A rant.
written: 11:12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009

c0fe5510n
November 26, 2009 Thursday, 05:45 PM
Owned by the Chinese kids... shame on you Singaporeans.

Don't assume that China-born (now citizens or PR) cannot speak English. You are so shallow. Get a life and spend more time teaching your kids instead of whining about the Chinese.

If you think I am being arrogant, let's see a Singaporean kid top Havard, Cambridge or maybe Shanghai Putong University. Then we are talking. Until then, you can complain that your population is small and the pool of people is small... just keep making excuses, and entertain the world with your laughable attitude while the foreign kids with real drive and hunger strip yours from all scholarships.

The difference is, they came, they had a hunger, they worked hard, and they save precious time from whining.

If there is still some sense (and hopefully some pride) left in Singaporeans, maybe it is time to teach your kids the right values instead of whining about others and eating sour grapes...

Well done, little girl. You have help prove a point.

I don't think this fella can be a good judge of what "English" really is if his grammar is THAT tragic.

That aside, this comment seriously pissed me off because of the blatant insinuation that ALL China kids are hardworking and ALL Singaporeans are lazy, unmotivated, good-for-nothing bums. Even if the implication isn't so extreme, it is still a highly insulting generalisation that is utterly nonsensical. One China kid topping the PSLE doesn't mean that all that come here to study will achieve the same results or put in the same amount of effort; conversely, it doesn't discount what the other top students have achieved.

This also particularly antagonised me because I'm really sick and tired of all these China people coming to my fucking country and messing with the population balance. Something is wrong if I hear a Chinese accent at least ONCE every time I step out of the house. Like Tris said, on what basis are we granting these people citizenship? If there is no citizenship test, why the hell should I be proud to be Singaporean? Clearly it's not something that I should value if it can be given away so easily, without any standards, without at least a basic test to validate the citizenship. Is it free to be Singaporean? Is it so fucking cheap to carry the passport and the NRIC of this country? I feel damn insulted as a Singaporean who has no intention to change her citizenship. Now I'm wondering what the hell it is that I hold on to.

I strongly believe that NO ONE should be granted Singaporean citizenship if he can't speak English. And it has to be English that the average Singaporean can understand. It's utterly ridiculous to find service staff here who can't fucking speak English - we are not China. We are Singapore. We are not a homogenous society; this country is founded on the premise that we are multi-racial, and every race freaking COUNTS. No one is superior to the other. Even if this may not be the case in practice, in theory, it is absolutely the case - it is reflected in the pledge.

So if that is the case, why then should non-Chinese Singaporeans be expected to accommodate this influx of Chinese people who can't fucking communicate with the rest of the country? It's utterly ridiculous and it goes against the very grain of our society. This PSLE girl is the exception to the rule; for every one of her, there are at least ten of the others. There are so many of the others that my joke that Singapore is Mini China might actually become true one day.

At this juncture one wonders what the non-Chinese government people are doing, but I guess you can't really blame them since the ruling party is mainly Chinese.

And this whole pitting Singaporeans' work ethics against the Chinese? I apologise if this sounds flippant - it probably is, but it's also the truth. Am I supposed to fucking apologise for the fact that I have a comfortable life? Am I supposed to apologise for the fact that Singapore has given me more comfort and security than pretty much the rest of the world? Is it my fault that China doesn't have the same opportunities and circumstances that Singapore has? And this really begs the question: If you can succeed in Singapore by working hard, why can't you do the same in your own damn country? Because, really, since when is it my problem that China is so big and Singapore is so small and therefore to succeed you have to come to my country?

Don't get me wrong - I'm not speaking up for the really lazy and spoiled idiots of this country who rest on their laurels and live off the success of this country, who don't give a shit about anything but superficial nonsense, who blame everyone but themselves for their failures, who fail and fail and STILL don't do anything about it, who only know how to complain. There are a lot of such people in this country, that is true.

But then again, there are such people everywhere, period. Perhaps the problem is more prevalent and easily-felt here because we've been led by the hand by the government for so long - our whole lives, really - that the most basic reaction to any setback is to blame the government. That is a stupid attitude, to be sure; to be sure, I'm not condoning it.

What I'm shit-pissed about, though, is this sense that Singaporeans are lazy compared to PRCs. What fucking nonsense is that? The people that do well don't just sit on their asses and wait for things to happen; they go out and do it. The people that come from poorer backgrounds and still do well also don't just sit around all day long and wait for something good to happen; they go out and do it. Just because they're not topping the stupid PSLE - seriously, having lived 23 years, all I can say is the PSLE is SO unimportant in the grand scheme of things - doesn't mean they're not working hard for their lot; it doesn't mean they're less motivated.

You can say that there is a fraction of Singaporeans that are lazy and complacent, because it's true and I think they need to stop complaining and start doing things for themselves. But don't make some stupid blanket generalisation about the supposed shit work ethics of Singaporeans, ESPECIALLY if it's made in relation to the PRCs, because that SERIOUSLY pisses me off.

*

You know, it's kind of funny that I'm saying all this. I'm not the most nationalistic person around and I'm not even sure if I can say with confidence that I'd spend the rest of my twilight years in this country.

But despite all my Singapore sucks diatribe, I don't think I've ever once seriously considered switching nationalities. For one, I find it highly artificial and therefore pointless - you can carry a British passport, but the truth of the matter is, your sentimentality will always lie with Singapore. This is why it pisses me off that citizenship is given away so easily, as though it were free; it can't be free because it's actually of value to me.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I'd ever renounce my citizenship. It'd be giving up a part of me that's so integral to who I am, it'd actually legitimately hurt - and I'm really not sentimental about such things at all.

SIGH. This is making me really annoyed. Moving on to happier matters.

*

TENNIS!

Roger's currently playing his SF with Davydenko. Not getting it on 21 or 22 'cause apparently some Hull match is more important than the GOAT of tennis. (Seriously - WHO. THE. FUCKING. HELL. IN. SINGAPORE. SUPPORTS. HULL?)

Anyway, I'm following the live scores from the ATP website and when I saw that the score was 3-1 to Davy in the first set, I felt like a part of me died. It ended at 6-2 to Davy; I felt really sad.

When I saw that the second set ended 6-4 to Roger, I literally heaved a sigh of relief and felt palpably more relaxed.

Damn, his matches still have an effect on me.

Playing deciding set now. On serve. I'm gonna die. I'm so nervous.

OMG ROGER PLEASE WIN PLEEEEEASE.

*

Wei Chuen's in KL for the weekend. I am very sad.

*

In other tennis news, I had quite a good one this morning with NUS Wall Guy. I think getting 30 minutes more sleep helped a lot. Hit some nice backhand x-court. And um, actual VOLLEYS. Hit a nice drop volley that I was quite proud of. Yay.

It was quite tragic at the end though, when he started counting points. I find that when I'm really anxious to win a point, I'd just fuck it up completely. The more I want to win, the more likely it is that I'd do some crap thing and lose it. Towards the end of the final round, when I had 5 points and he had like 7 or something, I missed like 5 shots in a row. One of them was a fucking easy backhand that I could've put away with ease if I'd just stopped to calm myself down and not get overly excited.

I'm also quite a competitive person; I always want to be better than you (unless it's patently obvious I'm not). It gets worse when it's an actual competition. So for the first time in a damn long time - months, even - I started yelling and making noise whenever I missed a shot.

It was very epic fail. I was very sad.

*

Need to go back to Roger's match.

Oh yeah I need to study for Conveyancing.

It's so ass-boring though.

*

OMG 0-15 on Davy's serve, 4-5 to Davy. OMG ROGER BREAK AND WIN!!!

0-30. LOVE THIRTY. HE HAS HALF A CHANCE.

OMG SHIT 15-30 NOOOOOOOOOO. I WANNA SEE 15-40 THE NEXT TIME I CHECK THE LIVE SCORES.

TWO POINTS AWAY FROM VICTORY. OMG OMG I'M SO SCARED I WANNA DIE. I WISH I COULD WATCH THIS DAMMIT.

OH FUCK IT'S 30-ALL NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

FUCK FUCK FUCK WHY WHY WHY WHY THE HELL IS IT 5-5. FUCK FUCK NOOOOO. I HATE THIS I HATE THIS. NOW ROGER HAS TO HOLD SERVE ALL OVER AGAIN AND HE HASN'T BEEN GOOD AT THAT LATELY. DAMMIT I HATE THIS TOURNAMENT. TOO MANY HEART ATTACKS. LIKE NOW.

Okay screw this, I'm gonna shower now.

*

OK who am I kidding. I can't leave my stupid laptop.

OMG 40-30. Game point Fed. STOP MAKING ME DIE PLEASE. HURRY UP HOLD SERVE AND BREAK HIM DAMMIT.

OMG DEUCE I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS OMG OMG OMG I HATE THIS.

OMG ADVANTAGE DAVY NO NO NO NO NO THIS IS KILLING ME I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE THIS.

OMG NO GOT BROKEN.

I'M SERIOUSLY GOING TO CRY. IT'S OVER. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S LOSING TO DAVY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 13 MEETINGS. OMG. WHAT'S HAPPENING.

HOPE HE'S FIGHTING FOR THIS WITH HIS LIFE. 30-ALL. PLEASE OMG BREAK BACK. I CAN'T TAKE HIM LOSING TO DAVYDENKO.

OMG HE HAS BREAK POINT. PLEASE DON'T SQUANDER THIS. HE CAN'T FREAKING LOSE.

OMG I WANT A TIE BREAK NOW. FUCKING HELL BREAK BACK!!!!!

SHIT. DEUCE. FUCK.

OMG NO DAVY HAS MATCH POINT. NO FUCKING HELL NO.

OH SHIT IT'S OVER. HE LOST.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS. I CANNOT BLOODY BELIEVE THIS. I CANNOT BELIEVE I CAN'T WATCH THIS DAMN MATCH. FUCKING HELL. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS.

HE JUST LOST TO DAVYDENKO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. OH MY GOD.

I WANNA CRY NOW.

OFFICIALLY ROOTING FOR ROBIN SODERLING NOW.

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010