Local resentment at foreigners....get a life

[Brah]

tick...tock....

[x9200]

One of the biggest assets Singapore always had was its non-confrontational society. If there was some racism or xenophobia it rarely surfaced to open aggression levels. Now this seems more and more like a norm and what's most scary but not surprising at all is that the young generations are becoming like this. Few more years in growing hatred atmosphere and the whole thing may be beyond repair.

[watching_a_sunset]

One of the biggest assets Singapore always had was its non-confrontational society. If there was some racism or xenophobia it rarely surfaced to open aggression levels. Now this seems more and more like a norm and what's most scary but not surprising at all is that the young generations are becoming like this. Few more years in growing hatred atmosphere and the whole thing may be beyond repair.

so much for multi racial =D

[ScoobyDoes]

I still laugh when I head to T3 at Changi.....(yes, I know where it is all too we.l thank you, no need for local pipsqueaks to shout directions at me) and the kids are there plugged into power outlets near the car park entrances. Um, laptops plugged in, not the kids themselves, that would be stupid.

Plugged into free power, free WiFi and free A/C with plenty space to 'hang' and study or, as on a couple of occasions, breakdance on the nice polished floor. No Problem......take what you can, where you can, when you can so long as a) you are not an inconvenience to others and b) the one from whom you squat doesn't give two tosses of a cabbage.

Let's face it, those entrances are huge spaces and always empty but McD's and the rest can be more problematic. At peak times the managers need to have the guts to push them out for a couple of hours to get the lunch/dinner crowds through. Incentives not enough?

[Steve1960]

I may be wrong, but what's wrong with able-bodied people using lifts? For example, I want to go to the 5th floor of a mall to run my errands or to catch a movie (cinema complex is usually at the top floor of a mall). Instead of going round and round up on escalators, I can just pop into a lift that will take me straight up.

And some malls have a very weird way of placing escalators at opposite ends of the mall, which makes everyone walk the entire length of the mall just to get up one floor.

But if I see those on wheelchairs, are old, or with strollers, I'd definitely let them take the elevators first.[/quote]

And this is what finally caused me to crack after a year here. The honeymoon period is over haha

I now have no patience for people who cannot line up in a civilised manner at lift (elevator what's that? ) and push in front of me when I have my 2 year old daughter in the pushchair (stroller what's that? )

I went ballistic in Fair Price on Saturday. You should have seen the faces on the people in the lift as I ranted from outside. They must have been praying for the doors to close faster!!

[Sergei82]

Offtop.
I had a strange encounter recently in Tampines Mall waiting for lift around midnight (escalators are off already): father (around 50 yo) and son (around 20 yo). Both are trying to squeeze in an overcrowded lift, but there is a dilemma: only one of them can fit in without overloading the lift.
Son is backing off, father yells at him to come in, overload signal, son is backing off, father yells to come in ... the loop keeps going for some time.
Nobody in the lift wants to get out and "satisfy" the father at his/her own expense.
Nobody inside the lift and outside the lift (quite a crowd - night movie is just over) is saying anything (why? shy or what?).
I'm getting increasingly pissed off, telling the father to go down and wait for his son in the next lift.
Father ignores me, the loop keeps going...
I can't stand wasting my time at that moment, pullig that son away from the lift.
Father grabs the son and pulls him inside the lift (tug war!!!).
I raise my voice and say a couple of not-very-polite words.
Son is running away... probably to the stairs.
Blank face from the father (comatose!), the door of the elevator is closing.
Everybody around is humbly smiling...
Am I the only guy around here who can stand for his own self???
And what a hell was that in the lift? Why nobody wanted to step out and resolve the problem? Why father is such a jerk???

So maybe that is mentality: hell with everybody else, we will use only what we want and whenever we want! No yielding, no compromise. And if there are strollers, that is not our problem - that is a problem for people with those strollers.

[bluenose]

These kids I would say are gutless and obviously ignorant. Nowadays, kids are disrespectful and sure has to do with their upbringing. However, one cannot completely blame them since their parents are working the whole day and not enough parent bonding happening in the family, resulting in kids seeking solace or any forms of acceptance amongst their peers. Usually, ringleader would dictate their behaviour in public by acting what they should be doing. I cannot say I will not be angry at them if it happened to me but on the hindsight, I felt these kids are at a loss with their direction in life.

Yep these kids are gutless...and the parents are solely to blame.....if I thought my children acted like that I would be ashamed and more importantly I would do something about it......
The Parents here are too 'Kiasu'...too busy trying to find the perfect 'En Bloc' or cheap car to buy of some expat leaving....
Things could turn nasty here and quicker than most people think....and I am afraid....the locals would lose out in the long run!
Foreigners bring talent not ready available here, they bring salaries that pay high taxes...much higher than the average local and we also spend money on more than just Handbags!

[Hannieroo]

I think Singapore needs to concentrate on the City and not the State. Most major cities have a huge immigrant population. If you consider somewhere like Houston and then you take away the foreign and the people from other states and you've probably only got about 7 people. I think London went over the 50% not born in the UK mark recently.

[uscate]

I'm enjoying this discussion - but this behavior from "young people" is something I've seen in spades in the US - heck, the kids of some of my former work colleagues have this same sense of entitlement....Not being a parent myself, I've been told that I shouldn't really opine on the reasons for this kind of jackass behavior. I will say, though, that maybe this is all more obvious in Singapore because the country is just so small and any really crappy behavior seems to be amplified to the n'th degree, especially when there aren't a lot of "true crime" stories to talk about. I guess I just find this kind of selfishness to be equally prevalent (and annoying) in the US (although maybe not to the same degree).

[Hannieroo]

The UK too. The Jeremy Kyle/Jerry Springer generation is biting us in the ass.

Lord knows my teenager is not perfect but he knows you open a door/ give up your seat for adults, clean up after yourself and you say please and thank you. And the thought of him using any kind of abusive language but particularly racial stuff makes me feel ill. He would not dare. Actually, it just wouldn't occur to him.

[Barnsley]

Offtop.
I had a strange encounter recently in Tampines Mall waiting for lift around midnight (escalators are off already): father (around 50 yo) and son (around 20 yo). Both are trying to squeeze in an overcrowded lift, but there is a dilemma: only one of them can fit in without overloading the lift.
Son is backing off, father yells at him to come in, overload signal, son is backing off, father yells to come in ... the loop keeps going for some time.
Nobody in the lift wants to get out and "satisfy" the father at his/her own expense.
Nobody inside the lift and outside the lift (quite a crowd - night movie is just over) is saying anything (why? shy or what?).
I'm getting increasingly pissed off, telling the father to go down and wait for his son in the next lift.
Father ignores me, the loop keeps going...
I can't stand wasting my time at that moment, pullig that son away from the lift.
Father grabs the son and pulls him inside the lift (tug war!!!).
I raise my voice and say a couple of not-very-polite words.
Son is running away... probably to the stairs.
Blank face from the father (comatose!), the door of the elevator is closing.
Everybody around is humbly smiling...
Am I the only guy around here who can stand for his own self???
And what a hell was that in the lift? Why nobody wanted to step out and resolve the problem? Why father is such a jerk???

So maybe that is mentality: hell with everybody else, we will use only what we want and whenever we want! No yielding, no compromise. And if there are strollers, that is not our problem - that is a problem for people with those strollers.

I see the same getting on MRT or Bus , for some reason it doesnt seem to register that something is full and they cant get on. The blank look on the faces as they try to compute that the MRT / Bus that they want is in front of them but they cannot get on. MRT is especially puzzling as there will be another one along in a couple of minutes so no need to force your way on to the MRT.

[Sergei82]

I see the same getting on MRT or Bus , for some reason it doesnt seem to register that something is full and they cant get on. The blank look on the faces as they try to compute that the MRT / Bus that they want is in front of them but they cannot get on. MRT is especially puzzling as there will be another one along in a couple of minutes so no need to force your way on to the MRT.

You know, if it is Tanah Merah MRT station and I'm changing train to go to Changi Business Park, I'd rather kill a few people than miss a train for obvious reasons (there will be no other train in a couple of minutes!!!)

[ScoobyDoes]

Offtop.
Am I the only guy around here who can stand for his own self???

Yes, and for very obvious reasons

[nakatago]

I may be wrong, but what's wrong with able-bodied people using lifts?

Nothing wrong but it's usually this: MRT and the lift only goes one level up. There's an escalator and stairs right next to it. And there would be old people and wheeled transport behind the able-bodied people.

Go five levels up? Ok. Go one level up when taking the stairs is 30 times faster? Does not compute.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I think we all ought to pitch in and buy Sergei a can of Bixby Green body paint to just complete the picture.

On second thought make that Lou Lou Ferrigno green.