Below is reproduced two
letters that would do us forumers (especially in SC) some
good.
And perhaps preserve some sanity.
Singaporean traits that
don't endear us to others
I WAS born, grew up and educated in Singapore. Now that I have
moved overseas, I look back fondly on my life in Singapore and I am
grateful that I was given opportunities that made me who I
am.
However, in recent years, I have found it increasingly difficult to
feel proud of my home country and my countrymen.
When I see posts left by Singaporeans on international forums in
which they lash out at another person for asking them to refrain
from using Singlish and quoting from Wikipedia to define Singlish
as a 'crazy mixture of languages' but not 'improper English', or
defensive blog entries by the younger generation which state that
our country cannot possibly be inferior to another place because
our currency unit is still stronger, it makes me feel
ashamed.
I have kept the words of a very wise lecturer in junior college
close to my heart all these years; she told me that if a person
undergoes years of education up to university but comes out no
better a person in terms of character and attitude, then the
education was in vain.
The education that Singaporeans are blessed with is not to just
give us book knowledge; it is also to equip us with the ability to
reflect and better ourselves.
To my dismay, I noticed that many Singaporeans' reaction to any
kind of criticism is to take it personally, fight back and then
walk away with a 'I'm too civilised to continue the argument with
you', without giving a thought to the criticism.
Our people are supposed to be well educated, well travelled,
familiar with international happenings, so why are we acting so
narrow-minded and provincial?
If we think of ourselves as 'knowing better', think of any
criticism as a personal attack, where can we go if not down?
Let me reiterate on behalf of my Singaporean friends who are in
situations similar to mine: We want to be proud of our country but
it is hard to do so when our countrymen are giving the world
excuses to call us 'defensive, inferior people'.
Those of us abroad are not gloating over having 'made it' in the
global arena, we do not look down on those in Singapore, we are not
trying to dissociate ourselves from our nationality.
We are just frustrated, and wondering what happened to the quality
of our people.
Cynthia Tan (Ms)
Hong Kong
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_179579.html
Nothing wrong with taking
pride in country
I REFER to Ms Cynthia Tan's letter, 'Singaporean traits that don't
endear us to others' (ST, Nov 23).
The late American publisher Malcolm Forbes stated that 'education's
purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one'. This neatly
encapsulates Ms Tan's line of argument that our education system,
if effective, should have given rise to humble, self-criticising
and not 'narrow-minded and provincial' individuals.
However, it is this same education system that has taught us to
speak up and denounce what we see as injustice, inaccuracies in
information, etc. I do not think that we have a deteriorating
quality of people. Granted, we could be more polite in our postings
on international forums and blogs and learn a little more Internet
etiquette, but speaking up does not make for a lesser Singaporean.
And if we analyse the quoted examples with an open mind, these are
simply Singaporeans unabashedly proud of their country and
quirks.
To condemn fellow Singaporeans in one fell swoop, as compared to
those residing overseas, not only places one on an unnecessary
moral pedestal but it also does not make for a better breed of
Singaporeans.
That said, I do agree with Ms Tan that Singaporeans can improve in
the humility department and increase their level of tolerance of
criticism.
As the late American poet Robert Frost said, 'education is the
ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or
your self-confidence'. To this I would add 'or your
patriotism'.
This is the way to go for Singaporeans in exchanges with foreigners
where we can be self-critical and humble and yet not compromise our
beliefs, and communicate that effectively and politely. The last
thing we would want for all our 'ability to reflect and better
ourselves' is for foreigners to think of us as pushovers.
Lau Ai Lin (Ms)
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_181890.html
