Singaporeans and Caucasians

Mary Hatch Bailey · Post by **Mary Hatch Bailey** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 6:20 pm

You never know, I may check in from time to time...

kennyboy · Post by **kennyboy** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 7:41 pm

jksg wrote:
jksg wrote:
Morticia wrote:From my standpoint...its Is getting worse..been here over three years and these occurances are becoming MORe frequent. Its irritating and disrespectful. Recenlty if I catch myself even considering being offended I simply walk over and ask what all the hype is about... Of course more hillarity ensues...and I find it therepuetic to laugh at myself once and a while. More than the "mystery laughs", the "Welcome to Singapore"s from young locals tends to grate on me. I mean, where wer they when I was all alone and new here??? I could have used the warm welcome then!!!
Hi everybody,
Im so sorry to hear that. I cant believe that. As a local I always felt that Singaporean are extremely polite towards foreigners. Are you sure?
I cant imagine Singaporeans doing something like that. If there is only the slightest truth to that which I dont believe then it would be shameful.
No I dont believe that. you are treated with so much respect from all locals arent you???
No response so far.so I guess this will underline my claim that there are no locals giggling and laughing at caucs to humiliate them . caucs are treated respectfully here in singapore. I am relieved coz how to attract foreign talent when we make fools out of caucs???

Correct! I fully agree. All Singaporean respect caucasian. Noway there are people out there giggling laughing or mocking at caucasians. an incident which might happen once per year is not representative and comes down to lie. we are talking maybe about one in a million. so not noteworthy to mention. 99,999% dont giggle and laugh at caucs.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 8:14 pm

Mary Hatch Bailey wrote: Make my popcorn, large, no butter.

Butter on mine will be fine, along with chemical powdered cheese please!

Wonder if jksg realizes we are just ignoring he/she/it as the case may be.....

jksg · Post by **jksg** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 8:42 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
Mary Hatch Bailey wrote: Make my popcorn, large, no butter.

Butter on mine will be fine, along with chemical powdered cheese please!

Wonder if jksg realizes we are just ignoring he/she/it as the case may be.....

Here are Singaporean who are concerned about the well being of expats. And you silly inmature guy - instead of appreciating our concern for you -
trying to make a fool of us locals. great. dont expect any empathy from Singaporean. this is a serious topic and you fool around.
Now I do understand singaporean who laugh at westeners. they are silly. some of them.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:12 pm

jksg wrote:Here are Singaporean who are concerned about the well being of expats. And you silly inmature guy - instead of appreciating our concern for you -
trying to make a fool of us locals. great. dont expect any empathy from Singaporean. this is a serious topic and you fool around.
Now I do understand singaporean who laugh at westeners. they are silly. some of them.

Either you don't get out much, or you just found out how to turn on daddy's PC. Are you really that naive?

dot dot dot · Post by **dot dot dot** » Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:38 pm

Here's a confession from my heart...

I know this cultural 'thing' about 'loose face' in local culture here, especially with the Chinese singaporeans.

For reasons I am not gonna make known here (yet), I have been confronted with that in a very, very intense way these few days. And I hated the experiences this week.

Well..... I also do get sometimes a bit grouchy, itchy or whatever you may wish to call it. At these moments, if walking along Orchard Road, I could bump into people easily and I would probably look at them and think "why you walk right into me?".

At moments like now though, with being so frustrated with this 'loose face' thingy, walking on Orchard Road and bumping into a Chinese person, who would avoid eye contact after it (not done, is offensive), not say anything (give respect to you, not confront you) and would just walk on, I might even get to the state of mind walking to him and say" Why did you walk right into me sir?"
I would vent my frustrations on Chinese, because of what is on my mind bothering me about my experiences with this Chinese 'loose face' thingy. For what?

When I feel good though, I can walk on Orchard Road, people bumping into me and then me just laughing and apologizing for them walking into me.

Point is: first try and understand a culture and then just look in the mirror and realize it is not only about "them, the Singaporeans", but also about yourself, your state of mind, your empathy, your flexibility, your understanding and basically your respect of saying: Hey, I am in a different country and as a matter of fact I am a guest and I need to be aware of that.

This world is not about Westerners saying how Singaporeans should walk in their own counrty, is it?

Can we please just stop this Western arrogance?

Eric

Wham · Post by **Wham** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 9:35 am

Eric - For me at least, i think you hit the nail on the head. There are some things that are uniquely Singaporean like the pervasice lack of spacial awareness, and 95% of the time i walk around and ignore it - but once in a while, like when i am in a real bad mood, it gets under my skin and makes me want to wack someone on the head and say "what the F$$$ is wrong with you!" However - instead of doing that - i log onto the Forum and vent a little - and in so doing, a few people will say, "yea, i agree - that lack of spacial awareness thing frosts me too" and then i feel a little better that i am not the only one feeling that way. I guess i am just human.

Needless to say, yesterday i was in a REALLY bad mood...

Vaucluse · Post by **Vaucluse** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:10 am

We'll miss you, Mary - please come back soon - time is fleeting!

Wham, Eric - 100%

Last week was my turn. from the turds who delivered the wrong furniture, to the guy who cut in front of me at the taxi queue, to being messed around with a job with pathetic conditions to all the other crap.

Funny thing - not really - is that I would be far more self-contained at home than here, where I tend to lash out (verbally) far more easily - this is a side to me that I really don't like.
I've asked myself if it's a feeling of superiority (nope), maturity (yea, right) or something else but I can't put finger on it.

Came to the realisation that I'm turning into a pompous git.

dot dot dot · Post by **dot dot dot** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 11:11 am

Vaucluse wrote:Came to the realisation that I'm turning into a pompous git.

naaah.... just a semi-intellectual snob..

La Reinne,

I wish you a wonderful holidays, enjoy your month back home and please come back with that beautiful smile of yours...

Miss ya...

Eric

kennyboy · Post by **kennyboy** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 11:51 am

This is a rather serious issue and as a Singaporean I find it wrong to just ignore this matter.
Just to get an idea of the perceived scale: Is this systematic grinning/laughing at westeners
a rather daily phenomenon or is it only once in a blue moon?

Wham · Post by **Wham** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 6:07 pm

Kenneyboy,

I have done my share to grace these pages with heaps of complaints about everything from bad parking experiences at Holland Village to being bumped into walking down Orchard - but i for one CANNOT RECALL ONE TIME when i experienced giggles and finger pointing of any sort - unless of course it was something that i inspired on purpose. For me, this complaint just does not compute.

Wham

Vaucluse · Post by **Vaucluse** » Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:12 pm

Wham wrote:Kenneyboy,

I have done my share to grace these pages with heaps of complaints about everything from bad parking experiences at Holland Village to being bumped into walking down Orchard - but i for one CANNOT RECALL ONE TIME when i experienced giggles and finger pointing of any sort - unless of course it was something that i inspired on purpose. For me, this complaint just does not compute.

Wham

Ditto

Global Citizen · Post by **Global Citizen** » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 11:07 am

Vaucluse wrote: Funny thing - not really - is that I would be far more self-contained at home than here, where I tend to lash out (verbally) far more easily - this is a side to me that I really don't like.
I've asked myself if it's a feeling of superiority (nope), maturity (yea, right) or something else but I can't put finger on it.

Came to the realisation that I'm turning into a pompous git.

Maybe you along with some others just feel that you can get away with it here and not back home.
I think it's perceived superiority on your part even if it is subconscious.

Vaucluse · Post by **Vaucluse** » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 2:02 pm

Global Citizen wrote:
Vaucluse wrote:

Maybe you along with some others just feel that you can get away with it here and not back home.
I think it's perceived superiority on your part even if it is subconscious.

Possibly, but I was always known as 'Schnauze'. I don't think superiority has anything to do with it, I would hate to think that I harbour that trait, possibly a matter of getting older. Valuing my personal space, which is more difficult here than at home and generally not appreciating people's idiosyncracies like I used to.

Wham · Post by **Wham** » Sun, 18 Dec 2005 5:44 pm

Vaucluse - Try on "Curmudgeon" and see how it fits. Mrs Wham likes to call me a "psycho" - but of course that just gets me all excited. I personally enjoy "crack pot" and the more common - but effective - "grumpy old man."
Enjoy, Wham

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