A sojourn to Kiasuland

It's natural for Malaysians to react negatively when conversations of our southern neighbour arises. The reasons for these negative reactions likely stem from their superior attitude, arrogance and selfishness. And of course, their "kiasu"ness. But that's a pretty harsh verdict to heap on an entire nation of people. Therefore, I would restate the above by saying that many, not all, have a tendency to be like that! :P

Personally, my dealings with them have been relatively pleasant but mostly, lacking in sincerity ~ notwithstanding all of the above. Interestingly enough, despite all these, I got along very well with one Singaporean friend. She is born and bred there although since graduation, she worked overseas for several years ~ a stint in China and another in Malaysia. I used to joke that her "stints" away from home have been character building ones and made her into the person she is today, muting all the negative traits without losing many of the positive traits of a Singaporean.

The other thing I do not like about Singapore is that I feel extremely suffocated in that concrete jungle. High rise buildings aplenty and very few "green" places available to get away from it all. Food is another issue as my first encounter many, many years ago, with the Singaporean sweet sauce wantan noodles there has scarred me for life. My memory of Singaporean food had always been that single plate of wantan noodles. *shivers*

However, a recent sojourn to Kiasuland has changed some of my less than flattering views of our southern neighbour. I was pleasantly surprised by their amateur theatre. It was pretty impressive and I had a ball of a time watching two plays at the cost of only Sgd 30. Over here, we have to pay at least RM50 for a play. Dollar to Ringgit comparison, it's far more worth watching the play in Singapore if I earned Singapore Dollars.

Next, the food. I thought I'd never live to see the day I'd say this. My friend took me to a fish head noodle soup hawker stall in Holland Village. It was delicious and far exceeded my expectations. Even the touristy Newton Circle offered some pretty good seafood dishes. And surprisingly enough, the cost of food in Singapore is much cheaper if I earned in Singapore Dollars.

Overall, the cost of living, other than the cost of condos, seems generally cheaper than in Malaysia. And even though Singaporeans pay a lot for their condos, the maintenance and services are a whole lot better. At the end of the day, the nett nett effect could be that we are better off purchasing a condo in Singapore!

What impressed me most on this trip is the national and public libraries! When the Singapore Government says they want to inculcate the reading habit, they go all out to ensure that the people gain easy access to the public libraries which are equipped with a wide variety of old and new books, CDs, VCDs and DVDs, which could be borrowed by members. Membership is cheap and easy to register. I think all it takes is a payment of Sgd 10 to be a member. Books, CDs, VCDs and DVDs are properly indexed and keyed into a central database that could be access via several computers in these libraries. And borrowers can borrow from one location and return at another as the entire computer system is linked between the national and public libraries. IMPRESSIVE!

I wonder if we could implement this in KL. Even as I say this, I also wonder if Malaysians have the honesty to return the borrowed books; seeing as how many refused to/ pretend to forget to repay the government study loans long after they have graduated and started working. The state of our libraries leaves much to be desired as well. I can't even remember the last time I walked into a public library. All I remembered was that many of the books in the public libraries were old and outdated.

As my soujourn to Singapore drew to a close, I can't help wondering that if I could start seeing Singapore in a better light now, perhaps my perspective of her people might eventually improve if I give them a chance.