Of all things to miss in New Zealand, what I miss the most is the high regard for TRUST amongst Kiwi Society. Sure, I miss the clean public parks, the beautiful scenery, and the cool weather, but above all, I miss the way Kiwis trust each other--a virtue missing among us Filipinos, which makes our lives more difficult.
Let me explain with a few examples.
Trust in restaurants and eateries
Although most restaurants have servers, Kiwis don't ask for the bill from the table. Restaurant owners trust their customers to leave servers alone, approach the cashier, and settle the bill by themselves. This makes the lives of waiters so much easier as they do not have to worry about money and payment. They can just concentrate on taking orders and serving dishes.
Hindi uubra ang ganitong sistema sa Pilipinas. If it was our local restaurant policy, I am sure many customers will try to sneak out and avoid paying. Hindi katulad sa New Zealand, you can't expect restaurant owners to trust their customers here in the Philippines. And that's why the whole process of dining here takes longer.
Trust in local elections
I was surprised to learn that the manner of voting in local elections in Auckland is by mail. I found out that the local commission on elections sends blank ballots to the residential addresses of voters. Then the voters are given a period to fill in the ballots and mail them back to the commission for tallying. Simple as that. People trust government to implement such a voting system, and in turn, the government trusts its people to be honest in voting. It's very admirable.
In my opinion, this manner of voting will not work in the Philippines. I can think of a hundred ways how local politicians can take advantage of such a system. The easiest would be to buy the ballots directly from the voters, fill in the desired candidates, and then mail it to the commission. It's so easy to cheat! And I am sure many Filipino voters will be more than willing to sell their ballots.
But cynical as I may sound, I do hope that someday, we Filipinos restore that level of trust other societies enjoy.
I was surprised to learn that the manner of voting in local elections in Auckland is by mail. I found out that the local commission on elections sends blank ballots to the residential addresses of voters. Then the voters are given a period to fill in the ballots and mail them back to the commission for tallying. Simple as that. People trust government to implement such a voting system, and in turn, the government trusts its people to be honest in voting. It's very admirable.
In my opinion, this manner of voting will not work in the Philippines. I can think of a hundred ways how local politicians can take advantage of such a system. The easiest would be to buy the ballots directly from the voters, fill in the desired candidates, and then mail it to the commission. It's so easy to cheat! And I am sure many Filipino voters will be more than willing to sell their ballots.
But cynical as I may sound, I do hope that someday, we Filipinos restore that level of trust other societies enjoy.
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