when locals come here

[Sporkin]

Of late there seems to be quite a few posts from locals wanting to meetup, out of curiosity what enters your mind when locals come here to post about meeting new friends etc?

I am a local, I joined this forum because many of the topics regarding ICA and employment of foreigners are applicable to my wife but I never really had the urge to meet up( perhaps its an introvert thing ).

Some people wrote that it sets off alarm bells when you see locals interested in meeting up, would anyone like to share some horror stories? People, places and names protected of course.

[nakatago]

Of late there seems to be quite a few posts from locals wanting to meetup, out of curiosity what enters your mind when locals come here to post about meeting new friends etc?

It's a pretty common occurrence, actually. The sincere ones, at least.

I am a local, I joined this forum because many of the topics regarding ICA and employment of foreigners are applicable to my wife but I never really had the urge to meet up( perhaps its an introvert thing ).

Some people wrote that it sets off alarm bells when you see locals interested in meeting up, would anyone like to share some horror stories? People, places and names protected of course.

Common causes for alarm bells are:
* poster is actually trying to sell something. Experience lets us know if someone is really just looking for a meetup or hiding and would eventually spring an advertisement.
* poster is some pervy guy hitting on women; yeah, we've had a lot of those as well
* poster is just trying to get posts in so that private messaging will get activated
* poster is trying to fish for comments to put in the local rag; they would obviously be out of context

[sundaymorningstaple]

Also, we've been getting a lot of curiosity seekers since Admin decided to have a FB page that let's them post from FB onto the forum. The bad side of this is that a lot of vermin on FB are only looking for comments from expats to support their venomous rants about FTs in Singapore. As Nak mentioned, most are taken out of context instead of reading the entire thread on the topic.

However, there are lot's of locals in the northern most forums like the Plastic Surgery and weight loss forums and the Airlines forums (almost 100% locals in those forums and a funny read, to be honest. Such shallow drivel you wouldn't believe. Check out those threads for a good laugh.) Serious topics most shy away from as they are incapable of stringing 5 words in a sentence without resorting to sms texting and just generally abysmal levels of English.

[x9200]

Some people wrote that it sets off alarm bells when you see locals interested in meeting up

It is certain behavior rather than the poster being local that sets off the alarm.

[Sporkin]

Come to think of it, this subject could jolly well be taken as bait for the rags. I guess I haven't been reading the forum long enough to see locals wanting to meet up being a rather common occurrence.

It could also be the cynicism on my part when I asked this, I don't believe in people doing things for purely altruistic reasons, for most people anyways. I am always thinking "what's the catch?"

It must be interesting having seen the tens of thousands of post, cutting across a spectrum of people, while we would like to believe we are all unique and special, broadly speaking statistics tell us otherwise.

Of late there seems to be quite a few posts from locals wanting to meetup, out of curiosity what enters your mind when locals come here to post about meeting new friends etc?

It's a pretty common occurrence, actually. The sincere ones, at least.

I am a local, I joined this forum because many of the topics regarding ICA and employment of foreigners are applicable to my wife but I never really had the urge to meet up( perhaps its an introvert thing ).

Some people wrote that it sets off alarm bells when you see locals interested in meeting up, would anyone like to share some horror stories? People, places and names protected of course.

Common causes for alarm bells are:
* poster is actually trying to sell something. Experience lets us know if someone is really just looking for a meetup or hiding and would eventually spring an advertisement.
* poster is some pervy guy hitting on women; yeah, we've had a lot of those as well
* poster is just trying to get posts in so that private messaging will get activated
* poster is trying to fish for comments to put in the local rag; they would obviously be out of context

[sundaymorningstaple]

Come to think of it, this subject could jolly well be taken as bait for the rags. I guess I haven't been reading the forum long enough to see locals wanting to meet up being a rather common occurrence.

It could also be the cynicism on my part when I asked this, I don't believe in people doing things for purely altruistic reasons, for most people anyways. I am always thinking "what's the catch?"

It must be interesting having seen the tens of thousands of post, cutting across a spectrum of people, while we would like to believe we are all unique and special, broadly speaking statistics tell us otherwise.

Most of us old-timers, especially those of us who have subsequently become moderators, I think you will find, do exactly that. We get absolutely nothing for moderating here except the knowledge that we are helping others (sometimes even bad news is helpful if it causes you not to waste long periods of your time waiting for Plan A to come through and not thinking about a Plan B if it all falls through or is likely to fall through. But most of us old timers had some help along the way and we like to pay it forward. It comes with some bouquets and some brickbats, but at the end of the day, we are helping people if we can.

Sadly, you are right about statistics telling us otherwise. We don't like to stereotype, but after reading 10K~100K+ posts, you tend to do that, and sadly, a lot of the stereotypes are accurate and tend to stick. And yes, we do get cynical at times. We are, like everybody else, only human.

[nakatago]

It could also be the cynicism on my part when I asked this, I don't believe in people doing things for purely altruistic reasons, for most people anyways. I am always thinking "what's the catch?"

Nothing wrong with that...mostly. Just don't be obvious.

It's like being prepared for emergencies...you have the plans, the bug-out bags and the caches in place but you continue living a life and not acting like a crazy, paranoid lunatic.

[JR8]

Of late there seems to be quite a few posts from locals wanting to meetup, out of curiosity what enters your mind when locals come here to post about meeting new friends etc?
... Some people wrote that it sets off alarm bells when you see locals interested in meeting up, would anyone like to share some horror stories?

As with any internet forum I think your perception of others builds over time. That's one reason why it can be so enjoyable/beguiling when you meet them in the flesh [sometimes your perceptions are right, other times they are completely wrong]

I'm not going out and meeting anyone from the internet 1-1 except someone I've chatted to for some time, and preferably met at a group meet-up, AND like.

There is a lot of opportunism against foreigners in foreign lands. (Not just here at all). I've seen it referred to as an 'FT-tax', or more generally a foreigner-tax. Go and buy a pack of rehydration salts from a licensed chemist in Egypt, and you'll be charged ten times what a local pays.

So there's the suspicion of a) talking with people you don't know b) the feeling that we're seen as some plump turkey-farm a'ripe for the plucking. That's why you get these occasional newbies with their 'not-to-be-missed' dazzling offers. Trouble is, most of us here have been around long enough to spot this kind of stuff a mile off: No, make that 10 miles.

I have no objection at all with locals coming along to meet-ups, in fact I find it quite fascinating as they can help interpret via a local's prism some of the chit-chat issues and topics that get discussed. But I'd want to know they are 'joining the wake-boarding club, because they're really into wake-boarding too, rather than simply there to try and sell them.

[rajagainstthemachine]

In my experience, locals here have asked me for

1. Surveys

2. Shit I don't want to buy

[bgd]

Or rent their women - that was earlier today, since removed.

[the lynx]

Or rent their women - that was earlier today, since removed.

You mean to rant about their women?

[Sporkin]

@JR8:
Regarding the tourist tax, I feel this is more a less developed/developing country thing, or is it more specific to S.E.A? I have not been to the LDCs in South America or Africa for example to know if its a global phenomenon, I don't think I have encountered that in the developed countries like South Korea, Japan, U.K or Europe or U.S, maybe I was taken for a ride and i enjoyed it...

@SMS:
On a somewhat philosophical bent, I don't think the role of moderation is truly altruistic, you may not get any material gains out of it and you expend your personal time, but you do get contentment from what you feel you did for the greater good of the people.

Yes I've read a little bit of the Airline forums, perhaps it is part & parcel of youth or rather the folly of it.
People do change, usually for the better with age, or at least one would hope.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I wasn't really referring to the moderation part, but all of us old timers, moderators or not, tend to try to make it easier for the next newcomers. It's called paying it forward, and if you think altruistic people "don't" get some personal satisfaction, I believe you don't know what it truly means. But if, as you say, you are truly a Singaporean, then I don't expect you to understand, because the Asian mindset seems, to me anyway, geared to only do what it can in order to get something back two-fold. I get nothing for spending my time here and aside from a stipend for 3.5 years I got nothing working under the auspices of UNHCR resettling the boat people from VN back in the 80's. But from your point of view, yes I felt satisfaction if I was able to present a case for resettlement that helped the refugee. In fact, my stint there was more of a penance for my part in the VN war. There is nothing tangible there either. Philosophical bents don't put food in your stomach either, that's why I have a day job as well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Curious now. What would you call a good example of an altruistic person where it could be proven that they get absolutely no satisfaction for what they were doing?

[JR8]

Curious now. What would you call a good example of an altruistic person where it could be proven that they get absolutely no satisfaction for what they were doing?

Dress it up how you like, the Buddhist monk on his alms round, Mother Theresa, that U2/Geldof fund-raiser for Ethiopia ... there is no such thing. Anything 'altruistic' is, net-net ultimately for personal reward.

I believe this is one facet of Confucianism, the seeking of a path to simply not being in moral debt to anyone, never wishing to be being thanked, giving for the sake of simply giving 'of yourself'.

I think it's so contrary to human nature that it doesn't exist, and cannot. Working hard and paying your taxes is the proxy for most people.