This is a blog entry with deep resounding impact on me. Courtesy from http://stressed-teacher.blogspot.com
I Regret
In schools, when a mistake is made, we expect an apology when it comes to facing the music. And when need be, to make amends for those affected by our mistakes. Yet, it is very distressing to read in the papers that it is very different in the outside world.
Outside the school, whenever a mistake is made, no one says sorry in their official statements. Instead, they prefer to use the term "I regret". Recently, a convict was mistakenly caned 8 strokes instead of 5. The relevant Ministries did not apologize. They only regretted the mistake. Direct responsibility for the mistake had been directed to a clerk, rather than the involved Ministry.
And in a more recent note, a pregnant woman died because the hospital staff refused to bend their rules a single inch. http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/ (11 July 2007)
No one will ever say sorry. It is my guess that the hospital management would rather see the hospital demolished, their own wives raped and children sodomized before they would even make a formal apology and admit direct responsibility. I am betting again on the "I regret" statement, where the blame would be laid directly at certain individuals of the staff, rather than the hospital.
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You may think that the people who use the "I regret" excuse lack integrity. Maybe they do. Or maybe they are just being smart. By saying sorry, they are admitting their mistake, and that usually opens the door for a massive compensation law-suit. Who in their right minds wants to pay out a trainload of money just because a stupid $2000-a-month admin staff made a mistake?It seems that when the moment of truth comes, only idiots say 'sorry', since it makes them liable for any damages.
For the kid who received three extra strokes, it is too bad for you. You won't become the 66,0001 millionaire in Singapore just because your buttocks got whipped three extra strokes. You might get a small compensation and a letter of regret. I wonder if a free parking pass would be thrown in as a sweetener to discourage you from appealing.
For the lady who died (I really felt real bad for her grieving husband), the blame would be pinned on some unknown nurse who would be forced to leave. Period. The hospital most likely won't take any responsibility. They will regret the tragedy, but they most likely won't accept any responsibility. No sorries, no massive compensation payouts, and no major management personnel taking personal responsibility. Since, no rule in the book was supposedly broken, the hospital staff were likely to be not negligent, only regretful that an innocent life was wasted. I also suspect, that in order to ward off public outcry, a "task force" - sounds way more impressive than a "committee" - would be set up to review existing emergency situation procedures. But ultimately, no one is really sorry, and no one, other than a small-timer scapegoat, would pay for the hospital's massive mistake. The only people who paid for it is the dead woman's family, who trusted that a hospital's bottom-line is to save lives, rather than to save the skins of the doctors and medical personnel who place procedure over the life of a nobody.
(Note: I wonder if the same refusal for blood transfusion would be given to a multi-millionaire patient also???)
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When was the last time you saw a local big-wig take responsibility for his mistake? Even for TT Durai, he lost only because he was stupid enough to take on a media giant, and not because he got greedy. Study his downfall carefully again. When Durai stuck to suing small-timers for defaming him for his extravagant lifestyle, he won; more than once. I bet Durai is not sorry, only regretful.
This might make a good Civics and Moral Education lesson for my students. Next time they get caught red-handed with their hands in the cookie jar, I would tell them not to say sorry. Just say " I regret".
