
Can it get much better than this
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 35442
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004
- Location: Still Fishing!
- Contact:
I love it here and to go back to the OPs first post, yes it is brilliant, much better than UK, much better than Africa and Middle East in many ways, and yes there are faults (where on earth doesn't have faults)
You can't please all the people all of the time, you know what, you have to live somewhere though! If you don't like it then go elsewhere!
Like my old man used to say "Put up, or shut up son!"
You can't please all the people all of the time, you know what, you have to live somewhere though! If you don't like it then go elsewhere!
Like my old man used to say "Put up, or shut up son!"
Richie - East Coast Superbabe...
[quote="richie303"]
If you don't like it then go elsewhere!
Given most people do not have complete control over where they live, this is not a practical suggestion.
What do you do for maids who hate it in SG but have no realistic option but to stay? What do you do for people like my SGn wife who hates SG? Is she not entitled to voice her opinion? SG has many strong points but on balance I preferred living in NYC, can I say that here? lol
Like my old man used to say "Put up, or shut up son!"[
A forum is for discussion and debate. Suggesting that only one side of a topic is valid or somehow permitted is contrary to that. People should be willing to 'put up with' all sides of a debate, rather than trying to close it down.
/quote]
If you don't like it then go elsewhere!
Given most people do not have complete control over where they live, this is not a practical suggestion.
What do you do for maids who hate it in SG but have no realistic option but to stay? What do you do for people like my SGn wife who hates SG? Is she not entitled to voice her opinion? SG has many strong points but on balance I preferred living in NYC, can I say that here? lol
Like my old man used to say "Put up, or shut up son!"[
A forum is for discussion and debate. Suggesting that only one side of a topic is valid or somehow permitted is contrary to that. People should be willing to 'put up with' all sides of a debate, rather than trying to close it down.
/quote]
Had an interesting discussion today. Was with a group of friends, both expat and Singaporean.
As I still have this irrational issue with footpath dodgems, I asked the Singaporean ... "on which side of the footpath should you walk?" "On the left, of course" ... she said. My eyes rolled back into my head.
One of the expats chimed in .... "why don't people get out of my way when I'm cycling along the footpath?" She was surprised by our quick reaction ... "it's illegal to ride on the footpath!" Well, she added, "why do people scatter when I ring my bell?" ... She was equally surprised by our equally quick response ... " because they don't want to die "
Seems even the expats have something to learn.
But, the point of all this .... one friend suggested that the reason that Singaporeans engage in footpath pinball might be because few of them drive a car ... and so they aren't used to navigating a safe passage.... whereas most Westerners have driven since young.
I think her theory might have something to it.
As I still have this irrational issue with footpath dodgems, I asked the Singaporean ... "on which side of the footpath should you walk?" "On the left, of course" ... she said. My eyes rolled back into my head.
One of the expats chimed in .... "why don't people get out of my way when I'm cycling along the footpath?" She was surprised by our quick reaction ... "it's illegal to ride on the footpath!" Well, she added, "why do people scatter when I ring my bell?" ... She was equally surprised by our equally quick response ... " because they don't want to die "
Seems even the expats have something to learn.
But, the point of all this .... one friend suggested that the reason that Singaporeans engage in footpath pinball might be because few of them drive a car ... and so they aren't used to navigating a safe passage.... whereas most Westerners have driven since young.
I think her theory might have something to it.
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 35442
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004
- Location: Still Fishing!
- Contact:
vozzie wrote:Had an interesting discussion today. Was with a group of friends, both expat and Singaporean.
As I still have this irrational issue with footpath dodgems, I asked the Singaporean ... "on which side of the footpath should you walk?" "On the left, of course" ... she said. My eyes rolled back into my head.
One of the expats chimed in .... "why don't people get out of my way when I'm cycling along the footpath?" She was surprised by our quick reaction ... "it's illegal to ride on the footpath!" Well, she added, "why do people scatter when I ring my bell?" ... She was equally surprised by our equally quick response ... " because they don't want to die "
Is she German by chance?
Seems even the expats have something to learn.
But, the point of all this .... one friend suggested that the reason that Singaporeans engage in footpath pinball might be because few of them drive a car ... and so they aren't used to navigating a safe passage.... whereas most Westerners have driven since young.
I think her theory might have something to it.
what about my anecdote? there seems to be a kiasuness in making others move. Also there seems to be a fury when their blindness gets met with an oncoming 100kg+ FT who doesn't budge. Consciously oblivious, comes to mind.
Last edited by JR8 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 9:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
vozzie wrote:But, the point of all this .... one friend suggested that the reason that Singaporeans engage in footpath pinball might be because few of them drive a car ... and so they aren't used to navigating a safe passage.... whereas most Westerners have driven since young.
I think her theory might have something to it.
Unlikely. People actually behave in Singapore very similar way on both the sidewalks and in the road traffic. The common denominative seems to be (let stick to non-pejorative definitions) that they are very target oriented. How this target is achieved is kind of secondary. An example - hardly anybody joins the traffic on the highway watching (giving priority to) it. It is the traffic who has to watch people about to join it. Exactly the same happens on the sidewalks or any pedestrian areas. They want to get from A to B and that's all they care about.
I don't know...I can remember being a dippy kid walking through the shopping mall with my mom and having her jerk my arm and say "PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" frequently until I eventually learned my lesson. The same with holding doors, waiting my turn, queueing, etc.
Until I'd been in Singapore for a while I had a terrible urge to apologize if ever I felt I'd gotten in someone's way by my own inattention...maybe I'm the anomaly, but I think that people learn this as an extension of their manners, not just common sense-figure it out, what have you.
Until I'd been in Singapore for a while I had a terrible urge to apologize if ever I felt I'd gotten in someone's way by my own inattention...maybe I'm the anomaly, but I think that people learn this as an extension of their manners, not just common sense-figure it out, what have you.
- nakatago
- Moderator
- Posts: 8333
- Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009
- Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children
- Contact:
x9200 wrote:vozzie wrote:But, the point of all this .... one friend suggested that the reason that Singaporeans engage in footpath pinball might be because few of them drive a car ... and so they aren't used to navigating a safe passage.... whereas most Westerners have driven since young.
I think her theory might have something to it.
Unlikely. People actually behave in Singapore very similar way on both the sidewalks and in the road traffic. The common denominative seems to be (let stick to non-pejorative definitions) that they are very target oriented. How this target is achieved is kind of secondary. An example - hardly anybody joins the traffic on the highway watching (giving priority to) it. It is the traffic who has to watch people about to join it. Exactly the same happens on the sidewalks or any pedestrian areas. They want to get from A to B and that's all they care about.
That's what I observed about certain people. The ends justify the means for them.

x9200 wrote:So you were taught that the way to achieve the target is often more important than achieving the target itself. They were not, or so it appears.
True! To be clear, I wasn't disagreeing with you, I was just lazy to quote the person to whom I was replying...that's what happens when I'm on here when I should be in bed, eh?

Also, if it were a matter of just being clueless, I would be running into just as many people with my stroller as without, but for whatever reason they always manage to get out of the way (read: pick a lane) without my ever having to break stride when I'm pushing something that could conceivably cause bodily harm.
- nakatago
- Moderator
- Posts: 8333
- Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009
- Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children
- Contact:
x9200 wrote:nakatago wrote:That's what I observed about certain people. The ends justify the means for them.
But then this is typically mean and intentionally abusive. In Singapore I believe majority is driven by cultural preconditioning. They are not aware that they cause any troubles.
Which makes it even sadder.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
Better route to get a PR for my gf?
by alexkh » Mon, 09 Mar 2015 12:30 pm » in PR, Citizenship, Passes & Visas for Foreigners - 3
- 1212
-
by alexkh
View the latest post
Mon, 09 Mar 2015 3:24 pm
-
-
-
Type of pass/visa than can be applied
by nova0 » Tue, 08 Jan 2019 1:28 am » in PR, Citizenship, Passes & Visas for Foreigners - 2
- 462
-
by nova0
View the latest post
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 4:26 pm
-
-
- 3
- 554
-
by Barnsley
View the latest post
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 11:32 am
-
-
Can we make rental payment better: Expat app survey
by keithwang » Sat, 17 Oct 2015 11:58 am » in Surveys - 16
- 6575
-
by keithwang
View the latest post
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 6:52 pm
-
-
- 1
- 1218
-
by Bongy21
View the latest post
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:32 pm
Return to “General Discussions”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests