careless notebook owner, reprimand him and levy a fine on him. We are wasting the time and effort of our police, so that instead of concentrating on catching the likes of Mas Selamat, they are being distracted by missing notebooks.

Many years ago, notebook thefts were not so common. When it does happen, it could be a case of thieves smashing a car window to get at the notebook. Yes, maybe the owner shouldn’t have left the notebook in plain sight in the car. But it is a whole lot different nowadays. You have silly people doing things like:

• Leave notebook on canteen seat to “reserve” the place while owner goes to buy food. Hey, the the notebook is like tissue paper eh?
• Instead of packing up, owner leaves notebook at study area while he goes to toilet for a break.
• Owner uses notebook to reserve seats in lab, even if the seat is out-of-sight from where owner himself is seated.

This is just ridiculous eh? Are they brain dead?

Incidentally, this isn’t even the first time that such an email has been circulated to highlight the thefts of notebooks.

Of course, the thieves are still the bad people. It is illegal to steal. The thieves, when caught, should still be punished. But it doesn’t help any bit to tempt the thieves or would-be thieves into stealing.