The Ugly Singaporean
It’s been a while since I blogged about anything non-related to anime or Japan.
This is an entry about Singapore. Please do not read on if non-anime entries bore you.
So anyway, I was in a certain shopping centre, located in a certain HDB district starting with the letter “B”, near my school, looking at some HD-enabled LCD TV and feeling sad and poor. I stood there for a few minutes to ogle at the power of High Definition and decided that those TVs were way overpriced. I’d rather have a 24″ LCD monitor from Dell for less. I walked to a DVD store nearby and found out that they had removed their entire anime selection, mostly bootlegs. Looks like they finally realized that selling bootleg DVDs with cheap-looking packaging for exorbitant prices just doesn’t work.
But that’s not what I want to talk about today.
On the way down to the first floor, a woman and an elderly man had stopped in front of the escalator. They didn’t look local and, I know I’m stereotyping, appeared to be foreigners who are in Singapore either looking for jobs or relatives.
The reason why they stopped was because they were afraid of stepping onto the escalator. The woman tried to take a step forward but retreated before her foot touched the moving steps. The man held on to her hands as the both of them looked down, uncertain with hesitation and a trace of fear.
I happened to be behind them and I stopped to wait because they were blocking the way down. I could sympathize with them. I used to have a fear of escalators too. I rolled down one when I was five. (Yeah, the whole way down.) It’s really quite difficult to get the timing right if you aren’t used to it, especially since that particular escalator was on the fast end of the speed scale in terms of escalators.
Of course, it only took a few seconds before a mini line formed behind the man and the woman. And it only took slightly longer before the ugly Singaporeans reared their empty heads. In this case, it was a bunch of school girls.
“Who’s blocking the way?”
“Why (sic) so scared one?”
“Ahahahahaha!”
“Lame.”
These were not five-year-old girls. These were teenagers who looked old enough to know when to keep their mouths shut. The man and the woman in front knew they were causing trouble for everyone else and they tried their best and finally got onto the escalator with half a jump. The pack of bitches behind continued with their mocking the whole way down. The man and the woman looked visibly distressed.
In my 10 years of citizenship, I have never felt more ashamed to be a Singaporean.
Are the girls so stupid that despite all the subsidized education they receive, they cannot tell the difference between right and wrong? Or do they do it despite knowing that it’s wrong? I really don’t know which possibility is scarier.
Stupid kids.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
mm idiots.. that makes singaporeans looks bad.. mind telling me how they look like so i can give them a punch in their face? @_@
November 14th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Well actually I think they are being the typical inconsiderate Singaporean. They lack sympathy, sense of occasion and common sense. For some reason, this ‘laughing-at-others-because-they-aren’t-as-good-as-us’ business seems particularly prominent in Singapore. Maybe it’s Singapore’s competitive nature that brings out this ’sense of pride’ for being ‘better’ than others? The fact that Singapore has been through so many courtesy campaigns does make one think deeper about this issue.
Hell, it’s not just the kids, quite a few adults i’ve noticed are irresponsible too, especially when it comes to their little kids running around, screaming and shouting in a really crowded area. I really can’t tell if it’s this generation or this country in which this trend exists, since I haven’t been out to see the world and stuff. If it is our country, then I fear for Singapore’s future. If it is our generation, I fear the world is going to hell.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Yeah, there are many bad-hats like that, not only in Singapore - there are LOADS of them in Italy. It’s just a bad habit of 3… that carries on to 80. One time I was getting off a ‘tram’ (those electricity-based buses with a cord attached on the roof, I don’t think there are any in other countries) to make space to the people behind me, who were obviously trying to get off. Then a woman, while I was going down those 3 stairs said with a loud voice: “What the **** are you doing? You shouldn’t stand in front of the door, you dork! There are people who have to get off!” I mean, just wait a second! It’s not like she was going to miss a stop because of me, I was getting off in that very moment! Furthermore, there wasn’t enough space for me to stand, so I had to be in front of the door, duh…
Well, that’s all for my complaints… And also, forgive me as this may sound stupid, but what’s a bootleg DVD? XD
November 14th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
You get good characters(namely yourself, me, and all the nice people you know) and bad characters. It’s just that the bad characters make a more lasting impression than the good characters. For every bitch you see mocking old people without a drop of sympathy, there are those who stand quietly at the sidelines, too timid to reach out and say something for fear of fetribution.
It’s sad to say the bad characters, because they are more noticeable, have more influence. They make others become rotten too. But you can’t really blame them at all.
Bad haracters merely have such qualities because it reflects a true emptiness inside themselves, which they attempt to hide with “tough” behaviour or indifferent behavior. Inadequecy is a feeling nobody wants to have.
I am sorry that you and the elderly couple in question have witnessed such uncaring teens. Just remember not to act like them yourself..
November 14th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
When simply smiling is not enough. Couldn’t you have told them to take the lift instead?
November 14th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
a bootleg DVD is a low-quality illegal duplicate…
November 14th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I forgot to mention that this whole incident took place in less than 10 seconds. It’s not like the two of them blocked the escalator for hours or anything.
It took all of 10 seconds for the girls to start complaining.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
O_o I am rather sure that u are refering to junction 8 in Bishan? the animeshop happens to be inside best denki? Which recently removed their anime collection??
November 14th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
This has little to do with Singapore, stupidity is ubiquitous.
I see that kind of thing all the time over here - a lot of people just don’t stop to engage their brains before they speak. Probably because they don’t have one.
> “Why so scared one?”
Haha, I love Singaporean English :P. I read about it on wikipedia once, but could never actually find much in the way of examples… I guess that’s because people never *write* this form, only speak it. Almost makes me want to visit just to hear.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Lol im surprised at a foreigner’s view of Singlish. And a British one too. Its a naturally spoken slang over here. I think http://www.talkingcock.com will be a good site to know more Singlish.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
slight edit here. For a rather concise list of Singlish terms and their usage, visit http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexPKL&lexicon=lexicon .
November 14th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
if the girls are wearing school uniform, write a letter to their school and complain about how the students lack consideration. Or better, write to Straits times forum and complain about the lack of courtesy that the ppl in that school has.
November 14th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
^Again, another typical singaporean trait.
ONLY KNOW HOW TO COMPLAIN.
Next time, do what I do: Fuck them back.
“Oei, like that also funny?”
November 14th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
@tsubaki: I would advise against that. If you must react that way, be sure to keep your own emotions in reign and don’t lose your cool.
November 14th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
O_o
So… Singlish is combination of three? (malay, chinese and english).
Then this will be the language that I understand 2/3 of it xD