Are Singaporeans that incorrigible? Maybe I have to agree so..

When placed with the stereotypes that Singaporeans are "kind" and "courteous" and are the kind of Asians many tourist want to meet, I can't help but feel cynical. When I was younger, I often beamed in pride when people said that Singapore is a fine country. As I go older, I went morbid after I discovered the true meaning of the sentence. Ok, maybe just a little peeved and not morbid.

Singapore, a great country that expanded successfully in terms economics and many other aspects. However, character-wise I fear I have to rank them the worst. No offense to anyone. In no way am I defaming anyone or any country with opinions of mine.

Just today, 2 incidences made me feel that "whether is being a Singaporean really to be proud of?"

The government and many charitable organizations have been placing much efforts into expanding the idea of "Charity", "Volunteer" and "Community Service". To many of us, being charitable might just mean donations and nothing else, however I being to differ. Being charitable is to share whatever you do have with someone that does not have the capabilities to own what you have. This can be done in everyday life. When sitting in a crowded bus, when spotting someone with physical hindrance (say an old person or a pregnant lady), do offer your seat to them.

If you do think about it, in a weird but true sense, it is still being charitable. The physically hindered individual cannot afford a seat in the crowded bus. You do have a seat and you can share it or better still, offer it to the person who needs it more.

Ok, first incident. I was carrying an A3 size box filled with ceramic cups and plates and was on board the bus back home. The ceramic set was for the wagashi event this saturday.. Hurray~~ In any case, I have to get a seat and fast, cause not only was the box filled with fragile items, my hands were cramping up fast. Seating behind me at the end of the bus were 4 physically-abled young polytechnic students. I had to occupy 2 seats as I cannot afford to break the cups and plates nor leave them unattended. Upon reaching the interchange, there were many alighted, and even more that boarded the bus. Peculiarly, there were many elderly that boarded the bus than what I had expected (I wonder why?). The 4 young ignoramuses ignored these people. Not able to withstand the sight of that many elderly struggling not to fall when the bus came to a halt at every stop, I gave up my own seat to an elderly man. If the situation permits, I would have given up the other seat that I placed my box to another elderly.

This point was when I began to wonder, why would many people had the impression that Singaporeans are kind? Maybe some of them do watch our charity show, however, I still think that these shows were a kind of facade to make Singaporeans look compassionate. The ignoramus should be ashamed, not only are they discarding away this wonderful stereotype, they are also discarding also most of our "face". Then what gets me really annoyed was that they started to curse and swear in jest. Why the F*** would you curse and swear in front of the young children on board? Haha, in what position am I to reprimand on them? Still, cursing and swearing in vulgarities should be done when you are really annoyed by something(s) and not for the fun of it.

Talk about scolding vulgarities, children nowadays really shock me with their perverse knowledge on what is to be known as the "forbidden words". They can come up with the most horrible of vulgarities these days. Where's all that "children are innocent" nonsense coming out from? They can talk to you about sex and then tell you what is the latest trend in sex positions. Trust me, their descriptions for it either arouses you or disgusts you. It was shocking and disgusting for me. Ok, this is too much digression.

Second incident, I was conned by a merchant today. He sold to me a faulty printer cartridge and refuse to change for me. I do understand that reconditioned cartridges have their risks, but selling a cartridge nearly the price of the original thing and not being able to refund or change is ridiculous. In any case, blame it on my bad luck to lost the receipt too. However, I bought it from him about 30 minutes ago, surely he should have remembered me. I still strongly believed he feigned ignorance.

Promoting entrepreneurship in Singapore is a very common thing, in fact, too common that you have a whole database of a few hundred of companies selling the same products. The market now emphasizes on a dog eat dog world instead of workmanship and quality. In the path of earning big money, many resorted to unscrupulous means. Even cheating or probably hurting consumers in the process. We can easily take the news report on the TV stations regarding cheating luxury taxi drivers on tourists as an example. These luxury taxi drivers target tourists at anywhere on the streets and charge them at the initial rate of S$35. Thankfully, CASE and various governmental agencies have now made it clear that these luxury taxis can only charge at the initial rate of S$35 at specific places like the airport or at various hotels.

In summation, Singapore is still a great country in my heart at the moment. However, if the society here cannot change for the better for whatsoever reasons, I think for the benefit of myself, I will leave the country.

Ending of in a light-hearted tone, I wish Singapore and to it's inhabitants (Singaporeans of course!) a happy be-early National Day~!