-f.l.y-: December 2006

Just to reiterate my disdain for the attitude of Caucasians here in Melbourne towards Asians..

Walking along the streets of Melbourne.. Where are the Asians here? What are they working as? I'm talking about the Asian community at large, not just the Chinese. From what I've observed, you can easily locate Asians seated at the front-most seat in Trams and Public buses, and in case you are still wondering, it's the Driver's seat. Walking in the shopping centres.. a large number of them would be situated behind the counters in the food court. It's sad to see people of our community being in such 'low-level jobs'..

I've been nudged intentionally on the streets 3 times already during my time here in Melbourne. I don't know what's the problem with them. It's not like the street is crowded like those in Causeway Bay, HK. I'm quite certain that it was intentional given the force of the nudge and no apologies there after. In school, one of the local caucasian student's unfriendliness towards Asian students is noticed not just by me but by several of my friends as well. I'm not saying all the caucasians here are like that but more often than not, I do get the feeling from their attitude that we are not very welcome here.

This is the kind of treatment we get from them. Why the hell should we, in Asia, treat them better than how we treat people of the same colour.

The Singaporeans

Representatives from Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore (+HK)

Being a Chinese here in Melbourne, I guess I can probably relate to this topic more so than anyone. I can't agree more with BingDe that we really need to stand up for our language and culture. It doesn't matter to the caucasians whether or not you speak great English with THAT accent. The fact is, you are still a Chinese. I hate it when English-speaking Singaporeans think they are superior to the Chinese-speaking people. Chinese is old.. a thing of the past.. English is the language of business.. You don't need Chinese unless you are thinking of tapping into the burgeoning Chinese market. To these people, I only have one thing to say to you: You are Pathetic. I guess this problem is not just restricted to Singapore but Asia at large. Caucasians are treated like Kings and Queens 'cos they are viewed to be of a 'higher class' than the Asians. My Singaporean friend and I were discussing the issue of service quality in Singapore with my Marketing tutor and he said, "I think Singapore has the undeserved reputation of having poor service standards. In fact, I think it has been excellent during my 10 years there." One thing sprung to my mind but I choose to keep this to myself. Mr Brown (Yes, Mr. Richard Brown. Not THAT Mr. Brown), the only reason why you found the service standards good was because of your skin colour. I can't prove it. But I doubt I'm wrong.

Having been to all the major Chinese cities, I would say my trip to Yunan was the most memorable. Yes, The Great Wall was Great. The Forbidden City and the Portray of Chairman Mao was Magnificent. The Bund in Shanghai was Legendary. But somehow I felt these cities have become so modern that they have lost their soul. Any city can build skyscrapers or weird looking arts centres. As long as the government and the developers are willing to pump in the money, even Ethiopia can have a skyline which rivals that of HK and Singapore. I just couldn't feel the rich chinese culture and history in these cities. However, this wasn't the case in Yunan. The local culture of the minority groups are still very much evident and it is then that I could really get a feel of the rich and diverse culture that China has.

I'm a Chinese and I'm proud to be one. But I'm ashamed that my command of Chinese and understanding of the culture is not as good as it should be. I really admire Yi-Chiu ge. He exhibits such strong Chinese cultural values.. and even up to today, my dad agrees that his handwriting is one of the best he has ever seen (Save for the professional ones, of course).

I don't disapprove the usage of Singlish. I agree that it represents the culture of Singapore and I don't see any problems in the wide use of Singlish. BUT. It does become a problem if Singlish is so embedded in your language that you can't 'switch' back to normal English when needed. Many people think they can 'sieve' out the 'lehs' and 'lahs' when they need to use Formal English. Some people can. But not all. Trust me. I've seen it happen and it does impede foreigners' understanding of our English. A Chinese friend of mine didn't know I was a Singaporean 'cos "Your English and Mandarin sounded very different from the 2 Singaporeans in my class and sometimes I don't really understand what they are saying" I could see where the problem was coming from. Imagine phrases like, "Wah. This topic sibeh sian leh.". She could probably only understand 'Wah, This topic...........'. So I guess Singlish is not really a problem as long as you know when to remove the 'lehs' and the 'lahs'.

West is Best? I'm afraid Not.