Joo Chiat nightmare
While Singaporean behaviour is generally not extreme, there is a little bit of the flaunting, looking-down-on-others trait in every one of us. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Nov 16, 2002
Out of Singapore's gloomiest times, hard-pressed citizens are finding an unexpected source of respite from a decade-long neighbourhood dispute in a quiet eastern suburb.
The real life drama between the Chan family and seven of its neighbours has turned the area into a tourist attraction since it made it on prime time TV a month ago.
Every evening, up to 100 people, some coming from Malaysia, have been visiting the place, hoping to catch a glimpse of the action.
For awhile it even predominated coffee shop conversations, pushing aside terrorist fears and economic woes.
With 4 million people living in one of the world's densest-populated cities, neighbourhood disputes are not uncommon - but this is not the run-of-the-mill story.
Neither is it just about social friction of life in a fishbowl.
It raises the bigger question whether - in its haste to achieve prosperity - Singapore has neglected developing the people's social graces.
Although it is not representative of the average family here, the Joo Chiat conflict shows how far Singaporeans have to go to catch up on becoming a civil society.
The incredible story unfolded on Oct 12 over Channel U's programme "Inside Out" which features neighbourhood living.
Retiree Chan Cheng Koon, 67, lives at 130B Everitt Road with his wife Chua Gek Eng and daughter, Soo Yin, in her 40s.
For almost 10 years, seven of their neighbours have repeatedly complained of harassment by the Chans, who in turn blame them of having started it. All are occupants in a row of semi-detached houses.
The neighbours say the Chans mounted a spotlight which they turn on at night shining into their bedrooms (Chan says it for security). They would also video-filmed their neighbours and tailing them or their visitors, making them feel uncomfortable.
One of the scenes aired on TV shows the daughter, a secondary school teacher with a doctorate in life sciences, standing next to her mother, shouting across to the neighbours: "You see, this is diamonds, you can buy or not? You got money to buy?"
Another comment was "...My time is very precious, an hour $200..." and "See my car, brand new"
A neighbour was labelled as "low class" because she spoke only Mandarin, not English. Chan told the reporter "I don't know Hokkien, dialects and I don't speak Mandarin. I am English-educated you know?"
The police have been called in several times and the warring parties have resorted to getting video evidence of each other.
All efforts at mediation, including one by the Member of Parliament, have failed.
Last week, one of the neighbours, Madam Cheong Siew Ying, 38, supported by others took the case to the court.
After an hour, the magistrate ordered both sides to cool off for a month before pursuing another settlement attempt.
Predictably, public sentiments, especially over the Internet, are overwhelmingly against the Chans, considering them to be arrogant and crude.
Others, however, say their neighbours, too, should take part of the blame for allowing the matter to go this far.
What disturbed people most was the crude flaunting of wealth and earning capacity, showing off of jewellery and car and educational status - on national TV.
While Singaporeans are generally far from such extreme behaviour, there are people who believe there is a little bit of the Chan trait in every one of us.
With a society that measures success by wealth and educational status, it is not uncommon for richer Singaporeans to look down on others, especially the non-English educated, as "low class" or "poor achievers."
One manifestation is the incidence of maid abuse. There were 157 cases in 1997.
Only after the enactment of tough new laws against guilty employers did the numbers drop falling to six for the first half of this year.
But the behaviour of many Singaporeans towards their maids - numbering some 140,000 - still falls short of acceptability. They are made to work hours, without a day off and given only five or six hours of sleep a day.
Mr. Chew Kim Whatt, president of Singapore's biggest maid 45% of employers "don't know how to treat their domestic workers."
An academic, however, put it this way: For 30 years, Singapore's economy has developed rapidly but this was never matched by development of its people.
"Many earn good income, dress well but their minds are little different from their ancestors' - quite primitive" he added.
A month before the Joo Chiat drama became public, a 37-year-old Singaporean man was jailed for three months for kicking his Indonesian maid in the buttocks after she forgot to shut a window when it rained.
Criticism has fallen on the education system, which places global-winning emphasis on Science and Mathematics and little on character or social upbringing.
Others say working parents are to be blamed in this two-income society. Youths grow up without being taught social values.
One web-site chatter says the Joo Chiat episode is a setback to the city's efforts to build a gracious society.
"We have just spent S$600 million on The Theatres on The Esplanade (the Durian) cultivating the arts to nurture the souls," he said.
"If the society values graciousness, it is definitely not showing it by allowing such uncouth behaviour bordering on the surreal to go unpunished."
It will take another generation at least before Singaporeans can shake off their refugee past, when concern for others ranked well below self-survival.
Many of our ancestors had to fight others for a space on board a ship or to get food for their children.
This trait lives on today among many Singaporeans, a self-centered, couldn't-care-less for other people attitude. The changes come but only gradually.
It surfaces in everyday routines. People (irrespective of education) jump queues, talk on a handphone in a cinema or restaurant, and grab anything that is free in disregard for others.
Others fiercely protect their turf if they consider it under threat. A well-behaving person, for example, may turn into a monster when he is driving and someone cuts into his lane.
And after a life of hard knocks, many achievers are less tolerant towards others who are behind.
All this lead to disputes even in the most unexpected places.
They range from such the high-class Singapore Recreation Club (over elections) to two combative fruit sellers engaging in a self-defeating business war (selling 30 apples for $1).
As a result, mediation has become a business of the courts - and aspirant lawyers are trained in university to handle it. ends
(This article was first published on Sunday Star, Malaysia, on Nov 10, 2002.)
Author: 
A minister takes home on average approximately $1,500,000 a year or $125,000 a month. A peasant takes home on average approximately $30,000 a year or $2,500 a month.