If you still don't know what Ofo is, it is a bicycle-sharing provider in Singapore that is still currently free for users. To use it, users download the app, locate the Ofo bicycle, unlock it using the code provided, ride and payment is deducted after locking the bicycle.

Unfortunately, people are abusing Ofo's bicycles by taking liberties with them.

Ofo bike users have stolen not returned, displaced, chained up, and abandoned Ofo bikes.

A photo of an Ofo bike chained outside of an HDB flat has gone viral, and many more netizens have reported sightings of locked Ofo bikes to the official Ofo Facebook page.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Photo via Jasper Yap’s Facebook post[/caption]

Sadly, this problem of people abusing the nice things that we have is not new.

It is a social ill that has been around for a while.

Take a look at these:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Source: Stolen NTUC Trolley Facebook[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Source: Stolen NTUC Trolley Facebook[/caption]

That's right, like the Ofo bikes, people have been abusing supermarket trolleys, by stealing and abandoning them in housing estates for a while now.

Some people have even brought the trolleys onto the LRT, while residents in a private estate created their own trolley drop-off point at their condominium's disabled lot.

Much like the issue on the Ofo bicycles as well, the problem of supermarket trolley abuse has also seen people sharing photos of the bad behaviour on social media.

There seems to be an unhealthy inclination and trend among people to carry out such irresponsible and anti-social behaviour, that will not result in more nice things for the more responsible ones among us.

At the heart of the problem is perhaps an increasingly misplaced sense of entitlement that, apart from abusing bike-sharing and supermarket trolleys, has also borne its ugly head on the road.

Clearly, this is a problem with mindsets and social values that might not go away anytime soon.

Changing mindsets and social values involves a long-term combination of enforcement by the relevant companies and the authorities, education and upbringing, and even the cultivation of a culture where bystanders are not afraid to confront and stop those carrying out the bad behaviour.

For now, a good start would be to consider this: In order to cope with costs from the loss of bicycles and trolleys, these companies might actually pass the costs on to innocent consumers like us by raising prices.

That means more expensive groceries to cope with trolley abuse, and more expensive rides from Ofo (when they do start charging) and other bicycle-sharing providers.

Yes, our irresponsible actions may contribute to the rising cost of living.

Top image from Teresa Teresa’s Facebook post and Stolen NTUC Trolley Facebook

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