Pinoys most courteous of Asians, says ‘Digest’

FILIPINOS are the most polite urbanites in Asia, ranking 21st out of
35 in a global courtesy test by Reader’s Digest, the magazine said
in a statement.

Surprisingly, New Yorkers scored 80 percent and topped the 35-country
test, while Mumbai in India ranked 32 and dead last—just a point
ahead of 34th placer Bucharest in Romania—though Asia got the lowest
scores overall.

Reader’s Digest sent undercover reporters from its editions in
each country to assess politeness in their most populous city.

In every location, they staged scenarios to see if people would hold
open a door, say “thank you” after making a sale in a shop,
and help someone pick up papers dropped in a busy location. Points were
awarded for polite responses, and the results for each city were tallied
and compared.

“This was the world’s biggest real-life test of common courtesy,”
said Conrad Kiechel, editorial director of the magazine’s international
editions.

“Our researchers conducted more than 2,000 separate tests of
actual behavior, producing results that were both revealing and thought-provoking.”

The test was not a scientific survey, but it provided a fascinating
snapshot of behavior in the countries tested, the magazine said. It
gave a score of first to the most courteous and 35th for the least courteous.

For the purchasing test, Manila scored 65 percent with a global ranking
at 23rd.

But don’t expect a door to be held for you while in Manila as
only 25 percent of the people tested bothered to even slightly hold
the door ajar, giving the city a global ranking near the bottom at 33rd.

If you drop papers on a street in Manila, chances are someone will
help you to pick them up. Filipinos scored well at 55 percent, giving
them an impressive global ranking of 5th place.

“I wanted to help but I was hesitant because I was thinking what
if it was just another modus operandi of swindlers or pickpockets,”
says Elizabeth Yap, a self-employed 37 year-old.

Albert Magbagay, 18, a student who passed the dropping papers test,
says: “It’s innate for me to be helpful and courteous—there
was even a time when I helped an elderly cross the street. It really
matters when your parents raised you up with the proper values.”

But in Asia, eight out of nine cities finished in the bottom 11. Every
city except Hong Kong finished in the bottom 10 in the rankings for
holding doors open, and no door-holding test had a success rate higher
than 40 percent.

Many Asians don’t include door-holding in their notions of courtesy.
“How can we measure someone’s value simply by whether they
hold a door open?” asked a student in Manila.

“The three tests each looked at a different aspect of how people
relate to each other, with the door-holding test designed to see if
individuals are aware of the people around them,” said Jim Plouffe,
editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest English Asian magazine.

“Throughout Asia, we found that people were oblivious to the
fact their actions affected those around them.”

Courtesy in shops was particularly lacking in Mumbai. When a female
reporter bought a pair of plastic hair clips at a convenience store,
the sales assistant turned his back on her as soon as she paid. Asked
why, he said, “Madam, I am not an educated guy. I hand goods over
to the customers, and that’s it.”

Moscow and Bucharest ranked as the least polite European cities. When
a woman failed to hold a door in Moscow, she replied, “I’m
not a doorman. It’s not my job to hold doors. If someone gets hurt,
they should be quicker on their feet.”

Zagreb residents were the world leaders in helping with dropped papers.
One man insisted on helping despite having arthritis and a bad back.
“I always help someone in trouble,” he said.

Shop assistants were especially polite in Zurich and Stockholm. In
both cities, they thanked the Reader’s Digest “customers”
in every store where they visited and made a purchase.

In Sao Paulo, even petty criminals were polite. As Reader’s Digest
bought a pair of cheap sunglasses from a trader, shouts rang out that
the police were coming. The market turned out to be illegal. The merchant
gathered up his goods to flee, but not before saying “thank you.”

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