Bro/sis, I was standing at Jurong East MRT during evening peak hour yesterday waiting for my train, and I saw one of those huge automated cleaning robots rolling around. You know the kind—got little digital eyes on the screen, humming happily while scrubbing the tiles, automatically stopping when a blur person almost walks straight into it.
Suddenly, a core childhood memory unlocked.
When I was primary school kid last time (back in the 90s/00s), every time my report card came back with C or D grade, or when I didn’t want to do my homework, my mum would drop the ultimate boogeyman threat:
“You don’t want to study hard, right? Never mind, next time grow up you go sweep floor! See how hard the cleaner auntie/uncle work!”
Back then, “sweeping floor” or “collecting cardboard” was the default threat every Singaporean parent used to scare their kids into studying harder, going to tuition, and aiming for top streams. It was the ultimate rock-bottom career scenario in the Singaporean parents’ playbook.
Fast forward to today… I’m looking at this robot effortlessly cleaning a massive MRT concourse, complete with sensors, auto-docking charging, and programmed schedules.
Then it hit me: Even the fallback option gone already. 😭
Last time parents say “cannot study go sweep floor.” Today? The robot takes the job, and the person managing it probably needs an IT diploma or a certification in automated fleet control just to troubleshoot the machine when it gets stuck at the fare gates!
Nowadays if kids don’t study, parents cannot even tell them to sweep floor anymore. The competition is not just your classmate who goes to 5 tuition centres—it’s literally a machine that doesn’t sleep, doesn’t take MC, and doesn’t complain about OT.
Next time parents want to scold their kids, what can they even say? “Don’t study, next time grow up you go become the robot’s battery change technician!”
Singapore upgrade too fast already, even our traditional childhood threats are getting obsolete… 😂