A Snarky Post About Singaporeans

I’ve been to Singapore twice. On both trips I felt like I was in an Orwell novel. On my ride in from the airport I noticed all the cars went exactly 100km/h. Not 99 and most certainly not 101. None of the flowering plants next to the freeway held a dead blossom. The city center is connected by a web of underground shopping malls. You could eat off the floors.

My most recent experience with Singaporean culture began yesterday. We were providing logistical support for a cultural exchange carnival between Singaporean collage students and Thai grade schoolers.

The Singaporean contingent danced to American and quasi-Hindi music. They also gave Thai students a taste of The Big White Rabbit, their ‘local’ candy. It just happened to come from China.

Although amusing, this actually makes sense. Singapore is a nation of immigrants mostly from China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. So some traditions from the Old Country are inevitable. Still, most of its ethnicities seem to agree on having an exacting set of rules for just about everything.

We all played sports after lunch. First was a simple game of tug-of-war. On the Singaporean (and my) team it involved placing your center of gravity just so, and pulling in unison according to a number system. The Thais just pulled. Final result? Thai school-children 3-1.

I also managed to scratch my ankle during one of the games.  My usual course of treatment in such a case is to simply ignore the problem. The university students insisted on administering proper first-aid. This included washing the cut in saline solution, applying salve and wrapping my entire foot in gauze.

It’s not that I’m complaining. I’ve never had a scratch so well tended to in my life. But it does make a cultural point. In all of my travels I’ve never encountered a more protocol-oriented nation than Singapore.

But sometimes that’s their best trait. Today another Singaporean group arrived. We visited a village; while joking all the while they immediately tackled the problem of how to market the community’s reed mats with clarity and focus. Thanks to them I have an idea for what to do during this internship.

Although I may joke about the occasional excess in protocol, It’s what works for them. And even though it may be with a bemused smile from time to time, they’re the group I’d most like to work with.