Com'on, you looking at the world real narrowly. All countries
have their black sheeps, but i would say singapore has better
mannerism generally. I've got a really close friend getting beaten
up for nothing, in Australia. Apparantly because he is a chinese.
How about malaysians spitting right in front of your foot while u
walk, and gives you a non chalant attitute after that? How about
getting "shooed" out of a shop in HK just because i cant speak
cantonese well, or coz i'm a tourist? I've many pleasant and
unpleasant experiences from both local and overseas and i'd say,
local mannerisms are not that bad
As I said before, this isnt about racism (plenty of that iin
Singapore and other countries) and you havent mentioned any
behaviour of Singaporeans which is better than Westerners.
I'm going to list a few and let's see how Singaporeans match
up.
1. Opening doors for people behind you:
Aust/US- Yes
SG/China- No
2. Saying thank you to the person keeping the door open for
you:
Aust/US- Yes
SG/China- rarely/No
3. You queue in a long line and a new counter opens. Do you let
the person in front of you go first to the new counter because they
have been waiting longer?
Aust/US- Yes
SG/China- No/No.
4. Picking your nose, ears and feet in public:
Aust/US: No/No.
SG/China- Yes but less often now/ Yes
5. Staring at others with a black face in public:
Aust/US- Rarely
SG/China: Yes/Yes
6. You have a large trolley full of groceries and are next in
line at the pay counter, when someone lines up behind you and you
see they only have a few items. Do you offer to let them go ahead
of you out of courtesy?
Aust/US- Yes
SG/China- No/No.
7. You see a stranger with a bag of groceries suddenly drop it
and items fall out everywhere. Do you help them pick them back
up?
Aust/US- Yes
SG/China- Maybe/No.
8. You see a queue to whatever it is you want to get to eg taxi.
Do you jump queue and walk to the front?
Aust/US- No
SG/China- No/Yes
9. You're driving trying to merge and the car in the main lane
lets you in. Do you wave thank you to the car that let you in?
Aust/US- Very often.
SG/China- Very rarely/No.
10. If the cars' positions were reversed, would you have even
let the car merge in in front of you in the first place?
Aust/US- Very often.
SG/China- Sometimes/No.
As you can see, Western countries are miles ahead in public
common courtesy, and Singapore is only just ahead of China.
Basically it's because Singapore's Chinese are descended from
Mainland Chinese, so the behaviour is basically the same. Singapore
has only been wealthy for 25 years, so the number of educated and
more polite people hasnt reached sufficient number to influence the
older Singaporeans.
