Singaporeans, friendly?
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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,4386,197070-1056837540,00.html?
Straits Times Forum, June 28 2003
Are Singaporeans a cold lot?
YES
I WAS not surprised to read in The Sunday Times ('Singapore, unfriendly?'; June 22) that in a survey of 23 countries Singapore rated third from the bottom when it came to helping others in the street.
What disturbed me a little was the attempt to counter this by giving the views of two foreigners who made comparisons with cities like New York and gave Singapore the thumbs up.
As an Australian who has lived here for over six years, when asked what I miss most about home, without hesitation the answer that always comes to mind is 'the friendliness of the people'.
I don't agree with the views of the two interviewees who espoused the friendliness of Singaporeans. Yes, there are some very good people here and I have some great Singaporean friends and colleagues but, as a populace, general civility is sadly lacking.
So why am I still here? Sure, Singapore has a lot to offer and is a challenging city in which to work. Yes, it's clean, safe, the income tax is low and so on, but what really makes a country is its people, and Singaporeans need to wake up to the fact that basic courtesy is easy to practise and makes for a far happier society.
What frustrates and saddens me on a daily basis is that when I take an escalator, nine times out of 10, Singaporeans will stand side by side, denying me of my option to walk rather than stand.
When shopping or dining out, I can expect poor service as the norm; when alighting from a train, Singaporeans will try to push their way in before I can get out; when I hold a door open, a Singaporean will walk through but will rarely say thank you and will leave the door to slam in the face of the next person.
At a taxi stand, when I am about to get into a cab, the alighting passenger will slam the door for me to reopen.
I have had to call the police to settle a dispute with a neighbour who continued to create noise disturbance every night despite my polite pleas for his consideration of others' need for sleep.
When driving and I indicate my desire to change lanes, a Singaporean driver will speed up to ensure I don't get in front of him.
When I withdraw money at an ATM, a Singaporean behind me will peer over my shoulder.
When selecting my lunch at the local hawker centre, a Singaporean will start to bark his order to the vendor.
Many foreigners I know have cut short their contracts and returned home because they can no longer stomach the ungracious Singaporean.
Come on, Singapore, it isn't so difficult to be courteous. The world will thank and respect you for it.
ERNIE BENSON
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HAVING lived in Singapore for 1 1/2 years now, I was surprised to learn the Lion City ranks third among the world's least friendly cities. It should have ranked No. 1. When it comes to common courtesy, manners and graciousness, Singapore takes home the booby prize.
Take my ride on the MRT from Buona Vista to Tanjong Pagar on Tuesday morning. My pregnant state, coupled with the lurches of the train, threw me off balance not once but twice.
Four weeks from delivering a baby and nobody offered me his seat - not the teenager who pretended to be engrossed in an SMS session, nor the businessman who quickly looked away from my imploring eyes.
It was not an isolated incident. I ride the MRTto and from work every day and am constantlyamazed at Singaporeans' lack of compassion towards pregnant women, women carrying children or the elderly.
GENEVIEVE PRIEST (MRS)
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NO
AT ABOUT 10.30 last Friday morning, I took a taxi from my condominium on Upper Thomson Road to Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, and inadvertently left a briefcase in it. I had a medical appointment and was able to report the loss only after returning home at about 12.30.
When I telephoned the Lakeview Radio Taxi Service, the despatcher knew immediately what I was talking about. She told me the driver had already turned in the brief case, which contained a book I had on loan - the loss of which would have been most embarrassing - as well as several important medical prescriptions.
We arranged that the driver would take the case to my home, and he arrived within half an hour. He had come some distance, but refused to be paid for the trip, saying he had not put down his meter (I had to insist on showing my appreciation).
I would like to thank the Lakeview Radio Taxi Service and the driver of cab SHB 1410 M for their very friendly, helpful and efficient cooperation. I shan't forget it in a hurry.
It was typical of the best side of Singaporeans, and explains why it is a pleasure for a foreigner to live here. The survey published recently in The Straits Times that put Singapore almost bottom of the list of countries ranked according to the friendliness of their citizens was, of course, so much bunkum.
DENNIS BLOODWORTH
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I ARRIVED in Singapore eight years ago with a dream, a borrowed laptop and two suitcases.
I survived a currency crisis, Sept 11, the Internet bubble and the severe acute respiratory syndrome. The business conditions and living environment here have enabled me to concentrate on building my public relations consultancy, which now serves clients like Datacraft Asia, Philips and NortelNetworks. I don't know if I could have done this anywhere else in Asia.
Over eight long and sometimes-lucky years, Singapore has been a safe harbour from which to build a business and a wonderful social life. I want to say 'Xie Xie' to all the friends, staff, suppliers and clients who have made Singapore my home.
JIM JAMES -
In case anyones wondering, the above letters are in reponse to a survey done internationally which ranked Singaporeans 3rd from bottom in terms of courtesy and friendliness. The surveyors used 2 tests to determine a country's friendliness, the percentage of people who
- returned a deliberately dropped pen
- help an injured person (a surveyor who was acting injured)
ST published an article not long after, refuting the claims of Singaporeans being an unfriendly lot and citing interviews it conducted with a few tourists and expats here and from the quotes from about 3-4 people, concluding the survey was off. No prizes for guessing that the tourists who ST quoted in their article wer fulsome in their praise for Singaporean's courtesy.
Heres my view, Singaporeans are not a friendly people by nature. Of course, there are shining lights, but I'm ashamed to say these people are rare and don't come across them that often. We have a long way to go in this department and unfortunately I think things will get worse. Parents and schools seem to ignore teaching kids proper manners (apparently grades are the only yardstick to measure success of a person by in Singapore) and what I've seen are lots ill-mannered people on the streets who
- think they're the only person who exist in this world
- seem think saying thank you, sorry or excuse me is a big humiliation for themselves and their families
Any thoughts? -
my tot is most singaporean r asshole..there few incident happen in the MRT which me n my fren was involve..tis i will relate later..gotta do my work 1st
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Strongly agreed. Sometime feels ashamed to be a singaporean. Wonder if the sch. are still teaching social studies??Originally posted by NathanG5:my tot is most singaporean r asshole..there few incident happen in the MRT which me n my fren was involve..tis i will relate later..gotta do my work 1st
Our ppl have become to be arrogant, selfish, and extReme Kiasu! If any of u out there dun agree, take a short trip like 3 mths out of S'pore, u will definitly notice the ugly side of our ppl. Having living in US for a while, i truely had a great cultural shock when i came bk home. example, when in a lift, u greet a person good morning, he would look at u as if u are siao.
In MRT, u have problem getting down b'cos ppl are rushing in b4 u get off. 
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Aiyah, the govt. train us to be robots be become robots wat... maybe they should also install courtesy1.1.exe
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mayb its the parents, the gov, and the society tat causes all tis. its sad, but its still our country n we jz hv to live wif it.
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hahaha...we also nid to DL the patch for courtesy1.1.exe
yea..for my story..it happen abt few years ago.. was at cityhall MRT waiting for the train goin to Orchard..when we reach cityhall..it was damn pack..so we decided to wait for the next train...den the train came..u can c "gracious" singaporean rushing toward the door when the train haven even stop yet...ok now the train stop..pple rush out asses rush in...wat happen now will shock anybody..a mum carrying a baby n holding a little boy was tryin to get into the train..tis OL whose back facing the mum was pushing side by wif the mum..n suddenly the OL flip her hand n hit the mum hand n the boy lost grip of his mum hand...my fren rushes up stop the door frm closing..i bring kid to the mum...spewing nice language at the OL..amazingly she gave us a heck care look...if the aint too pack i will join her on the ride..n slap the bitch sky high
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well tat jz one of many wonderful things u can c in the mrt...
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Here is a nice Singaporean in action !Originally posted by NathanG5:hahaha...we also nid to DL the patch for courtesy1.1.exe
yea..for my story..it happen abt few years ago.. was at cityhall MRT waiting for the train goin to Orchard..when we reach cityhall..it was damn pack..so we decided to wait for the next train...den the train came..u can c "gracious" singaporean rushing toward the door when the train haven even stop yet...ok now the train stop..pple rush out asses rush in...wat happen now will shock anybody..a mum carrying a baby n holding a little boy was tryin to get into the train..tis OL whose back facing the mum was pushing side by wif the mum..n suddenly the OL flip her hand n hit the mum hand n the boy lost grip of his mum hand...my fren rushes up stop the door frm closing..i bring kid to the mum...spewing nice language at the OL..amazingly she gave us a heck care look...if the aint too pack i will join her on the ride..n slap the bitch sky high
When the call comes, I am confident that the nice Singaporeans will stand out.
There have been quite a few of these "make believe" situation, and the helpers were "suckered" into a fraud act and shown LIVE on TV.
Not quite fair to classify a country by acts of duplicity. -
as usual there are more rotten apple than ripe ones right?
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I think Singaporeans are good natured, i mean look at the charities, the trouble is the system is so pressurised that we hardly have time to be SUPER NICE guys you know? So charity money is simple and efficient.
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Don't think it's really that bad, several times i've had someone give way to me on the escalator and even foreigners shutting the door on the lift when they saw me coming.
Remember that escalator incident at the city hall MRT? A lot of people tried to offer help to those who were injured. I was at the scene myself, and though it's cruel it was hilarious to see so many people tumble down
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pardon me, but whats an 'OL' ?Originally posted by NathanG5:hahaha...we also nid to DL the patch for courtesy1.1.exe
yea..for my story..it happen abt few years ago.. was at cityhall MRT waiting for the train goin to Orchard..when we reach cityhall..it was damn pack..so we decided to wait for the next train...den the train came..u can c "gracious" singaporean rushing toward the door when the train haven even stop yet...ok now the train stop..pple rush out asses rush in...wat happen now will shock anybody..a mum carrying a baby n holding a little boy was tryin to get into the train..tis OL whose back facing the mum was pushing side by wif the mum..n suddenly the OL flip her hand n hit the mum hand n the boy lost grip of his mum hand...my fren rushes up stop the door frm closing..i bring kid to the mum...spewing nice language at the OL..amazingly she gave us a heck care look...if the aint too pack i will join her on the ride..n slap the bitch sky high
anyway that guy really sucks.. -
One thing that I can take away from this survey, is that we are much closer to our supposedly less educated Malaysian cousins than our government conditions us to believe.
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true true..i've seen white ppl..who are supposedly to be the 'most' graceful lot kiasu too..Originally posted by Stevenson101:.....and even foreigners shutting the door on the lift when they saw me coming.
i was going back to singapore wth my bro from bintan ferry terminal..
and we waited for like 1 hr or so or the ferry...and lots of ppl were stuck at the terminal....japanese, thais, indonesians, singaporeans etc...
and when the ferry was ready to go, and the terminal door opened..a group of white guys and gals RUSHED and ran (with some pushing and shoving) to the ferry....did i mentioned they elbowed their way through to be near the door in the terminal at the first place?
i told my bro.." HOW GRACIOUS! more gracious than singaporeans !" -
oh yea and once, when in a bus...
i was gonna offer a seat to a pregnant lady...(the bus was crowded and no one wanna offer their seats) ..when i stood up... some bangala came forward and sat down...i told him that seat wasnt for him, well i guess he didnt understand as hes giving the WTF look on his face. i was so f.ucking pissed off i pulled his collar and drag him off the seat..
the woman was kinda shocked but she thanked me anyway and had the seat.. And the rest of the passengers was like giving me stares..i mean, HELLO ppl?? u didnt offer seats and u still tink i'm some sort of barbarian?? FUCK U -
oh..and lastly.. when i was in MRT... i overheard 2 foreigners (couple) who were beside me telling each other..
singaporeans are such an ungraceful bunch (or selfish? cant remember)... cos theres a pregnant lady and no-one offered their seats...
i was like soooo f.ucking embarressed to be a singaporean then.. -
well.. maybe it's just cultural matter. i mean.. it's not only happen in singapore. say.. in my country, jakarta where i live now.. the same thing happen here. what make it worst is.. the facilities we got here is extremely lousy that even make people don't bother abt others. and in hong kong.. they walk very fast, they tend don't see others.. worst than singapore i think.Originally posted by Stevenson101:Don't think it's really that bad, several times i've had someone give way to me on the escalator and even foreigners shutting the door on the lift when they saw me coming.
Remember that escalator incident at the city hall MRT? A lot of people tried to offer help to those who were injured. I was at the scene myself, and though it's cruel it was hilarious to see so many people tumble down
i have quite a nice experience when i was visiting yr country. i was kinda lost when i try to find keppel road and extremly blur which transportations i should take. then an old man (he was very nice and have a very fluent english) asked me if i got lost or what and he directed me which bus i should take.
see.. not all singaporeans are ignorant. some are nice.