23 Oct

The program is coming to an end. In a way, I must say that it has been quite successful throughout though I'd want to analyze it further. Its hard to accept that my program worked because I am aware of it or that I have done it through sheer will power. However, let me first update on the progress made on 23 Oct

23 Oct Thurs

I left my hall for my class at 1pm but because my class starts at 2.30, I was in no rush. I realized that recently I'm leaving my house earlier and my mentality has changed to wanting to be there even if the time has not reached yet. That is because I'm afraid that I would be late so I usually bring whatever I intended to study or read near to the place that I was supposed to have classes. However, as I was having lunch with my friend and chatted for too long, I nearly did not have time to print my notes. Due to some mechanical failure at the printers I was delayed but after printing out my notes I ran all the way to class and made it just on the dot 2.30pm.
Due to the rushing, I could not get my pencil case as they are in the canteen and I had no time to get them. As usual the teacher is not there and so are most of the students.
Later, I had to go for my tutorial at 4.30pm which I reached at 4.22pm since we ended early and I just went back to the canteen to get my pencil case.
Later I met my friend for a talk at the canteen at 5.30pm which I reached at 5.30 sharp as we just finished classes.
Finally, I contacted my friends online for a meeting at 12am which was the stipulated time. I was on time but the others were not. So I had to call them one by one to gather them.

Verdict: Success
Points Earned: 4 out of 4 events
Total Points: 6 (I used 4 points for computer games)

Discussion
I realized that there is a general tendency for people to be late because of the culture in Singapore or specifically, in our daily lives. As people are used to people being late they do not feel upset nor do they reprimand the offender as the behavior of lateness is expected.
In this way, people seldom come on time as:

1.There are no rewards for being early

2.Most people are late, so the person who is early usually have to wait for others to arrive(Negative punishment)

3.When you are late, no one scolds you and usually the perpetrator just apologizes without any consequences(Lack of punishment = positive reinforcement as the person has more time at doing his/her own things without having to be responsible for his/her timing)

4.Convenience of mobile phones meant that one could notify others of their status and tell others to go on ahead without them. This convenience allows people to make last minute changes without notifying others

Because of these for reasons, tardiness is an issue with many Singaporeans as well as myself. As i review my own blog, I realized that when I was on time in my meet ups with Singaporeans or classes with Singaporean teachers, the meetings and classes never start on time. That meant that I had to wait or make calls to ask where the others are and it is a punishing stimulus for me as I hate to wait for others. In order that we can overcome these problems, it is essential that we communicate to others about our displeasure(As what my Korean teacher did and since then I've been late only once to her class) . Also, we could reward those who are early by being attentive to them or giving them small treats. Lastly, teach them to start the events on time with or without everyone. I also believe that it is our own responsibility to take care of our own time management, even if there is an unforeseen circumstance, we should make time allowance so that even if we are delayed, we wouldn't be late.
However, on a footnote, I understand how and why most people are late so I could understand and sympathize with them since I used to be one of the worst perpetrators. However, that does not mean that lateness should be tolerated.