Two cups of yogurt walk into a bar. The bartender says "We don't serve your kind in here." One cup of yogurt says, "Why not? We're cultured individuals."
Different people come from different cultures, stemming from family background, to ethnicity, to nationality and religion among many other factors like beliefts, habits and traditions. Invidually, we're all "cultured' in our own unique ways, and this becomes evidently so especially in a foreign land, where intercultural interactions will either bring out the good, the bad, or in the worst case scenario, the ugly side of us. Singaporeans can identify really well due to our renowned sense of "kiasuism", however, I've encountered an instance that proved that no matter how low you hit, rock bottom is still some distance away.
I worked in the United States during the summer of 2007, living it up in the rustically beautiful city of Richmond, Virignia. I stayed at a local university hostel together with other international students there for a summer job.
On my first day checking in, I noticed a clear divide between the Asians and Europeans. Blame it on the media planting this false imagery of all Europeans being so elegant and demure in their own subtle ways, but the first thought that came to mind was that we Asians were totally going to be made to look like uncouth brutes engaging in petty and "kiasu" ways.
To my surprise, the Eastern Europeans turned out to be the barbarians living in the building. They were always cutting queues, rushing for food and transport, never apologising when in the wrong and most of all, speaking in their native language and staring at us like they were insulting us (okay I admit I do that too). This changed my mindset about the difference in levels of graciousness between them and us, Asians. We were made to look good! Even the Americans thought so. I don't know if they were brought up this way or it's just a cultural thing back at home, but this goes to show that Asians can maintain their pride and dignity in the face of intercultural interaction in a foreign land.
Proud to be an Asian.
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Hi Lester,
ReplyDeletewell done for making your post really hilarious. It is interesting to find out that Singaporeans are not the only 'kiasu' ones in this world. In fact, we have seen many other uncouth and 'uncultured' people all around the world.
As I was reading some of our other classmates' blogs, it made me really proud not only to be an Asian, but to be a Singaporean.
However, some of the times we may think that we look good, but culture is specialised 'thing', in the sense that everyone’s culture differs. For example, smacking you on your head may be a friendly gesture from me, but you might think that I was being rude. Perhaps to us, rushing for food, cutting queues and staring at us are 'barbaric'. But it could mean another thing to them. =)
It all depends on how we define OUR culture. =)
Cheers,
Xiujun
mmmmm.... yogurt......
ReplyDeleteHey lester,
ReplyDeleteI guess its pretty true in your case stated here. When foreigners visited singapore, they would criticise us on our 'kiasu-ness' but they did not realise that they were doing the same thing back in their native homeland. Though I really dislike the kiasu culture od Singapore, I must admit that i play a part sometimes too during sales. But then again, I still a true blood Singaporean and I am thankful for the peace and harmony that Singapore have given us.
Sherri