Discuss about the latest news & interesting topics, real life experience or other out of topic discussions with locals & expatriates in Singapore.
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JR8
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by JR8 » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:23 pm
ankle wrote:sundaymorningstaple wrote:ankle wrote:[
I remembered I was in one of those day tour in a foreign land. While the whole bus was waiting for this singaporean family, the ang moh driver told us to clap when they board the bus which we did. This did not really goes well with that family. They became angry and sulk for the rest of the day.

Bet they were on time after that. Sometimes, if you don't make a Singaporean "lose face" they will never change.
The family refused to go down the bus since that stop...
I can picture it in my mind... The poker faces, the declining to say anything, the resolute finality of the position. Silently hoping against hope that the others will be made to feel in some way guilty, and therefore in that upside-down world it will be those mockers who ultimately pay and lose out.
So SGn!

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JR8 on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ankle
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by ankle » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:27 pm
sundaymorningstaple wrote:ankle wrote:sundaymorningstaple wrote:Ankle, are you old enough to remember when GCT was the Prime Minister? In one of his speeches he even commented about the same thing. His take? If every Singaporean doesn't confront the litterbug or inconsiderate/rude Singaporean about their behaviour, then they are just as guilty as the person doing it. Why? Because you are tacitly, by not saying anything, approving of their actions. This is from your previous Prime Minister while still the PM. So don't say it's purely a Western/AngMo viewpoint.
I'm old enough but too young to be interested in the singapore politics.
I do confront my friend when I see them litter but I'm not sure why you would link this to westerner/Angmoh pov?

If you confront your friends,
why don't you confront inconsiderate strangers? Most westerners are very outspoken when they see something being done that is antisocial. Singaporeans, on the other hand, seem to think that it isn't any of their business. That is exactly WHY things don't change here. (and NO I haven't seen any discernible changes in 30 years here - or if there are, so so minute, that the rest overshadows all else). Or, as my wife used to say, don't say anything, you will get bashed up. (my wife is local) Today, she is as hardcore as I am. She will scold anybody if necessary. Oh, bashed up? nah. Most are too dumbfounded to reply, as they are used to other Singaporeans agreeing with their behaviour cause they don't say anything.
You're entitled to your opinion. Since you doesn't see the changes, I have nothing more to contribute.
Oh, if you are 30+ you should have had to vote this year in one or both of the elections. You mean you just voted for somebody without knowing what the truth is? Are you indicative of the 30's crowd in general? No wonder this country is going to go down the toilet.

Not sure why are you dragging politics into this. I've mentioned oppies use FT/FW to generate ppl's hate towards pap but I've also mentioned other reasons on where does all this "hatre" is coming from and it doesn't just happened overnight.
To answer your qns, I've already mentioned in previous post that I wasn't interested in politics in my younger days. I have only taken interest in the politics in the recent years. Therefore, I didn't just vote without knowing anything about the candidates.
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ankle
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by ankle » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:31 pm
JR8 wrote:ankle wrote:sundaymorningstaple wrote:
Bet they were on time after that. Sometimes, if you don't make a Singaporean "lose face" they will never change.
The family refused to go down the bus since that stop...
I can picture it in my mind... The poker faces, the declining to say anything, the resolute finality of the position. Silently hoping against hope that the others will be made to feel in some way guilty, and therefore in that upside-down world it will be those mockers who ultimately pay and lose out.
So SGn!

yeah, my friend and I were so embarrassed by that family throughout the whole trip.

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boffenl
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by boffenl » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:47 pm
I was absolutely stunned the other day when an older white lady used her paper to knock some Chinese young guy on the head to get him to give up his "reserved" seat on the mrt for a much older singaporean lady. The Chinese guy did give up his seat--and the older lady took it--no-one said a word. Like a Mime play--scary I didn't notice anything beforehand 'cause I've gotten used to the MRT "face" I wear every afternoon, minding my own damned business.
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Strong Eagle
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by Strong Eagle » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:48 pm
sundaymorningstaple wrote:ankle wrote:[
I remembered I was in one of those day tour in a foreign land. While the whole bus was waiting for this singaporean family, the ang moh driver told us to clap when they board the bus which we did. This did not really goes well with that family. They became angry and sulk for the rest of the day.

Bet they were on time after that. Sometimes, if you don't make a Singaporean "lose face" they will never change.
Good demonstration of that? Littering. They still throw their garbage all over their HDB estate with the teens the biggest culprits. Why? The only thing they understand here are fines. If they think they won't get caught, they throw even though a bin is less than 5 metres away. As a member of our RC I see this all the time. Why is that? They been trained to throw it on the ground or leave it on the tables cause they know the Foreign Worker estate cleaners will clean up after the pigs have left?
Without fines, nothing changes. Witness 33 years of courtesy campaigns. I've been here for 30 of them and there is no discernible difference between then and now. It's seems that the lack of courtesy, like myopia here, is a genetic defect so it's virtually impossible to teach you courtesy. Put fines and at least you can be trained using the Pavlovian response method.

And speaking of leaving an ugly mess... brand new restrooms in Orchard Towers... and trashed by the users. Big lugeys on the floor right next to the urinal... cannot spit? Toilet paper strewn all over the floors. Toilet paper thrown into the urinals when the trash can is 3 feet away. Unflushed toilets. Piss on the toilet seats.
Bloody animals.
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ankle
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by ankle » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 4:55 pm
Strong Eagle wrote:sundaymorningstaple wrote:ankle wrote:[
I remembered I was in one of those day tour in a foreign land. While the whole bus was waiting for this singaporean family, the ang moh driver told us to clap when they board the bus which we did. This did not really goes well with that family. They became angry and sulk for the rest of the day.

Bet they were on time after that. Sometimes, if you don't make a Singaporean "lose face" they will never change.
Good demonstration of that? Littering. They still throw their garbage all over their HDB estate with the teens the biggest culprits. Why? The only thing they understand here are fines. If they think they won't get caught, they throw even though a bin is less than 5 metres away. As a member of our RC I see this all the time. Why is that? They been trained to throw it on the ground or leave it on the tables cause they know the Foreign Worker estate cleaners will clean up after the pigs have left?
Without fines, nothing changes. Witness 33 years of courtesy campaigns. I've been here for 30 of them and there is no discernible difference between then and now. It's seems that the lack of courtesy, like myopia here, is a genetic defect so it's virtually impossible to teach you courtesy. Put fines and at least you can be trained using the Pavlovian response method.

And speaking of leaving an ugly mess... brand new restrooms in Orchard Towers... and trashed by the users. Big lugeys on the floor right next to the urinal... cannot spit? Toilet paper strewn all over the floors. Toilet paper thrown into the urinals when the trash can is 3 feet away. Unflushed toilets. Piss on the toilet seats.
Bloody animals.
It is unfair to say that all of these is of singaporean's doing. In terms of hygiene lvl, I believe the younger generations aren't that bad themselves. at least I could say so for my peers and me.

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sundaymorningstaple
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by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:11 pm
So how do you explain the bloody mess usually found in the CC toilets all over the island and in the movie restrooms (I reckon 95% of the movie going population are locals). Always trying to shift the blame. Heaven forbid you are found wanting. Sorry, it doesn't wash. My kids are absolutely horrified to use local toilets regardless of where they are, including the school toilets when they were in school (which by the way included both neighbourhood AND upper strata "good" schools) and they knew who were "Local" and who weren't. Part of the problem here (and you seem to be afflicted with the same disease) is self denial. A good long hard "honest" look inwards might shock the hell out of you. It's "your" friends that are the problem (and yourself). From what I see, you must not have any friends as, if everybody corrected their friends, the problems wouldn't exist, would they.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
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boffenl
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by boffenl » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:27 pm
I do think it's getting better with the next generation: I was in the Vivocity women's restroom with the "floating" sinks and a Chinese mom took her son's pants down and allowed him to pee in the sink. It took about 3 seconds and someone in rapid Mandarin said something that made her stop--but granted her kid had already peed in the sink. Urgh! I know it wasn't a Singaporean mom with the peeing kid 'cause my daughter's ears were red when she related that the younger Singaporean woman in line had called the China woman (and her kid) some barnyard animals.
Some of the blame is the stupid way toilets are "fashioned" here--there is always a trash can on the way out of the bathroom in the US--noticed the toilets at West Coast Plaza have this and they are the cleanest public toilets I've ever seen at a SG mall (except for Ion of course).
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by nutnut » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:30 pm
ankle wrote:
I remembered I was in one of those day tour in a foreign land. While the whole bus was waiting for this singaporean family, the ang moh driver told us to clap when they board the bus which we did. This did not really goes well with that family. They became angry and sulk for the rest of the day.

That'll be why then, most of my humour is pretty dry, people just think I'm being rude overe here, we figured out that you need to laugh before you tell a joke in order for it to be understood!

nutnut
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by BillyB » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:33 pm
nutnut wrote:ankle wrote:
I remembered I was in one of those day tour in a foreign land. While the whole bus was waiting for this singaporean family, the ang moh driver told us to clap when they board the bus which we did. This did not really goes well with that family. They became angry and sulk for the rest of the day.

That'll be why then, most of my humour is pretty dry, people just think I'm being rude overe here, we figured out that you need to laugh before you tell a joke in order for it to be understood!

Is that why they insert 'laughter' in comedies?!
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JR8
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by JR8 » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:39 pm
nutnut wrote:
That'll be why then, most of my humour is pretty dry, people just think I'm being rude overe here, we figured out that you need to laugh before you tell a joke in order for it to be understood!

Nut I think a lot of it (well at least British humour) is the suggestion of what it is not. Hence the large amount of word-play and double entendres. The humour is in what is suggested but unsaid.
That's why Brits don't get American humour, as there is no unsaid, rather the humour is resolved and just plonked down in front of you.
As for Asians... who knows...
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by carteki » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:40 pm
sundaymorningstaple wrote: The only thing they understand here are fines. If they think they won't get caught, they throw even though a bin is less than 5 metres away. ...
Without fines, nothing changes. Witness 33 years of courtesy campaigns. I've been here for 30 of them and there is no discernible difference between then and now. It's seems that the lack of courtesy, like myopia here, is a genetic defect so it's virtually impossible to teach you courtesy. Put fines and at least you can be trained using the Pavlovian response method.

I agree. I remember listening in shock horror how a professionally qualified SG'n was telling me how her and her bf (now husband) had worked out that they could get through the Madrid metro with only paying one fare and it was safe because they wouldn't get caught (and her job was in compliance at a bank).
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Strong Eagle
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by Strong Eagle » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 5:43 pm
ankle wrote:Strong Eagle wrote:sundaymorningstaple wrote:
Bet they were on time after that. Sometimes, if you don't make a Singaporean "lose face" they will never change.
Good demonstration of that? Littering. They still throw their garbage all over their HDB estate with the teens the biggest culprits. Why? The only thing they understand here are fines. If they think they won't get caught, they throw even though a bin is less than 5 metres away. As a member of our RC I see this all the time. Why is that? They been trained to throw it on the ground or leave it on the tables cause they know the Foreign Worker estate cleaners will clean up after the pigs have left?
Without fines, nothing changes. Witness 33 years of courtesy campaigns. I've been here for 30 of them and there is no discernible difference between then and now. It's seems that the lack of courtesy, like myopia here, is a genetic defect so it's virtually impossible to teach you courtesy. Put fines and at least you can be trained using the Pavlovian response method.

And speaking of leaving an ugly mess... brand new restrooms in Orchard Towers... and trashed by the users. Big lugeys on the floor right next to the urinal... cannot spit? Toilet paper strewn all over the floors. Toilet paper thrown into the urinals when the trash can is 3 feet away. Unflushed toilets. Piss on the toilet seats.
Bloody animals.
It is unfair to say that all of these is of singaporean's doing. In terms of hygiene lvl, I believe the younger generations aren't that bad themselves. at least I could say so for my peers and me.

I don't think it is unfair. There are a lot of different people at Orchard on a Sunday afternoon... the vast majority are locals... it's not the maids making a mess of the men's room. Maybe foreign workers on a permit, I dunno.
And... you go to Tanah Merah on a Saturday morning... and it is definitely Singaporeans in the majority... the the restrooms are shit... piss on the toilet seats, snot in the sinks, spit everywhere, toilet paper thrown round... can't even bother to confirm that the auto flush did the job. Pigs.
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by movingtospore » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 8:59 pm
boffenl wrote:I was absolutely stunned the other day when an older white lady used her paper to knock some Chinese young guy on the head to get him to give up his "reserved" seat on the mrt for a much older singaporean lady. The Chinese guy did give up his seat--and the older lady took it--no-one said a word. Like a Mime play--scary I didn't notice anything beforehand 'cause I've gotten used to the MRT "face" I wear every afternoon, minding my own damned business.
boffenl too bad you didn't tape that and put on one of those wacky locals spying on bad behaviour web sites...
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by movingtospore » Mon, 12 Dec 2011 9:04 pm
Just to be fair...let's be honest...lots of ang mohs in this town are pretty darn obnoxious. Ran into one this weekend -- saw her screeching her head off at some poor (also ang moh) mom who had partially blocked a road for a few minutes to load up a car with a box with kids in tow. She could have got her equally obnoxious vehicle around if she'd stopped screeching long enough to try.
I was thinking, OMG, it's no wonder they can't stand us here if this is what they think we're all like.
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