The first response I received when I repost this on my FB was from my American friend.
"Thank God this pinhead isn't an American. I was worried for a moment that an "Ugly American" was going to taint the rest of us. Sounds like a he is a Brit, but one that has enjoyed the benefits of living in Singapore for too long and has forgotten reality."
My response to him was that in general, the Americans residing in Sg that I am acquainted with are relatively a PC lot. They may be loud-volume (even when sober) but they dont generally pass such irresponsible statements. Sure, there are one or two condescending pricks here and there but that's at a personal level and most people left it as that.
This Mr Anton Casey's (itchy fingers) comments took a life of its own (via many other papers as well such as Guardian)because it was so callous and uncalled for, and at a time where the fury against (excessive) foreigners is at its height. To start off, no one was targeting at his nor his family. This chap just woke up one day, took issue with the fact that his fancy car "Mr Porsche" had to go to the workshop and decided to post his disdain and fairly low opinion of the commuters in a public media.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=702504856461351
These are exactly the sort of twats that gives expat spouses of Singaporean a bad name. My man's first response when he read this was "What a prick. What's his problem?" (I guess my man and I belong to the Poor category since we had never owned a car in Sg). As to why people as such couldnt express their bigoted views behind closed doors instead of posting such irrelevant antagonistic posts publicly is beyond basic comprehension. I say behind close doors because from experience, these people dont form such nasty character over night. They are already rotten. He was either born or bred into a prick, and so nothing will change that. He probably is someone who makes nasty comments all the time behind close doors or during private sessions but as to why he decided to post something as unfunny and followup with belligerent video is something I have yet to work out why. Then again, I must presume here that his olfactory receptors are probably so high up his arse that probably explains the "stench" he smells all the time around other people, thinking it was others when it was just him and his "potty" mouth..
Someone in his FB crowd must be really offended to leak his un-PC post to TRS since it wasnt a public post. I looked around some of my friends post who happened to work in HSBC and could only surmised that this chap appears to be strikingly repulsive from Day 1. My friend who was his excolleague in HSBC indicated that Mr Anton Casey always had that "Colonial Master Syndrome" as well. That's all him period. As such his postings came as no surprise to people who are acquainted with this unfortunate being. (apparently even from his grammar school days back in UK).
As someone in UK commented, that's what you get when you go around poking a hornet's nest and ended up in hospital. Do you deserve it, depending, but did you have it coming. A definite YES. So dont blame us or the media for hanging you out to dry. You incurred the wrath of the people not because it was injustice done to you but it was solicited, indirectly.
What I do find unfortunate though, is his decision to drag his son into this whole mess that he dug for himself. Regardless if his son is an equally smug little being due to undesirable parental non-role model, he still shouldnt have subjected his kid into the public eye. I suppose he thought it would "funny" coming from the "mouth" of a kid than a full grown adult, hence lessening the barb sting of his unwarranted comments and followup taunt?
It's unfortunate that other expats who are happy to integrate with locals will be tarred with the same brush stroke by people who dont know them. It will be a stigma with the "selective thinking" group that ALL well off foreigners are arseholes. I already have expat friends who shared their bad experience of being thrown things, verbally abused at (by stupid young adults who probably have too much time on hand which is of their own doing) when they finished dinner at hawker centers.
When I was reading the comments about this chap, I was dismayed at some of the accusations throw up. Do people not "think" anymore when they type their comment?
Firstly. Those torrid swear words that were so hurtful to the eyes...
Seriously people, can you express your anger in a less vulgar, hateful form? I get your anger. I'm pissed even when I'm not residing in Sg now. Yet, can we be more civilized with our "words". All the CB, KNN etc etc and indignant bashing of other "negative" comments based on their own unfortunate experience are really unwarranted (and these people have left for their greener pastures). When have we become so closed minded that we cannot seem to accept that there will always be other nationalities who had bad experience in Sg? Though I draw the line between personal lamenting and ranting, vs this unprovoked scanting insult of EVERY Singaporean incident.
If you have time, go read the Guardian page and the comments section (link above), LOTSA of Brtions disagreed with his actions and yet they were able to mock him succinctly and in a more humorous manner without getting too offensive. I learnt a new insult just from the page. Someone called him an "Odious Oik". Gotto Love it! Funny like hell but point made!
The message is clear though, many do not condone his actions. Isnt that the only message we are trying to get across to our foreign companions squeezing in our small island? What's up with the flood of horrid verbal abuse?
Secondly. All the "mockings" and ridicles about his son or his wife.
That gotto stop.
Stop giving him a chance to play victim here.
Adults, grow up. Take issue with his comments and make your case with sound arguments. All the ill comments about the kids doesnt say anything about the offender but rather it reflects alot about the sort of hotheaded person that you are, and you effectively nullify any thing u say to be worthless with such personal attacks. (Personal attack is defined as belittling others with name callings/ labelling / irrelevant swearings / making ungrounded baseless assumptions etc). Some people commented that because the twat drag his son into the foray so he was fair game. Really people? Really? You would stoop to the very level of the person u are condemning. In the first place, we already know this British imbecile's action is unwarranted, so rather than taking issue with what he said, you rather take issue with irrelevant fact that his son was in the picture or that his wife isnt interested in local men? It wasnt exactly that the offending words came out of the boy's or wife's mouth you know. The father "pretended" that it was his son who said that. So the arsehole is the dad, not the son. So why is it so hard to target your offence at the RIGHT person?
Thirdly, some people asked about "Why there is no vetting by the govt of such arrogant people?"
People, ANY COUNTRY when issuing work permits and PR, do not interview the chap to find out if he is an arsehole. What is relevant to the process is whether the candidate has relevant work expertise to bring over, and if his COMPANY vouch that he is an asset for the position, and the govt verifies that the applicant has no criminal records.
Being employees of any company, we know that every company has its fair share of arseholes that comes in all shape and sizes and gender and race, may it be local or foreign. Do companies NOT hire people because of rumor that the person is an arsehole? No. They hire people based on their qualifications and experience. Look at the "peanuts pay" guy with the golden tap with NKF, there are countries and companies who will still welcome such people. So will it be plausible that Singapore immigration be any different when they are in search of "talents"? Do company HR SACK arseholes just because of popularity votes of whether he is MR Nice? No. Dismissal often comes at the heel of illegal actions such as fraud, bribes or scandal that is detrimental to the company's public image, examples such as moments when their staff decide to threaten or endanger the poor renovation workers next door for too much noise, or when their fingers decide to grow a mind of their own and type horrible offending statements or confidential leaks.
Asking why the govt allow Mr Casey to work in Singapore is akin to asking Bernice Wong's parents as to why they agree to their daughter marrying a loud mouth bigot like Mr Casey. Irrelevant questions. Both the parents and the govt will tell you his wife vouch for him and he has done nothing to date to prove otherwise, maybe until now? What can the govt say if he ticks all the official boxes on the form? There is no character assessment in the process and there will never be one because its subjective. One cannot be sure it will never be a case of "I dont like your face". So we need quantifiable criterias to access potential PRs. It's the company that will do the character assessment with all those personalities tests and interview processes to weed out the undesirables that wont fit into the company culture. So if HSBC take him under their wing, what basis does the immigration has to to say no if the company is supposed to have done the necessary character reference and checks? So will people quit with the "Govt brings in such trash" broken speech. No, get your facts right. Dont just point your finger randomly if you want credibility in your statements. Be a voice of Reason, not Anger. The govt may have enabled the influx process but it's the COMPANIES that endorsed and brought them over, and no company will know how much an arsehole their staff is until they reveal themselves to be so. Plus I repeat, if they bring money to the firm, most HR dont care if they are twats in personal lives.
Anycase, I suppose this outrage and uproar stems from the fact that it is mouthed from a non Singaporean by birth. Would this play out differently if it was uttered by a Singaporean, say some K-pop contestant, Stephanie Koh with a lousy attitude and public persona?
Personally, I was more disgusted by Singaporeans like Ms Wee Shu Min ("Get out of my uncaring elite face") , or the TV portrayal of another 21yo belligerent Sg girl than this prick.
Anton Casey's a self loving fool and twat, I get it.
He doesnt like Sg but he just like the fact he can chase money here, I get it.
He's British and doesnt owe us allegiance, I get it.
He is what his society, his country and his parents made him to be, I get it.
However, what I dont get is a born and bred Singaporean slagging off her own countrymen on public media with a non apologetic attitude, with all the reasons that I dont concur.
(See her self righteous justifying video here)
http://youtu.be/ydANJ5qLHG4
No country is perfect, and no govt has the right bag of tricks to every situation.
No country has all the right purrrfect mix of citizens either. We all come with our set of nice and baddies.
Let's break down her "reasons" for slagging Singaporeans, which is even more offending than her "I'm not proud to be Singaporean" comment.
"Everybody" vs "Majority"
Firstly, she needs to go back to school and learn what "EVERBODY" means. You do not get to redefine "Everybody" as "Majority". Majority isnt even TRUE to begin with!
“Singaporeans are not nice people.”
I rolled my eyes when she made comparisons between Australia and Singapore, about greetings and asking if she is alright. Japan being the most courteous country in service, dont have its citizens greeting everyone esp strangers on the street either. Everyone loves going to Japan. Yet staying there is a different story. You dont have to love a country to be there either. So is Singapore. That's the difference between Asian and Western culture. Our societies have evolved differently and to use that social cultural difference to diss your own countryman as not nice is relatively shallow on her part. While living there, yeah sure they made small talks at counters, trust me, it isnt always sincere and its just to make their job less boring. If you asked me, I prefer the fast and furious efficiency check out in HK than in Sydney. The last time I was cursing under my breath when the cashier decided to chat on for good 5 mins when it should have been over in 30 secs and the rest of the lanes were closed being late night.
Singaporeans are not nice? At least its still relatively safe in comparison to Sydney on the streets. When I walk past clarke Quay, I dont have to worry about being accosted by drunks but in Sydney, I will NEVER walk along down Oxford street on a late sat nite given the same situation.
I had lived in Australia and I dont particularly like living there (which explains why I left instead of making comments about a place i dont fancy living in by choice), and neither do some of my fellow friends who have all moved back to Singapore one after and other after the work stint ( Finance, Medical, etc) , for various reasons of their own. Yeah sure, Australia is great in some ways but I definitely do not concur that service is better. I assume she has never been left waiting on the line for over an hour (with NO ONE ANSWERING) while calling Telstra customer hotline when the expensive internet network failed for no reason several times a month, despite paying the most expensive plan. Neither has she I supposed, bought all her own white goods and have delivery men dumping them at your doorsteps and expect you to someone carry the heavy washer etc to the laundry room yourself because as quoted "THAT"S not my job. My job is to deliver and thats your doorstep". I suppose she rented apartments or had the luxury of her parents setting up the place for her, hence never having to deal with much reality. And I suppose she is young and hot, so she enjoys her work at a bar. Good for her. Try working in a white collar job and you will see a different side of trying to meet your dateline from Asia and your Ozzie counterpart doesnt GIVE A SHIT because it's 4.30pm over their time and its almost time for happy hour down the bar at Oxford street or Darling harbour whatever. 3 hours ahead due to daylight savings difference? Oh sorry, NOT their problem. Urgent? Email me and I will get to it (maybe next day). Oh whatever, the sky isnt gonna fall. So young gal, dont talk as if you KNOW everything. Australia is great but it isnt perfect and has its own share of problems.
“Singaporeans are narrow minded.” where she brought up comparison of minmal wage in Oz and Sg.
As for minimal wage system, the verdict is not out yet if its the best course of measure in Singapore at the moment because of high inflation etc. It will be built into the system eventually I am sure but there is also a reason why it cannot be a shock therapy of change at one go. The minimal wage system works if all situation is status quo and ideal. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that we should do something about the wage gap and poverty in Singapore but what makes you little girl think so highly of your deduction when u are no economist? It's sooooooo easy to give a simplistic comparsion between wages of waitress in Oz and Sg isnt it. Any idiot can do that.
Let's give a picture that minimal wage is enforced. Do you seriously think that with padded increased in pay, then all problems are solved? No. With minimal wage increase across ALL industries in one go, ALL companies WILL increase price regardless esp those involved in labor intensive jobs, and with that comes price inflation overall. When prices increase, the rate of living again increases. When the cost of living increases again, the income gap vs disposable income possibly widens even more and no one can predict by how much.It could possibly be worse than current. So the very people we have set out to help will again be faced with the inevitable increased in cost and net or deficient in disposable income despite the pay increase. There is no magic forumla to calculate what is the "right amount" of increase in pay to make it work. However, with minimal wage increase in targeted sectors currently, I think the idea is sound but I'm not convinced by the execution. Seriously, $1000 basic pay is low. However, they need to start somewhere and to avoid a massive shakeout.
In HK, the minimal wage is enforced, and talking to HK SME owners, they found it a bane rather than boon. The pool of money that they used to reward and motivate the staff to work hard (to weed out lazy workers and reward the hardworking ones) is now part of the mandatory income. Rem, we are talking about SME here and not MNCs with a vault of cash behind them. There is disgruntle, and now change in morale because there is no incentive to work hard anymore because even lazy people has the same pay. You ask, "why not continue to reward the hardworking people" The question is, if you as owners want your price to stay competitive, raising the price too much to cover the difference will drive customers away and how will that generate more income to reward staff? It's a chicken and egg question.
As for those who complain about foreign staff in Singapore as waitress and cashier, again you have no idea how many waitress, cashier or kitchen job in Sydney has gone to foreigners from Europe and Filipinos as well. Don't believe me, go to Harries' Farm, or Wollies or Target. All the checkout and inventory staff are Filippino. Go to Darling Harbor or Oxford street, the restaurants are filled with foreign staff from Europe. Australia is going cheap, squeezing margins and cutting corners in many aspect BECAUSE of high labor cost. Even the well loved "Father of Australian cusine" Bilson restaurant had to fold because of cited "increased cost" as part of the reason. Australia has her set of pros and cons so little girl, stop making comparisons that you and I dont always have the full picture on. We are basing it on our own experiences but that is narrow view of you isnt it? The precise angst you have for your own fellowman is a depiction of the very trait you proclaim to despise.
“Singapreans are submissive.”
As for education, it's really what you made out of it. If your teacher tells you not to do something, ask why not. Did you? No? You just accepted it begrudgingly and held it against the WHOLE educational system because of your ONE single experience because you too, were too cowardly to speak out to question your teacher. So are you not also "part of the mould".
In my almost 2 decades of local education, I had many teachers who told me I shouldnt do certain things. When I was in primary school, I was chosen to be in the school choir but I had wanted to join brownies. I was literally BLOCKED by teacher's politics to ban me from brownies (and I was primary 5) because both activities were held on sat clashed and the teacher did not want to set a precedent of someone dropping out of competition winning choir. I didnt accept it and neither did I go crying to my parents. I merely engaged the teachers and made my views known till the music teacher backed down. She gave me a choice in the end. She explained to me the reasons, the pros and cons and left me to make my decision.
When I was in Secondary school, my AEP Brit art tutor saw my friends helping me glue the icecream sticks together and "warned" me that I was not allowed to gain any "external" help or I will be marked down. Again, I questioned his "warning" openly, asking him if he should marked down my classmate claywork since he had his hands all over the pottery he helped to shape and design. Why is his help acceptable when he actually "shaped" the pottery saving it from collapse, while my friends were merely doing the mundane work of gluing things I told them to do when the ideas, art directions, and gluing everything together was all mine? Again, I earned my apology from him for that (after 2 weeks of cold war) and it was never spoken of again. As for her point on "creative Tawainese Art teacher in International school" that her sister went to, I had experience with Taiwanese teacher in Singapore. This Taiwanese art teacher told me purple was a "bad color" for a isotonic drink-can design and again, I call her out on it. She was furious that I refused to change my purple silver colour choice for her "pastel" colour. Is that creative? Afterwhich, she forced us to participate in Sat calligraphy classes which was non essential and I objected. She claimed calligraphy will help in our "creativity" but I told her sorry, I beg to differ. Even after she complained to my class home tutor, my Irish born home tutor couldnt bring me to task because it was supposed to be voluntary basis with no grades involved. Plus, she too agreed that the argument that its "creative" is subjective. In the end, the Taiwanese art teacher left our school because she couldnt fit into the "liberal school system" and I graduated with distinction with my Art subject in O levels. Point is, just because its not Singaporean doesnt mean they are better and I didnt allow anyone to back me into a corner with no valid reasons that could appeal to me. In college, the new council tutor in charge banned "outdoor" orientation for freshies when it had been an 8 year tradition. Again, I objected and well "bickered/ reasoned" with him for a week. Finally he relented after we reached a compromise on safety issues etc. We had a good talk and in the end, while he still wasnt my fav tutor because he was "army" trained, yet we respected each other's view on things, without ever having to come to blows or display of bad attitude like saying stupid things "I'm not proud to be Singaporean".
So my point is, we all have our moments in school. It isnt the system that is at fault making who you are. You ARE who you make yourself to be. There will always be followers in schools who are happy to abide by the rules, there will be troublemakers for wrong reasons, and there will be people who dont back down in the face of wrong "directions" from authorities. I dont go around tarring or blaming every teacher to be boring, narrow minded, not think out of the box or the educational system based on my few experiences. I dont conform for the sake of conforming but neither do I carry an attitude that the rest are "losers" just because I dont agree with the majority. There will never be a one size fit all system, deal with it and that's when parents and peers come into the picture.
“Singaporeans are not creative.”
This is a bug bear for me. Why does she even need to go to "K-Pop" competition which she claimed to be conned into to reveal her "creativity" and talent? If she has true talent, look at the tons of You tube stars who actually ARE creative (definitely more creative than her boring videos) who actually made artistic music videos, sang with beautiful voice, team up with other local you tube talents, produced their own mini sell out concerts and produced their own CDs. All without having to join American idol or X factor etc and they are a sensational hit in You tube. THAT"S WHAT I CALL CREATIVE and TALENT> not people as the likes of you who claim to be talented and artistic but have produced nothing worthy to date. You bring to shame to all my musician friends who actually perform gigs in Sg and invited overseas. I'm sure you heard of GSE (the great spy experiement), a local band that brought their music to as far as New York, Perth Cannes etc. These are not creative talented Singaporeans???????
How about Chinese Music Arena such as lyricists or composers such as "Liang Wenfu" (Wiki) and Li SiSong, SiWei (think Stephanie Sun), where these people have produced HITS for famous singers such as Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau etc. These people didnt need "COMPETITIONS" experience to make their talent known and THEY HAVE MADE SINGAPORE PROUD without a chip on their shoulder, nor being a media trash like you little girl.
My personal view.
The fact that she can talk so openly about her freedom of choice is simply, her family background allows her to be so. If her parents were poor, and she had no exposure to Australia school or system, will she still be so unapologetic? No. I can flat out tell you she will be leading a completely different life. I dont give a shit if she likes Singapore or wants to stay in Singapore, but I dont care for her attitude.In Sg we often say "rich so what? big fuck?" So I will say to her "21 and earning your own keep so what, big fuck?" No, it doesnt really bother me but what bothers me is the number of non thinking adults who seem to lap up everything she spews on that unworldly small minded video of hers.
Anycase, I stumbled across another funnier blog in response to this silly gal. Read if you have time.
http://toseekagreatperhaps.com/2014/01/16/why-i-am-not-proud-to-be-singaporean-from-a-foreigners-eye/
1 comment:
Agree with your points. And thanks for sharing my post :D
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