The calendar says the year ends. But issues do not follow the calendar. These social issues are likely to be repeated from tomorrow unless we heed the lessons that made 2008 not so great.

1. Can we be more gracious?

Acts of ungraciousness not only made headlines, but were frowned on by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He appealed for greater kindness and graciousness during his National Day Rally speech in August. The New Paper also featured several instances of ugly behaviour from Singaporeans.

Like the drinks stall supervisor who mocked an elderly customer for saying "please".

And the verbally abusive uncle who openly puffed on a pipe in an LRT carriage, the man who hogged a bus seat with bags of food, and another senior citizen who spat gum on a woman commuter's hair just for laughs.

Has graciousness gone down the drain in some cases? Will we see a kinder and more gracious society in 2009?

2. Can we treat our foreign workers better?

Unpaid wages and the poor living conditions of foreign workers made the news.

By far the worst case of abuse involved a group of foreign workers who were crammed into a bedbug-infested dormitory in MacPherson.

There was also the quandary of some foreign workers who were stuck here because they had to help the Manpower Ministry with investigations.

And who can forget the uproar by Serangoon Garden residents over plans to build a dorm for foreign workers nearby?

Ridiculous suggestions by Singaporeans included offshore facilities and separate roads for foreign workers. And let's not forget about domestic helpers. The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics told The New Paper in July that maid abuse is still prevalent and deviant maid abusers are still surfacing.

First-world country? Perhaps.

The question is, can the rogues shed this uncivilised mentality in 2009?

3. Can we get tough on rogue landlords?

They agree to rent their flats or rooms, but disappear after collecting deposits or advance rent, leaving you poorer and without a roof over your head.

This year, The New Paper ran at least five reports on such cheating landlords.

One of the largest real estate agencies here said it has been seeing more such cases.

The cynics say we can expect more of such cases in '09 because there will more desperate tricks in the downturn.

To prevent being duped, can you be less gullible?

4. Will investors ever get their savings back?

After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, nearly 10,000 retail investors here who sank $500 million into structured products linked to the US investment bank lost their money.

Many are retirees who may lose their life savings.

And many claim to have been mis-sold the products.

Eight town councils weren't spared; they had about $16 million invested in the troubled products.

Is there hope of their getting even a fraction of their money back?

5. Will timeshare victims ever learn?

In the last two months, The New Paper ran a series of reports about victims who did not seem to have learnt from the publicity given to others.

We are talking about timeshare customers.

The Consumers Association of Singapore said complaints against timeshare companies had been its No 1 problem for the last five years.

The Government has strengthened the Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act to better protect consumers.

But given that this problem has been around for years, can more be done?

6. Will there be more welfare shoppers?

They get help from various social service agencies. They refuse to help themselves by getting jobs, choosing instead to rely on charity.

The numbers aren't large, but social workers say it is a problem that has not improved over the past few years.

The ComCare database, which allows social workers to access data of needy families, helps sieve out welfare shoppers. But the system is not foolproof. Will the downturn see the emergence of more welfare shoppers?

7.Can Duxton Road be rid of vice?

In February,MP Christopher de Souza lamented in Parliament that vice had invaded the HDB heartlands. He had seen women he felt were prostitutes around Duxton Road, he said.

Nightspot owners argued that his remarks were unfair and had affected their business. In a report in The New Paper last month, the Tanjong Pagar Business Association blamed renegade pubs for flouting the laws.

The police conducted 24 anti-vice raids in the first nine months of the year and 414 people were arrested, mainly women.

Can Duxton Road (right) acquire a respectable image?

8.Can Paralympians receive the same rewards as Olympians?

Picture this disparity: $1 million for an Olympic individual gold medal, $100,000 for a Paralympic gold.

Why the huge difference? Olympians get higher rewards because the level of competition at the Olympics is higher, the base of the competition within the Olympics is a lot broader, and the cash awards given to the Olympians and Paralympians are not government-funded but come from the private sector.

But are we discriminating against our disabled athletes?

Is it time to change our mindset towards disability?

9.Can our young be less reckless online?

They have no qualms putting footage of their sex romps or naked pictures on the Internet. There seems to be a trend of more young people becoming online exhibitionists.

Then there's the problem of underage sex, some of it beginning in chatrooms.

This month, a 17-year-old boy was put on 12 months' probation for having sex with an 11-year-old girl. They had met on social networking site Friendster, and had sex in her flat and at a HDB staircase landing.

Counsellors said that while the numbers are small, sex among pre-teens is on the rise because of the Internet.

How do we stem such online hanky panky?

This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec 31, 2008.