June 24th, 2008
I can't stand selfish Singaporeans
I realise most Singaporeans have this mentality : When troubles come, "SIAM", in other words meaning, "When troubles or inconveniece come, get out of the way, and not do anything to help.
Sometimes, when we are on the bus and we see an old woman boarding the bus, we pretend to be asleep. We sleep, and we do not care about her need and we give ourselves a whole load of excuses of not giving up the seat.
I talked to a number of my friends who are Singaporeans about fighting for Singapore in the context of a war or conflicts with neighbouring countries. They told me they would run away, and not fight, because a fight is not worthy of their time, money and lives. It was more about themselves, than the nation.
I have seen an old man collapsed on the bus due to heat and exhaustion. All the passengers in the bus could do was to watch, or pretend not to see, and do nothing or just talk about it. I went up and help, and shouted for someone to help too. It was just a basic compassion moment, I thought.
The problem is, in any case of a need for public assistance, and if I do step up to help, I know there will be some people at the back of the bus or crowd, muttering, and criticising what I am doing.
"Oh, why is that young lad so kaypo?"
"Oh what does he think he is trying to do...act kind and concerned?", some will mock.
"Can't he just leave it to the bus driver??"
"Can't this guy just leave it to the people that are coming?"
"He's blocking the way of alighting passengers by helping the guy and creating a commotion!"
These people are typical self-centred Singaporeans - Watch and do nothing when a need arises. And when its too inconvenient or deemed too dangerous for them to help, they will pretend not to see, and prevent others from helping by discouraging and muttering under their breaths so as to hide their own selfishness. They will back down.
At the end of the day, Singaporeans as a nation did grow up with the mentality of "Big Brother is watching, and he will take care of everything."