Have you seen this?

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 22nd Nov, '12, 09:50

Singapore is world's least emotional country

Hmmm....

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 22nd Nov, '12, 11:10

You know, there's a skinny old man in my block, all bones and sinewy muscles, a Chinese gent who walks around the void deck in singlet, shorts and slippers. He's seen me for 4 years now, I'm kinda hard to miss, and every time he just glares at me with a completely expressionless face. I've held the door open for him, smiled, said Hello Uncle, etc, but every time there's not a twitch of recognition or any kind of emotion on his face, not a word uttered in return. So I just left him alone. And then one day I was in a hurry, I passed him on the pavement and looked up in time to give him just the slightest nod in passing. You know when you jerk your head back to acknowledge someone? And sure enough, he did it back to me. I almost tripped over myself from the attention. From a silent man it was as if he'd spoken out loud. And it's funny, now, every time I see this man, he nods at me. He's still silent and expressionless. Just a nod. It makes me laugh and laugh to think of this old man. I appreciate him.

In my personal experience in Singapore people are not unemotional, but I'll admit my close friends (and the people I tend to gravitate towards) are employed in creative industries and have, for the most part, bucked the system. I actually know very few "typical" Singaporeans. But if you ask me, it all comes down to overwork, from school to careers to caring for too many generations at once.

Addadude · Post by **Addadude** » 22nd Nov, '12, 11:48

Like Lily, the people I associate and work with are in the creative industry and there is certainly no shortage of emotion in our working lives. Sometimes too much of it. But then passion is a requisite to be even remotely good at this line of work. On the other hand, I have ex-colleagues who moved over to the client-side and everyone of them complained about how dull and emotionless their new working environments were by comparison.

Pinklepurr · Post by **Pinklepurr** » 22nd Nov, '12, 14:07

I read that article yesterday and lots of it rang true. I had/have quite a few friends on the overworked and not so happy side of life, office workers who just seem to work long hours and not get a lot back except expectations to work more. Students who were studying to go to work in jobs they didn't really want to go to, something that always seemed a bit odd to me.

Lily I love your story of your little old man...I can just picture him, and his nod, from that description.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 22nd Nov, '12, 15:10

Pinklepurr wrote:Students who were studying to go to work in jobs they didn't really want to go to, something that always seemed a bit odd to me.

Oh, boy, did I meet more than a few of those this year. It still seems to be a big part of the culture for kids to go into fields of study and work according to their parents' wishes rather than their own. To be fair, though, I also met students who were being encouraged by their parents to pursue their own dreams, etc. rather than what their parents want them to do, so perhaps the tide is slowly turning.

Pinklepurr · Post by **Pinklepurr** » 22nd Nov, '12, 15:58

That's good to hear Slinks, I know a couple who are doing that but their friends all seem to be on the other path. Maybe the numbers will increase .

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 22nd Nov, '12, 19:58

60% in the Philippines? Not bloody surprising! Every little thing becomes a huge drama to them.

T2K · Post by **T2K** » 23rd Nov, '12, 23:46

Singaporeans (and some other Asian nationalities) seem very emotional while driving. They express themselves freely and often with their car horns. That must count for something?

BoD · Post by **BoD** » 24th Nov, '12, 04:31

Is this like the survey that concluded that Singaporeans were fast walkers?

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 24th Nov, '12, 08:17

T2K wrote:Singaporeans (and some other Asian nationalities) seem very emotional while driving. They express themselves freely and often with their car horns. That must count for something?

Strange. I find the use of horns in other Asian countries more of a way telling others that the car is there. Instances could include:

- I'm about to over take you
- I'm a taxi driver, my cab is free, you are a white person, and, never minding the 20 cabs that have already gone past and honked, then I thought I'd do the same, as you never know, you may pick me. And I know somewhere that you can buy a suit. And some jewellery. And there's this place that if I take you and you sit and listen for 60 mins I get a commission. Surely you want to do all that on your holiday.

Yup, one horn can mean so much. But not much of it is an emotion: they do it to the very next white person they see down the road!

daffodil · Post by **daffodil** » 24th Nov, '12, 09:34

I've become immune to the horn living in Manila!!

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 24th Nov, '12, 10:02

T2K wrote:Singaporeans (and some other Asian nationalities) seem very emotional while driving. They express themselves freely and often with their car horns. That must count for something?

Like FB, I'm not always sure horn use here or elsewhere in Asia has much emotion attached to it. Now, when I use my horn there is almost always emotion attached to it

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