Ugly, ugly Singaporeans

Note: this entry might be a little emo. might be a bit long too. be prepared for a lot of ranting.

Though I wouldn’t dare say I’m anywhere near a model citizen of this puny island, what I’ve witnessed yesterday is something that’ll make you feel sad that there are such Singaporeans around, and a HUGE group of them. There’s even an Ang Moh who witnessed it and commented that “They’re all pushing. Totally no manners.”

Well, the worst thing of all, is that that group of “well-mannered” Singaporeans affected me (directly) as well. So, what happened huh? First up, my mum and I were going to attend my cousin’s wedding at Orchid Country Club, and since we’re taking public transport, we were waiting at Yishun MRT for the shuttle (free btw, monetary cost wise) that obviously transports passengers between the country club and the MRT station.

At that point in time, I did not know that there were other weddings being held at the country club, so I thought the other BIG group of people nicely dressed up and all were the relatives and friends of the groom since I don’t recognise any of the people that are at least 1 generation older than me. Fair enough, I didn’t want to barge my way through when the first shuttle came (btw the shuttle is small… total of 19 seating capacity, excluding driver. counted that when I eventually got up the bus). It was quite obvious that my mum and I were there first, but when the bus came, the huge horde of people just rushed to the bus as though it’s the last one leaving a war zone or something. They were just short of trampling over each other (same family I guess…) to get up the small shuttle bus. Seriously, I gave up on the first bus and patiently waited for the 2nd one. There were still many “leftovers” from the other group back then.

After 9 minutes (thanks goodness it’s quite frequent), a 2nd bus came. This time my mom positioned herself at the right spot where the bus stopped and managed to get up the bus, while the other stranger 前辈 as usual just chiong in front of me like no tmr. Seriously, I couldn’t be bothered with them (I can easily push them away leh. no problem one. they look old and fragile after all) because I thought they’re my seniors so I just close 1 eye though I’m seriously VERY FED UP with their attitudes. Firstly, it’s understandable if you’re late due to such shuttle bus situations, and it’s not like you’re gonna be late for an hour; it’s just 30 minutes at most, which isn’t too bad for an average Chinese wedding. Secondly, just because you’re more senior doesn’t mean you can just act like an uncivilised person. Maybe education does play a part here, though I doubt it’s significant (since they can’t seem to converse in proper English or Chinese and using loads of dialect).

Well, given their fabulous behaviour, it’s not surprising I couldn’t get up the 2nd bus, yet some of the even later-comers could squeeze up the bus (yeah, gracious Sgeans ftw). By this time, you can just imagine how irritated and annoyed I was. But the only relief (if you can call it that) is that I didn’t observe (which proves later to be so) any “newcomers” vying for the “sacred bus”, and there’s definitely few enough of us left to get up the 3rd bus. As you might recall, it takes something like 9 minutes for the next bus to arrive, so all I could do was wait, and maybe overhear some of the conversation by the not so fantastic people left behind.

Even with my pathetic understanding (probably worse than that of Jap. shocking isn’t it? :D) of dialect (think it’s hokkien), I could make out that some uncle was commenting that it’s okay lah, since weddings don’t start on time anyway. Well then, I’ve just met a hypocrite as well haven’t I. Seriously, that just made me hate him even more. Well, after some excruciating 10 minutes, the 3rd bus came. That’s when the angmoh comes into the picture officially. It’s VERY OBVIOUS that there’s gonna be enough space for whoever were left waiting for the free service, and yet, the pushing and squeezing did not improve one bit. It’s little wonder why the foreigner would have made such a remark. Well, either the people in front can’t understand English, or they just don’t give a damn (could be both you know…).

Well, that’s not the end of it, yet. On the bus, I can easily hear the others complaining about every little thing. About the size of the bus (seating capacity rather), the frequency (hey, 10 minutes is already not bad), the lack of special arrangements knowing wedding(s) gonna take place (wah pls, who gonna pay, you ah?) and even complaining about the couple’s choice of location for their wedding dinner (biang, respect your niece/nephew’s wedding lah… if you really hate it so much, don’t go la). I was so glad to find out that there were other wedding(s) being held at the country club, and all those people weren’t going for my cousin’s.

On hindsight, I admit that the lack of a proper queueing “barrier” (you know those things you see at bus interchanges..) will inevitably lead to such mad rush, but I guess on normal days, not that many people will want to go to the country club by shuttle bus anyway. Many who can afford to golf as a leisure usually are well-off enough to drive there and avoid the shuttle bus craze. So in the end, it’s still the behaviour of some Singaporeans that really need some work on. Sigh.

p.s. although the wedding started quite late from the indicated time on the invitation card, it was overall a simple, yet good one. wish all the best to my cousin and her husband. (don’t think they’ll be reading this anyway) :)

off-topic: 151 has at least 3 of those single decker bus (2 of them are SBS8124[dunno letter] and SBS8076E) that’s handicapped-friendly. It was a total of 29 seats, with not that fabulous standing space (compared to those TIBS buses). Not looking good during peak hours. Sob.