Out of the box Lessons from the wooden crossing
I built this wooden crossing 18 months ago. I nailed the wooden plants on top of the logs that formed the base of the crossing.

 I received two types of comments in my Facebook page.
 
A few comments came from people who complimented me on the DIY work.

Most of the comments were negative. They declared that the crossing would rot within a short time and I would fall into the drain. Some declared that the crossing was unauthorized and I could get into trouble with the authority.

I observed on many occasions, and this is just one of them, that there is a tendency for many people to assume the worst that could happen and make their decisions based on the assumptions. Quite often, the assumptions were not even supported by the facts.

It seemed fashionable to be alarmist. They justify their approach by the motherhood statement - it is better to be safe than sorry.

They do not seem to understand the concept of probability. If an event is quite unlikely to happen, it does not make financial sense to incur a large cost to prevent it. The cost of prevention could be much higher than its likely benefit.

Many of these people were well intentioned in giving me advice to avoid falling into the drain. Somehow, they seemed to think that I am stupid and unable to make my own assessment of the risk. They do not seem to be aware that their advice is unhelpful and wrong.

I now come back to the crossing. It had served me well for 18 months. It is still in good shape, although some of the wood has deteriorated due to the weather. Yes, I have not been issued with any notice by the authority to remove this unauthorized crossing!

Indeed, it is safer to walk across the crossing after the construction as it provided better balance. Without the balance, I might have fallen into the drain. 

For those people who are waiting for me to fall into the drain, so that they can say "I told you so", they have to wait longer.

Tan Kin Lian

Add Comment

---