Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Worst habits in Singapore

Singapore’s Class 95 radio station had an interesting challenge recently. They asked listeners to post videos of Singaporeans’ good and bad habits on their website.

A good idea, but I got a problem with the winner. The winning clip is… jaywalking? People jaywalked all over the world, how could that be Singaporean’s worst habit? This is my list:

1) Pride- We Singaporeans are a proud people. Too proud to admit we don’t know everything. I’m sure every Singaporean has an encounter with someone from our dear country who tries to pretend they know what they are doing or talking about when it’s pretty obvious they have no idea at all. These people usually will try to ‘bluff’ their way through with some half-ass explanations that leave you more confused than before the explanation.

2) Refusing to admit we are ever, ever wrong- Like I said earlier, Singaporeans are a proud people. We will never admit we are wrong, even when we know it. Everyone in Singapore from the government to the people walking the streets is somewhat guilty of this. A Singaporean admitting wrong in public? Never heard of it.

3) Reserving tables with tissue paper- Actually I don’t really have a problem with this very Singaporean habit. My problem is with the people who abused the system. There had been times when I sat down for lunch and there is a pack of tissue paper on the seat beside me. I’ve finished my lunch and the tissue paper is STILL THERE! I have no problem with ‘booking’ the seat, I have problem with Singaporeans who take their own sweet time deciding what to eat and then slowly lining up because they know they have a ‘booking’ already. Don’t take your own sweet time about it just because you have a ‘booking’.

That’s my list which, if I may say so, much superior than jaywalking. Pride; hey, I’m a Singaporean as well.

No comments: