Things I don't like about Singapore

[Vaucluse]

Elevator stress button; it doesn't help banging harder on the door close button in the elevator, it will not close faster.

It doesn't????? Damn . . .

It does but you have to press both up and down buttons before you get into the lift.
The protocol could be different for different occasion so always ensure you press at least few times regardless this is a lift button or already glowing red button at the crossing. For these two cases it is a proven solution - it always works. Maybe not faster but works anyway and this is what is important. A bit less obvious is to wave at the taxis with the red sign on. I've seen actually one that stopped.

have you tried pressing up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A?

Nope, I just press the button harder and harder . . .

[Wellman]

Holding up doors; if I hold up the door for you are supposed to do the same for the one behind you, I am not the darn gatekeeper.

That's why the moment I see they aren't reaching to hold the door I just let it go...

Fook them, I don't open doors for them anymore

[Wellman]

Burger King. (well most of the time anyway).

Great response!

[morenangpinay]

1) Body odor
2) lack of coordination
3) Had several "Spanglish" moments when i always tell them my name.. "florrrrrrrrrrrrrr" not Flora.

[Vaucluse]

Holding up doors; if I hold up the door for you are supposed to do the same for the one behind you, I am not the darn gatekeeper.

That's why the moment I see they aren't reaching to hold the door I just let it go...

Fook them, I don't open doors for them anymore

Wow, a couple of well 'ard men here . . . isn't it orgasmic when an old lady gets whacked in the head with a door . . . Or even better, when the wheelchair or pram gets a good thump and goes flying.

Damn, I love being an expat . . . simply by being one I am totally well 'ard!

Good on you, guys!

[$Pripps]

why do people here seem to call a number and then ask where they landed? do they randomly press digits on the phone?

"wonder who I will be talking to today lah?"

[Wellman]

Holding up doors; if I hold up the door for you are supposed to do the same for the one behind you, I am not the darn gatekeeper.

That's why the moment I see they aren't reaching to hold the door I just let it go...

Fook them, I don't open doors for them anymore

Wow, a couple of well 'ard men here . . . isn't it orgasmic when an old lady gets whacked in the head with a door . . . Or even better, when the wheelchair or pram gets a good thump and goes flying.

Damn, I love being an expat . . . simply by being one I am totally well 'ard!

Good on you, guys!

No worries!!

[BigSis]

People who wander around the supermarket buying nothing because they've got nothing better to do - they drive me crazy with their shuffling about and office workers who wander around in gangs of 6 or more 'ooing and aahing' at the produce. Never known a place like it for supermarket 'tourists'

[sundaymorningstaple]

You forget to mention how they cluster around the "Promotion Auntie" with cook mushrooms, fish balls and other assorted snacks. Keeps them from having to buy lunch. Or, as they tend to say here, "we're just being pragmatic, if we don't eat them somebody else will".

[JR8]

Well, this is the culture of SG. As long as the other can understand what he/she speaks, nobody cares what accent they speak. Let me ask a question. Who on earth speaks pure English? Australian, British, American? All these people have different accents but who cares. Also, I have seen American writing wrong English words. Shall they not use English as their mother language even they can speak? I can even tell you that I could only understand 20% of what a Scottish spoke while I traveled in Scotland.

Talking about procedures, Singaporeans have been well trained by the government that everything goes by law. Even though there are exceptions, there are certain rules and conditions to fulfill. These are to prevent loopholes as there are many people trying to take advantage by getting through the loopholes. For instance, years back in England, when you lost your mobile phone, you just made a police report by making a phone call and received a reference number from the police and you could claim a brand new phone from the store you bought the phone for $0 or small amount of money. I knew many people cheated every few months. Anyway, the procedures I have seen so far in SG are quite reasonable, compared to China. To share my experience in China, I ever tried to apply for a 6-month visit pass extension for my mum-in-law and the immigration asked me for the original company business license. I was working for a big MNC. Do you think my company would lend me the original business license? I asked the officer what it was for and she told me that she did not know but it was stated in the procedures.

Understand that there are still some complaints about SG law and way of work. As you as you still want to stay in SG, you have to live with it and get used to it. But overall speaking, SG is still one of the best places to live.

This is so Barking, it's like Kenny Everret goes to town!

[JR8]

My dislikes, (and I concur with several earlier posters):

- 1, must be how they don't look where they're going and will walk right into you, it's like they're blind or oblivious or something. But then if you're 250lbs (which I am) they kinda bounce off you (:)), then sometimes they get really PUBLICLY irritated that *you walked into them*. I even had an erm 'animated' chat with some damn fool chick last year in Toa Payoh HUB (yes, very public, most un-Asian hor!!). I walk fast, so am used to plotting a course through a crowd, and I could see from yards away she was oblivious and going to walk into me, so - just for a change - I let her do it. After she bounced off me from not even having looked at me/where she was going at all. Then she basically went mental in front of hundreds of others! [Expect she won't forget my 'words of advice' for a few years to come hehe. The suggestion she look where she was going just left her looking bewildered and confused]

1A - The way they never seem to look where they're going. But suddenly when getting into the MRT they are all pinpoint, and sharp elbows

- 2, Supermarket tourists. Why are so many people, even in NTUC, behaving like they're in some special exhibition at the British Museum? Get all this clutter out, and you'd do your shopping 50% more quickly

- 3 Aunties that have to pick through every single piece of broccoli at the grocer. Then when they have picked a head, they pick off minuscule leaves on the stem, perhaps taking 5 minutes but saving 0.1 cent, which they won't get as not even one cent coin is used any more. Just means by noon, every piece of veg on the rack has been handled by 100 aunties.... yuk.

-4 That they can't use grass-cutters with cutting boxes on. Cutting the condo lawn takes hours with a strimmer. Then hours more for 'Blower-man' to do what ever he does. There seems little appreciation of peace and quiet, when a cutter w/box could do all of this in 10 minutes, they merrily take 8 hours destroying the peace.
[And it's going on right now as I type!!]

-5 No concept of 'switching off'. Constant noise and construction everywhere. New malls on Orchard Road every 3 months, where none are needed.

- 6 The arrogance of bureaucracy. It seems that rather often, anyone with any kind of management role becomes a clipboard nazi. The management at my condo are absolute ****'s for example.
You also see this in how you might have an issue with your online banking, or ICA (only on line!) process, and how when you get to speak to someone they simply won't, or can't, believe their sparkly new online service does not work as intended. A couple of years ago I spent 2-3 months trying to convince ICA their online EPEC site did not work. Like something from Monty Python, but their arrogance was the lasting beacon.

-7 The way the climate makes so much of my belongings rot before me. I've leather belts I cleaned down with Lysol to get mold off three times in a single year. Now I've just given up. But I'm sick of throwing out clothes just because of irredeemable red-spot mold

- 8 The psycho taxi drivers. Who will for example change lanes, solely to stop others moving ahead of them


We'll leave it there. There are obviously things I DO like about SG, we'll get to that next....

[sakyant]

the fact that people are conditioned to take up such issues is reflective of the terribly conditioned society which Singapore is.
Just telling your postcode and it is possible to locate your exact apartment adress and name. This goes against personal intimacy.

On the streets such things as benches to sit on and park areas for each urban district with people picnicking etc is non existent.

Most children will never grow up playing in their own garden.
Dogs get to be locked in apartments instead of playing in the fields.
Some condo complexes have up to 20 14 storey buildings with only perhaps 5 restaurants and 3 shops around. In Thailand this would be madness. One 14 storey building would have about 50 hawkers, 10 hairdressers, restaurants, laundry, doctor and clinic, dentist....

In Thailand you walk down from your condo and will find all your daily needs in front of your face.
In Singapore you may have to walk ten minutes just to buy a packet of cigarettes.

If after 9pm in the suburbs, the place is a ghost town.
In Thailand the streets are full of life and hustle bustle, lights, food, music..

In Singapore the streets are dead and empty at night.
Thailand is 24/7 - even if the nearest shop is 5 minutes walk, there will always be motorbike taxis parked to either take you there, or even go order and bring you your food etc if you pay him to do so.

You don't see kids or even adults hang out on the street or in parks - this is discouraged (for the same reason they never build benches to sit on on the green areas). Why have all these beautiful green areas and then prohibit people from sitting and hanging out?

Many Singaporeans retort to this that "well it is safe, no crime etc"
Well yes, thats true, but if you have to give up the basic Human freedoms to acheive this safe society, then we lose the game.

The only place you will see people having a picknick and beer on the pavement is in Little Thailand's Golden Mile complex. At 6 pm or so the Thaiscome and sit on the floor hang out and talk, driink, eat together etc.

Nowhere else in Singapore is such a thing permitted it seems.
Or dont Singaporeans know how to enjoy life?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Also, don't forget the biggest difference. In Thailand you can get killed by politicians or by colourful political gangs in Yellow or Red shirts. In Singapore only the opposition politicians get in trouble and get sued by the ruling party.

[nakatago]

Also, don't forget the biggest difference. In Thailand you can get killed by politicians or by colourful political gangs in Yellow or Red shirts. In Singapore only the opposition politicians get in trouble and get sued by the ruling party.

the sad thing is, it's not very clear if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

BA-DUMP-BUMP...

[morenangpinay]

speaking on privacy...months ago when i complained to the police about our landlord and how he has cheated us and our furniture is in the apartment. The police only said that there's nothing to worry even if he goes into hiding or takes our furniture, they know his IC no...but ofcourse they didnt do anything with our complaint.

they have lived like that for a long time and i think the new generation only have the present concept of freedom. So whatever complaints they hear from others, they just refuse it because it will mean they have to start over again...and thats hard work.