Chinese and World Peace
Chinese and World Peace
Let’s work with some general stereotypes. The Chinese generally mind their own business. The Chinese fend for their lot. The Chinese are generally entrepreneurial and can survive under dire circumstances.
If the Chinese were to rule the world, there would be world peace. Everyone would be so busy minding their own business, striking out on their own and fleecing each other that there’ll be hardly time to bomb buildings in the name of a higher being. Who cares about religion when money creates a heaven in earth (No offence)?
I thought of the above when the following incident happened on the bus.
Kid and friend, both about 14yrs, got up the bus and moved to the end of the bus. This particular bus company expects passengers to either have a valid bus pass, travel card or have the exact change to pay the driver.
Kid got called back to the front. Apparently, he flashed some fake/invalid travel card and the bus driver expected him to pay the exact fare. This was where the drama began.
Kid insisted that he had no exact change. (Either that, or he merely refused to pay). Bus driver expected him to pay up. The exchange was pretty circular. Both had apparently not gone through Critical Reasoning Skills. J
Driver: “You pay up or you get off the bus”
Kid: “No. I won’t get off the bus”
Driver: “Who are you trying to kid? You get off the bus”
Kid: “No, I won’t get off the bus”
Driver: “If you have no money, you get off”
Kid: “No, I won’t get off the bus”
This went on for five minutes. The driver refused to start the bus and the kid refused to leave. Meanwhile, the passengers were enjoying the exchange. One was even laughing at the absurdity of it all. Being the typical Singaporean, I pretended not to watch but was listening to every word that was said.
SIDE TRACK: If it were a Chinese driver, he’d probably want to get back to work. He does not want to get any complaints from passengers, does he? So what if the kid does not pay? It’s the company’s loss, not his.
Suddenly, a female passenger shouted, “Get off the bus! You’re holding the bus!”
The exchange has just become three-way!
The kid still repeated, “I’m not getting off”
Woman: “You are holding the bus and wasting our time. That’s the problem with you youngsters nowadays. You have no respect for people around you, ya’know what I mean?” (Well said! I secretly want to say that to some of my students, actually. The truth has been spoken! Well-said indeed)
Kid. “He’s just the driver.”
Woman: “So what if he’s just the driver? He’s in charge and you listen to him. Get off the bus!”
Kid (with zero reasoning power), repeated, “No, I’m not getting off”
SIDE TRACK: If the passengers were all Chinese, they would all just watch. It’s none of their business.
While all this was happening, there was a passenger who was still waiting at the door, trying to move to the rear of the bus. He was patiently waiting for all this to end. At some point of time, he even tried to intervene,
“Can you let him off without paying?”
SIDE TRACK: If he were Chinese, he would shove the boy and move in. The most important was getting a seat.
I wondered if there’d be a fight. I assured myself that I would be safe because I was seated right at the back. If the kids wanted to make trouble, they would first go for the bus driver, then the woman. The patient passenger who tried to intervene would also probably try to stop them. So, I was safe.
Anyway, this made me wonder how assertive or unassertive we should be. The bus driver was assertive, the boy was assertive (though not very eloquent about it) and the woman was assertive. See where that got us? Stranded on a bus bay.
So, if everyone was Chinese and minded their own business, the bus would be on its way.
(Gross stereotype here. Apologies to the Chinese. I ‘d actually meant Singaporeans)
Guess what happened in the end?
The fifth occupant
The mystery occupant has arrived! She’s Greek (More greek communication?) and her name’s Anastasia. I think she’s doing MA in media and communication. But I could not hear her clearly (ahem, not because of her accent but because of the piercing fire alarm above our heads. Yes, this time, it WAS a fire drill). She just arrived yesterday and hasbeen doing whatever we have done in the past week. So, her stress is double ours. Everything has to be done in double-quick time before school starts next week.
I must say the kitchen cabinets are pretty much filled up with groceries and utensils already. Think Giva took up the most space! So, poor Anastasia’s got to find her space in the kitchen. Speaking of Giva, he’s moved his kitchen from North London to our kitchen. There is a huge container of different spices, a mortar bowl and pound (is that what you call it?) and even a wok-like thing which is about 35-40 cm in diameter. No kidding.
25th September
Of Loos and Lifts
Both are a rare sight in London.
I drink a lot of water and consequently, I visit the loo often too. I do not understand why loos are so difficult to find in London. I was in Greenwich the other day. In an area about the size of SP, there are no more than four toilets. Half the time when I was there, I was looking for a toilet. The walking made me thirsty and I drank more. The more I drank, the more I wanted to visit the toilet. Why are there so few toilets? To save costs?
In the end, the only parts which I remember of Greenwich are those roads leading to the toilet. Think I’m going back there again. It’s just a 10min ride from my place.
The same goes for my school. Toilets are just difficult to find. And when I do manage to find one, it’s crowded. In the library, the people at Goldsmiths even try to camouflage the toilet! The doors are white, like the wall. There isn’t a door frame. The door panel is in line with wall. It is something like a bank vault except for a small handle. If you walked past it quickly and you did not see image of a lady on the door, you would miss the toilet, which I did for the first time.
Most toilet cubicles have no hooks behind the doors. However, at the same time, most toilets are clean and dry too. So, most people would out their bags on the floor, something quite unthinkable in Singapore. And not only is the floor clean, the area around the sink too. Perhaps, the cleaners are more hardworking. Perhaps, Londoners wash their hands differently?!
Tried to explore Central London via the tube today. Aside from the mental fatigue of figuring out the shortest way to connect from one line to another, there was the physical tiredness of climbing up and down stairs. The lazy bone in me was looking out for escalators and lifts. Nowhere in sight. So, I just climbed up and down, went past platforms, walked through tunnel-like walkways, looking for the correct connecting platform. I could not remember which station it was now (think it’s Waterloo), but there was this long travellator which spanned for at least 100m. I was so glad to see it and I just plonked my bag in front of me and looked at the people on the travellator on the other side which was going the opposite way. Who would walk when something moves you along? Well, it appeared that apart from a man who was reading a book, I was the only one who stood still. Everybody walked!
So, old people are more resilient here because even though they have trouble walking, the plod and trudge along to find their platform. Parents with kids in strollers are fitter because when they are at the bottom/top of the stairs, they CARRY the stroller (with the kid). I felt tired and at the same time, I felt a little useless too. Realised that I have indeed taken things for granted in Singapore. But will I still climb up stairs if there was a lift? Are you kidding?
Let’s work with some general stereotypes. The Chinese generally mind their own business. The Chinese fend for their lot. The Chinese are generally entrepreneurial and can survive under dire circumstances.
If the Chinese were to rule the world, there would be world peace. Everyone would be so busy minding their own business, striking out on their own and fleecing each other that there’ll be hardly time to bomb buildings in the name of a higher being. Who cares about religion when money creates a heaven in earth (No offence)?
I thought of the above when the following incident happened on the bus.
Kid and friend, both about 14yrs, got up the bus and moved to the end of the bus. This particular bus company expects passengers to either have a valid bus pass, travel card or have the exact change to pay the driver.
Kid got called back to the front. Apparently, he flashed some fake/invalid travel card and the bus driver expected him to pay the exact fare. This was where the drama began.
Kid insisted that he had no exact change. (Either that, or he merely refused to pay). Bus driver expected him to pay up. The exchange was pretty circular. Both had apparently not gone through Critical Reasoning Skills. J
Driver: “You pay up or you get off the bus”
Kid: “No. I won’t get off the bus”
Driver: “Who are you trying to kid? You get off the bus”
Kid: “No, I won’t get off the bus”
Driver: “If you have no money, you get off”
Kid: “No, I won’t get off the bus”
This went on for five minutes. The driver refused to start the bus and the kid refused to leave. Meanwhile, the passengers were enjoying the exchange. One was even laughing at the absurdity of it all. Being the typical Singaporean, I pretended not to watch but was listening to every word that was said.
SIDE TRACK: If it were a Chinese driver, he’d probably want to get back to work. He does not want to get any complaints from passengers, does he? So what if the kid does not pay? It’s the company’s loss, not his.
Suddenly, a female passenger shouted, “Get off the bus! You’re holding the bus!”
The exchange has just become three-way!
The kid still repeated, “I’m not getting off”
Woman: “You are holding the bus and wasting our time. That’s the problem with you youngsters nowadays. You have no respect for people around you, ya’know what I mean?” (Well said! I secretly want to say that to some of my students, actually. The truth has been spoken! Well-said indeed)
Kid. “He’s just the driver.”
Woman: “So what if he’s just the driver? He’s in charge and you listen to him. Get off the bus!”
Kid (with zero reasoning power), repeated, “No, I’m not getting off”
SIDE TRACK: If the passengers were all Chinese, they would all just watch. It’s none of their business.
While all this was happening, there was a passenger who was still waiting at the door, trying to move to the rear of the bus. He was patiently waiting for all this to end. At some point of time, he even tried to intervene,
“Can you let him off without paying?”
SIDE TRACK: If he were Chinese, he would shove the boy and move in. The most important was getting a seat.
I wondered if there’d be a fight. I assured myself that I would be safe because I was seated right at the back. If the kids wanted to make trouble, they would first go for the bus driver, then the woman. The patient passenger who tried to intervene would also probably try to stop them. So, I was safe.
Anyway, this made me wonder how assertive or unassertive we should be. The bus driver was assertive, the boy was assertive (though not very eloquent about it) and the woman was assertive. See where that got us? Stranded on a bus bay.
So, if everyone was Chinese and minded their own business, the bus would be on its way.
(Gross stereotype here. Apologies to the Chinese. I ‘d actually meant Singaporeans)
Guess what happened in the end?
The fifth occupant
The mystery occupant has arrived! She’s Greek (More greek communication?) and her name’s Anastasia. I think she’s doing MA in media and communication. But I could not hear her clearly (ahem, not because of her accent but because of the piercing fire alarm above our heads. Yes, this time, it WAS a fire drill). She just arrived yesterday and hasbeen doing whatever we have done in the past week. So, her stress is double ours. Everything has to be done in double-quick time before school starts next week.
I must say the kitchen cabinets are pretty much filled up with groceries and utensils already. Think Giva took up the most space! So, poor Anastasia’s got to find her space in the kitchen. Speaking of Giva, he’s moved his kitchen from North London to our kitchen. There is a huge container of different spices, a mortar bowl and pound (is that what you call it?) and even a wok-like thing which is about 35-40 cm in diameter. No kidding.
25th September
Of Loos and Lifts
Both are a rare sight in London.
I drink a lot of water and consequently, I visit the loo often too. I do not understand why loos are so difficult to find in London. I was in Greenwich the other day. In an area about the size of SP, there are no more than four toilets. Half the time when I was there, I was looking for a toilet. The walking made me thirsty and I drank more. The more I drank, the more I wanted to visit the toilet. Why are there so few toilets? To save costs?
In the end, the only parts which I remember of Greenwich are those roads leading to the toilet. Think I’m going back there again. It’s just a 10min ride from my place.
The same goes for my school. Toilets are just difficult to find. And when I do manage to find one, it’s crowded. In the library, the people at Goldsmiths even try to camouflage the toilet! The doors are white, like the wall. There isn’t a door frame. The door panel is in line with wall. It is something like a bank vault except for a small handle. If you walked past it quickly and you did not see image of a lady on the door, you would miss the toilet, which I did for the first time.
Most toilet cubicles have no hooks behind the doors. However, at the same time, most toilets are clean and dry too. So, most people would out their bags on the floor, something quite unthinkable in Singapore. And not only is the floor clean, the area around the sink too. Perhaps, the cleaners are more hardworking. Perhaps, Londoners wash their hands differently?!
Tried to explore Central London via the tube today. Aside from the mental fatigue of figuring out the shortest way to connect from one line to another, there was the physical tiredness of climbing up and down stairs. The lazy bone in me was looking out for escalators and lifts. Nowhere in sight. So, I just climbed up and down, went past platforms, walked through tunnel-like walkways, looking for the correct connecting platform. I could not remember which station it was now (think it’s Waterloo), but there was this long travellator which spanned for at least 100m. I was so glad to see it and I just plonked my bag in front of me and looked at the people on the travellator on the other side which was going the opposite way. Who would walk when something moves you along? Well, it appeared that apart from a man who was reading a book, I was the only one who stood still. Everybody walked!
So, old people are more resilient here because even though they have trouble walking, the plod and trudge along to find their platform. Parents with kids in strollers are fitter because when they are at the bottom/top of the stairs, they CARRY the stroller (with the kid). I felt tired and at the same time, I felt a little useless too. Realised that I have indeed taken things for granted in Singapore. But will I still climb up stairs if there was a lift? Are you kidding?
posted by changzee at
5:27 PM
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