Will Singaporeans ever learn how to be gracious? Or is it just us Chinese?

I attended Chingay over the weekend but I did not have the luxury to see it from the comfort of the Padang seats. Instead, I stood outside Singapore Recreation Club. Whatever the case, it was my first "LIVE" Chingay for 32 years. The performance was quite lively with the participants and the spectators in a chirpy and festive mood. However, it just takes one incident to ruin the good image of Singapore as a Metropolitan city, rich in culture and pride for its tourism.

However, I noticed a commotion between 2 Chinese ladies (middle-aged and an elderly) and an Eurasian couple, who looked like tourists. The following video shows one of the scenes of the commotion.



Anyway, my take from this incident is that we, as Singaporeans, live in a hustle and bustle environment and we have that "Kia-su" and "Kia-si" mentality that has become our uniqueness as Singaporeans. In a good way, it shows our competitiveness. Chinese are known for their competitiveness and will often go the extra mile to get what they want or accomplish what they should. Make no mistake in this instance, this jostling for space or position clearly showed the ugly side of our society. In fact, it has tarnished our image severely as a warm and friendly nation, welcoming to foreign investors and visitors. Don't forget, we do rely on them to a large extent.

Are we going to rely on our ambassadors to our nation to uphold the good conduct to foreigners? On hindsight, we are all ambassadors for our nation and we must do our part to uphold our graciousness (if we ever had any). It is a tall order, esp I have seen worse during Chinese New Year eve @ Chinatown, where even younger folk disregarded elderly ones, brushing them away at the stalls just to get their own way.

Is it a problem of our upbringing? I beg to differ anyway. We can be competitive in our work but we can always be gracious in our dealings with other people. Perhaps, we should bring back the annual Courtesy campaign of the 80s as a first step to make Singaporeans more courteous and gracious.