I Googled "What's Wrong With Singaporeans?"..

... and it spit out 8 hits. I repeated the search with 'Ugly Singaporean' and about 8800 references came to the fore.

I am sure you have thought about this too if you live in this small island. I am actually suprised I haven't ranted about this earlier. I dunno, maybe I am too free now and have serious time to seriously think about what's wrong with some of us. Ok, not so seriously :) Just some things in the papers that got me thinking and now writing.

Some of us abuse maids. You hear about these horror stories about maids being tortured with hot irons, not fed adequately, been deprived of food and driven to suicide or reciprocal caustic action. There are smart, educated people on trial for causing their maids harm. When we read about these things, we think 'how can these people do this?' and 'what monsters! what's wrong with them?'. I think many Singaporeans have a superiority complex. We think we are too good, perhaps a part of the elite. We may have got there because lalaland is so perfect and we are raised to be literate, safe, comfortable, healthy and clean. (I think this complex makes us litter when we cross the border.) When foreigners from less fortunate places come over, we may feel like they aren't worthy of our country. That they are here to get some that's rightfully ours. And that may make feel like we can take advantage or even get away from treating some of them badly. There may be undertones of racism but at the same time, I know Chinese Singaporeans who can't stand Chinese nationals. What if maids were angmohs? That would make things interesting. We need to think about these things especially because Singapore is a rojak of people from all walks, and decide where we stand and what we need.

Some of us are thoughtless. You know, all those little infuriating things Singaporeans do. I'm gonna blab about what happens in my favourite mode of transport - the train. We all have observed jokers who
- rush into trains
- have children trained to rush into trains
- lean their boneless bodies on grab poles as if they are semi-official places to rest their asses
- use seats for bags
- let their kids run around like wild animals
- simply not move in
- play music or change ringtones with volumes set as if they were deaf

Ok, I am ranting. But I think some Singaporeans are hardly aware of the world around them. It's about 'me me me'. When we need the train operator to put up 'Priority Seat' stickers above seats to remind people of social graces, or rather the lack of, it's a sign we aren't there yet.

I think I better stop before the bitterness overwhelms. There are of course more things to complain about. Hey, that's a problem too :)