A Singaporean Chinese person on Malaysia.

Yesterday, I had an encounter that is fairly typical of the talk one hears about Malaysia, from Singaporeans. I was struck, however, by the certainty of her views, which made me think them fit for remark, here.

I was in KL airport, waiting for a delayed Jetstar Asia flight to Singapore. It had been supposedly delayed by an hour and a half, but in fact, the delay turned out to be even longer (almost two hours).

Sitting next to us, in the boarding lounge, at KLIA airport, was a Singaporean Chinese woman. Her manner, accent, appearance and expressed views all identified her, immediately, in this manner. She was in a talkative mood, one largely provoked by her irritation at being delayed.

"I will never take a budget airline, again...", she began, her lips curling dismissively.

Before we could comment, she continued: "Jetstar is my first time...but never again will I fly budget."

"We have found AirAsia to be quite good, so far.", I interjected.

She looked at me blankly, as if she did not know what to say to something that countered her world view.

"You know, Jetstar is Malaysian.", she said, her stress on the final word, as if she spoke of something truly disgusting. Her tongue could barely bring itself to say the word, and her face was an image of revulsion. I was, actually, rather offended by her tone, by her expression and by her clearly evident beliefs. I was offended, on behalf of Malaysians, as anyone of humanity, would be on behalf of any people, so disregarded.

Now, I didn't know if Jetstar was Malaysian or not, so I couldn't comment and so remained silent. She, however, did not.

"I have travelled on Malaysian Airlines several times...and they were ALWAYS late." She shook her head, her lips curling downwards, a vision of one unimpressed.

I thought it odd, that she should think so, since I, too, had travelled on Malaysia Airlines, several times and never had any problems at all. I said, nothing, however, because, in fact, I was curious as to how far she would go, in her rant.

She leant forward then, as if to confide something of the utmost significance: "The Malaysians have NO system." She sat back, then, as if I should be shocked at the idea that a nation might not be as systematic (read "robotic") as Singapore is.

Now, my wife is Malay - and so, of course, could easily be Malaysian. This Singaporean Chinese woman's friend looked across at my wife, sitting silently beside me - and nudged her friend, with a glance to my wife. The thought was clear: "She might be Malaysian....shut up!"

The nudge brought the rant to an end, but I was glad to have heard it. It was most instructive as to what goes through the mind of quite a few Singaporeans. The reflexive thought is that all that is Malaysian is "bad" and all that is Singaporean is "good". There is also a tendency to blame Malaysia for things it is not responsible for. You see, there is one big problem with the core of this woman's rant against Malaysia: Jetstar Asia is not Malaysian, at all - it is Vietnamese. The Malaysians are not responsible at all, for this woman's flight delay. However, I will say one thing: she was right in thinking that Jetstar Asia are rubbish...it is undoubtedly the worst airline I have personally travelled on. The problem is, she is blaming the wrong nation.

Jetstar Asia is based in Ho Chi Minh city and is 42.5% owned by Quantas, the Australian Airline. However, that is where the resemblance to Quantas ends: Jetstar is a truly awful airline...but more of that in another post. What interested me, more, about this encounter, was that this Singaporean Chinese woman should have been so certain of her anti-Malaysian views. She truly believed that Malaysia was a terrible place and that Singapore was inherently superior. I found this odd, since my experience of both places does not place Singapore above Malaysia in the overall picture. Yes, Singapore is more glossy, but I don't think that, as a whole, it offers anywhere near as much as Malaysia does in terms of variety, potential ways of life or experiences. It is, in fact, a much bigger, more diverse nation than Singapore. It interests me, therefore, that so many Singaporeans have this reflexive superiority concerning their neighbour...it would, in fact, be funny, were it not, in fact, racist, at its core.

Two pieces of advice: don't fly Jetstar...and don't believe Singaporeans who badmouth Malaysia, without checking the place out, yourself, first. Start with Kuala Lumpur.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The urgings of Singaporeans.

It is very interesting the way a people react, when an outsider holds a mirror up for them to peer into. I do this, daily, for Singapore. However, it is abundantly clear that many Singaporeans don't appreciate being shown their own reflection. They have a typical reaction to it. Each and every poster, from Singapore, who has commented on my tendency to comment on Singapore in a truthful manner tells me one thing: leave.

I find this very interesting. The universal response of Singaporeans to anyone who writes in the least bit critically, or honestly, or openly, is to ask them to leave Singapore. Not one of them has said anything along the lines of "We find your viewpoint eye-opening, however it might be difficult to admit, so please hang around and comment some more...". No. What they always say is: go away.

What I find most interesting about this tendency of theirs to urge the messenger to depart, is that they never actually look at the validity or content of the message itself. They never seem to consider whether, in fact, the point being made is true or not. All they seem to be able to see is that the comment is not a COMPLIMENT...and then they react negatively. In Singapore, there is freedom of speech, as long as you only say wonderful things about the way things are. The moment you actually speak the TRUTH...everyone gets unhappy about it. I find this most amusing. It is land that not only lives in denial, but rejects those who are not in denial along with them.

It is not just on the question of critical comment that Singaporeans have urged us to leave. Only a small fraction of my posts are critical of Singapore (though it is telling to note that the Singaporeans who complain of them, write as if all the posts are critical...even though some are even complimentary). I am also urged to leave whenever I write of educational matters or tell of the lack of solid support we have received for our son's educational needs. Again, the response (this time in very aggressive words) is for us to be asked to leave.

Now, none of this would really matter. Except for one thing. You see, what I find most odd is that not one commenter, whether it be on my blog writings, or my educational writings, or the situation with respect to the education of our children, has ever asked us to stay. Not one Singaporean has ever suggested that we should stay on and enjoy the hospitality of their nation. Not one has extended a verbal welcome online...all of them are urgings to go elsewhere.

This is, I think, the most revealing aspect of the situation. You see, to my mind, the most valuable person in a society or an organization, is the person who is telling you what you don't want to hear. For that person, and perhaps that person ALONE, is the only one who is telling you the truth of things as they are. The ones who always tell you what you want to hear, are lying to you. They are the "yes" men, who will never let you see things as they are. Yet, in Singapore, the truth tellers are asked to leave and the yes men are urged to stay. We have never been in the category of "yes men" and so have never been offered any real kind of welcome, on an ongoing basis.

Singapore is a country that doesn't know who to value. The ones they embrace tend not to be ones who can offer anything new or substantial to the country (just think of all the "top guys", here, who seem not to have a single idea of their own, as far as I can determine); whereas the ones they wish elsewhere are actually the ones who have something novel to offer. No doubt this is largely due to the fact that Singapore is a nation built on conformity: it is a case of the bland leading the bland. Anyone with any real spark of originality or character, or insight, in such a framework, is really, really unwelcome.

Some Singaporeans wish we would leave, because we challenge the way things are, in some ways. I tend to express my thoughts on the place - and we are trying to do something non-standard in the way of educating our children. These two characteristics do not endear us to those who like their city to be a place without change; a place in which no one challenges the way things are, in any way, at any time.

The funny thing is that what I am doing is very mild. I am doing nothing more than trying to meet the educational needs of my children - and speaking my mind on what I observe happening in Singapore. In most societies, these activities would be regarded as SO inoffensive that no-one would mind in the least. In fact, they would probably welcome the stimulus of the conversations that result. In Singapore, however, to comment freely is regarded as unacceptable; to wish to educate one's children in a non-standard way, is also not to be tolerated. The problem, therefore, is not with what I am doing or saying - but with the way Singaporeans are: they just do not have much tolerance for outside views or ways different to their own. There is only one way to do things: the Singaporean way. Anything else, is to be asked "to leave".

This is darkly amusing. You see, if a nation's people are so intolerant of outside perspectives or new ways of trying to do things, then that nation is on a path to extinction. Nowhere that is not open to outsiders, open to change, open to review and feedback, is going to develop in a healthy way, in the modern world. It is going to fail.

So, please, by all means ask all who give Singapore feedback, to leave. Please, by all means, ask all who challenge the educational system, to depart. In the end, it is Singapore that shall lose by its closed-mindedness.

P.S: I am writing this post in response to yet another commenter who has asked me to leave Singapore. He is doing so because I wrote negatively of Singapore's electricians and entertainment industry! A more rational response would be to regulate both industries to eliminate the problems revealed...but no, the Singaporean approach is get rid of the critic, not to address the problem! (You see it is quicker and easier to silence a critic, than to solve a problem. If no-one is left to speak about a problem, Singaporeans think it is equivalent to solving the problem, because no-one is speaking about it anymore. Great stuff.)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The message and the messenger.

In Singapore it is not just the message that counts, but the messenger, too. Whether or not a viewpoint is accepted or criticized seems to depend on who the messenger is.

I have been an observer of Singapore's blogosphere for a couple of years, now - and an observer of Singapore since 1999. Thus, I have had time to accumulate impressions about the nature of discourse here. Well, I have noticed something. Sometimes, a viewpoint which, if expressed by a Singaporean, would be endorsed and supported by other Singaporeans, is attacked, by Singaporeans, if expressed by an outsider. I find this strange. It seems that the messenger is more important than the message, here.

I have seen opinions and arguments presented by outsiders, which are very similar to opinions expressed by Singaporean commentators - yet, the outsiders views are roundly attacked by a number of Singaporeans, whereas, when a Singaporean writes the very same views they find support from other Singaporeans, who voice like views and experiences.

My conclusion from this is that a subset of Singaporeans don't like outsiders to comment on Singapore - even if those comments are the very same ones that a local person would make, in the same circumstances. There seems to be an undercurrent that if you are not born and bred in Singapore, then you are not allowed to voice your thoughts on it.

I am not saying that all Singaporeans think this way (indeed I have seen some Singaporeans speak out in support of the outsider's right to comment - and noting the similarity of their comments to locals') - but it is clear that some do.

I think this is a pity. If the views of outsiders are not welcomed, then Singapore can only be impoverished by this exclusion. Whereas an outsider might come to the same view as a local, sometimes they will see something that locals have overlooked, for the lack of certain comparative experiences and understandings. It is this fact which means that, far from being closed to the viewpoints of outsiders, that Singaporeans should be particularly OPEN to their viewpoints, in the hope of coming to understand something in a different way, and from a different perspective.

Singapore is still not fully at home with the presence of foreigners in its midst. Some Singaporeans have accepted them, befriended them, even married them - but others still think that foreign means "unwelcome" and feel that they should be excluded - their ideas included.

A message should be considered, irrespective of the messenger. It should not be rejected just because of the colour of skin, religious views, or other quality of the messenger. The message, alone, should be taken on board. Yet, still, in Singapore the question appears to be, for some: "Who is saying that?"

As I have observed this phenomenon, I have, at times, thought that perhaps I should not write my thoughts on Singapore anymore. I have wondered whether it is worth making the effort to communicate my understanding of what I see, when some will reject it simply because I am a white foreigner, rather than evaluating the thoughts on their own merits. Yet, still I have continued to write. I feel that I should continue for those who are open, and not be silenced by those who are not.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)