Society's Gain or Loss?
Just recently i met a friend in which i have not seen for a long time, two big differences between him and me, its obvious, he converses well in Mandarin and Hokkien while i obviously the home grown "ACS" kid am unable to speak mother tongue for jack...
Its rather sad when reality sips in not in a pleasant manner but an unpleasant one, this friend of mine told me 'Are You Chinese'? in that very confrontational manner, turning on the defensive i told him right smack in the face 'I am Singaporean! Not necessarily a Chinese'.
And its like God just demanded for silence after i made that remark, one has to judge whether there were any winners in this short argument, speaking of which I was just about to order dinner at the corner kopitiam down the road when my poor self was attempting to order some bits of food in mandarin, as one uncle was scooping some veggies for me another one of his "kaki"(Buddy) said quite aloudly "Ang Moh"!(Foreigner or Westerner) trying to justify that i was one, i ignorantly just walked away quietly pretending not to notice but honestly a huge bit of frustration brewed up in me when i heard that statement.
Its sad to know when certain members of the public are outwardly ignorant and arrogant that the only bit of country they know is the small corner in Ang Mo Kio or in Toa Payoh, having trotted overseas several times, one has to really condemn this sort of behaviour, where has the respect gone for our fellow man?
End of the day coming back to our Ex-PM Goh's speech about 'Quitters and Stayers' one has to see the fact is whether individuals like me who are Singaporean are welcomed in society, so end of the day is it about being a old chinese junkie and not that of talent and good character? Once i realize that this piece of soil at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula does not welcome me anymore i shall make a quick departure for definitely my God-Given talents and skills are needed elsewhere where there is a decent respect for our fellow man and the things we do.
Its rather sad when reality sips in not in a pleasant manner but an unpleasant one, this friend of mine told me 'Are You Chinese'? in that very confrontational manner, turning on the defensive i told him right smack in the face 'I am Singaporean! Not necessarily a Chinese'.
And its like God just demanded for silence after i made that remark, one has to judge whether there were any winners in this short argument, speaking of which I was just about to order dinner at the corner kopitiam down the road when my poor self was attempting to order some bits of food in mandarin, as one uncle was scooping some veggies for me another one of his "kaki"(Buddy) said quite aloudly "Ang Moh"!(Foreigner or Westerner) trying to justify that i was one, i ignorantly just walked away quietly pretending not to notice but honestly a huge bit of frustration brewed up in me when i heard that statement.
Its sad to know when certain members of the public are outwardly ignorant and arrogant that the only bit of country they know is the small corner in Ang Mo Kio or in Toa Payoh, having trotted overseas several times, one has to really condemn this sort of behaviour, where has the respect gone for our fellow man?
End of the day coming back to our Ex-PM Goh's speech about 'Quitters and Stayers' one has to see the fact is whether individuals like me who are Singaporean are welcomed in society, so end of the day is it about being a old chinese junkie and not that of talent and good character? Once i realize that this piece of soil at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula does not welcome me anymore i shall make a quick departure for definitely my God-Given talents and skills are needed elsewhere where there is a decent respect for our fellow man and the things we do.
posted by Kao Wen Sheng at 9/15/2005 08:41:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home