Things I don't like about Singapore

[x9200]

There is no law against lane splitting for motorbikes. However, any driver/rider can be done for reckless/dangerous driving/riding.

I pushed this point, and he said that it depends, but that lane splitting above 50km/h is "probably" considered reckless. Depends on the TP and whether you inconvenience any other driver.

I agree. It is not prohibited as per literal definition but it is de facto as per how it is done in SG If the road is empty I think it is perfectly legal to ride the dashed line even above 90km/h (as per the speedometer readings).

[sundaymorningstaple]

"Tear along dotted line" should only be on packages.

[JR8]

Nothing Singaporean specific. As a matter of fact I am always shocked seeing the Westerners eating in all the resorts around the region s**ty bacon/toasts and tasteless pulp of diluted scrambled eggs or dining mainly in McDonalds and similar places.

Yah and my mother in law, who descends with the tribe this weekend, unless she can find 101% authentic 'just like home' food (you know like curry rice, nasi lemak ah).... eats at McDonalds.

You figure that one out!

[hey_smile]

but u r the dazzle babe! must be the european women....

1) Not holding the lift door open and looking at you as the door closes.
(I've noticed some "ahem" Europeans in my office building doing the same. B*stards!

[JR8]

Can I have my turn now?

- The humidity and how it makes so many of ones possessions simply mould and rot and have to be thrown away
- the reckless taxi drivers, who at times seem to be working out some kind of psycho vendetta against all other behicles
- that no one gives way to emergency vehicles with lights and sirens on (Check the survival rate for heart attacks in SG, apparently it is less than 20%!)
- the quality of food is generally very poor. Far too oily, MSG, poorly presented. You end up spending $3 on muck, or $100 to get something of quality
- people that throw kleenex and pantie-liners (and so on) out of their windows onto the street
- people who dawdle along (walk slowly), as if it doesn't matter if they get where they are doing in 10 minutes or two weeks
- aunties in NTUC who have to inspect every vegetable on a rack to get best one ah. Then spend 5 minutes picking off 2 grams of foliage so don't pay pay for that oso ah. Beyond lunchtime every item of veg in the shop has been handled by 100+ people
- the queue jumping. You know one time in NTUC I was trying to get to a free cashier but was blocked by an auntie and her trolley, another women spotted that, took her basket, walked out of the shop, and back in through the exit to chope the cashier before I could. Really! Mad!
- yes, the door opening thing. I open a door for you, it a courtesy on my part, it is polite to say thank you. If ten people then try to stream through I will drop the door and walk right into you.... strangely you won't object.
- that you try to get onto the MRT before I have got off. I ended up taking no prisoners with this. I am 6'3" and 250lbs... I learned judicious use of sharp elbows to teach the riff-raff a lesson
- Bukits (mainland peasants 'from the hills') who walk around NTUC like it is a museum, and stop dead and stare at any ang-mo like they are an exhibit.
- People not looking where they are walking. Intentional or not I don't know, but many seem oblivious to anyone else and so the expectation and burden is upon you to navigate around them.
- the shock, horror (and even outrage!) when you allow a person who is not looking where they are walking to walk right into you! Boom.
- The fact that even adults, most of them, are unable to participate in any kind of discussion. Talk is limited to food, weather, shopping. Younger people are worse, gay men are even worse than that. Hanging out with people doesn't mean a meal and/or a few drinks, it means a rudderless period of hours sitting around, with random small-talk... drives me kin nuts!
- Customer service people who are robots working to a script. An inability to apply any thought at all. they do what the manual says, end of.
- Sales people who overtly fawn on me, and then turn to my SGn wife and try and look down on her.


That's for now folks

[sharpz]

All people here care is about following the law, anything else is irrelevant.

I once tried to cross a road in a hdb area when I see the road is clear, despite the traffic light is red. And then out a corner one car appeared, saw me, and I can hear the driver thrusting full force towards me. Although initially there is a comfortable distance between us but I had to run and dodge the car cuz if i didn't i'd be ran over.

I know I'm the one breaching the law here, but really? So it's alright to attempt to kill anyone when the law is on your side?

[sundaymorningstaple]

yep.

[nakatago]

...so anybody else wanna learn parkour?

[Strong Eagle]

...so anybody else wanna learn parkour?

I'm already quite good at the Singapore variation. I bust out of MRT rail cars with shoulder forward, bowling back those who are trying to get on without waiting.

I have developed, to an art form, the technique of ensuring my roll bag goes over the toes of an offending oaf trying to get on the train, ending with the coup de gras of smacking the bag handle into his shins. Always with a smile.

I walk down the sidewalk, daring the 4 abreast chatters to not get out of the way... sometimes 'BOOM'... most of the time, they move.

And just for fun, when I am at Tanah Merah ferry terminal, I go to the gate 20 minutes early, causing every auntie in the place to line up behind me within 20 seconds of my getting up.

All good fun.

[x9200]

Yah and my mother in law, who descends with the tribe this weekend, unless she can find 101% authentic 'just like home' food (you know like curry rice, nasi lemak ah).... eats at McDonalds.

You figure that one out!

McDonalds = Western food, so she explores local flavours of German cuisine. I'd wish all the Western countries visitors to Asia had this kind of intrinsic curiosity and drive towards learning foreign culture! Not just a mother in law, a treasure!
BTW, how was your curry? 101%?

[x9200]

I walk down the sidewalk, daring the 4 abreast chatters to not get out of the way... sometimes 'BOOM'... most of the time, they move.

SE, I didn't realize you are that mean. Now, my problem is I do exactly the same. I do not use MRT too frequently but I am well trained in lift exit shoulder type combat interactions.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I use Samsonite hardside briefcase specially outfitted to hold about 12 kg of stuff so that when I step off smartly upon the opening of the doors, and then get stopped by a wall of idiots trying to get in, the descending arc of the heavy briefcase invariably, with a little bit of added imputes usually connects directly with a blocking thigh thereby usually leaving a healthy bruise and the admonition, "sorry, but if you hadn't been blocking the door that probably wouldn't have happened. If you block it again and I'm coming out, it will happen again."

Remember, here you cannot tell them anything and have them learn. But you can condition them (e.g., it a FINE city) so they DO tend to remember "object" lessons. In this case, the Samsonite is the object and the lesson is don't get in front of it.

[JayCee]

One thing I really hate about Singapore is the amount of people with bad hygiene, particularly in my office

SMS, I gather that you work in HR, are there any guidelines that you know of regarding this in Singapore? It's great that Singapore is multiracial, multicultural etc... and the differences between us all are great and should be celebrated. However, it's not so great when you're sat next to a guy who smells like a sumo wrestler's jockstrap because he hasn't bathed all week and you don't know how to approach the subject for fear of it being twisted into a 'race' issue when race is nothing to do with it

[nakatago]

One thing I really hate about Singapore is the amount of people with bad hygiene, particularly in my office

SMS, I gather that you work in HR, are there any guidelines that you know of regarding this in Singapore? It's great that Singapore is multiracial, multicultural etc... and the differences between us all are great and should be celebrated. However, it's not so great when you're sat next to a guy who smells like a sumo wrestler's jockstrap because he hasn't bathed all week and you don't know how to approach the subject for fear of it being twisted into a 'race' issue when race is nothing to do with it

funny thing is, i once rode a bus on a sunday that made a stop by construction workers' dormitories. the bus became full of construction workers. they'd normally smell sweaty after a day of working in construction sites usually under the sun. but on that day, these guys didn't because they just came out their quarters.

and you're sitting next to a guy who works in an airconditioned office. so, who has better hygiene?

[JR8]

Yah and my mother in law, who descends with the tribe this weekend, unless she can find 101% authentic 'just like home' food (you know like curry rice, nasi lemak ah).... eats at McDonalds.

You figure that one out!

McDonalds = Western food, so she explores local flavours of German cuisine. I'd wish all the Western countries visitors to Asia had this kind of intrinsic curiosity and drive towards learning foreign culture! Not just a mother in law, a treasure!
BTW, how was your curry? 101%?

Hi X9,

Hehe but the contradiction is that she would never eat McD in SG, and I also doubt that she would eat even a gourmet style home-cooked burger if I served them up one night (even here in Berlin), she doesn't do 'bland' western food you see. However once on western shores 'McDonald' and 'Kentucky' becomes prime options hor! That's the weirdness of it

The curry worked out just fine thank you. I ended up using half a bag (225gms) of curry powder for 6 chicken breasts, vs the suggested 5 Tbsp for a 2.5-3lb chicken. 5 Tbsp sounds very thin to me, although 1/2 bag is probably unecessary (it doesn't seem to add to the spice rating, it just seems to make a thicker gravy). So next time I might have a go at something of a half way house...

p.s. lol SMS