Don't Malign Us

I was on my way to my fitness class at Somerset this evening when I spotted a tudung-clad lady walking into a wall. I later realised that she was feeling her way about with a walking stick. She was blind. I approached her and asked her where she was headed for and she told me that she was trying to get to the train station. I offered to walk her there even though I was going the opposite direction.

What really surprised me was when she asked if I was headed for the station. She was very considerate. I told her that I wasn’t but was happy to walk her there – it’s just across the road anyway. Unbeknownst to us, someone else lurking in the crowd was actually keeping an eye out for her as well. A young, bespectacled lady who couldn’t be more than 20 spoke up and said, “I am going towards that direction. Let me guide her there”. I felt an immense sense of pride then - the spirit of universal sisterhood. But it's more than that.

When we read the forum pages, when we hear our own countrymen and countrywomen speak about Singaporeans, they keep coining us as “ugly”. What’s so ugly about kindness that sprouts up when one least expects it? Case in point, in the middle of the ever-crowded streets of Orchard, there were two souls who readily came forward to help another fellow Singaporean – regardless of race or religion (we speak the same language). Yes, we don’t (I don’t at least) smile very much, but that doesn’t mean that there is no joy in our lives. I smile with my eyes, I enjoy feasting on the sights that I see when I take the bus, I spot specks and flashes of happy colours in the concrete jungle that I live in. And I am Singaporean.

I once heard a Caucasian lady in my dance class repeat after a fellow classmate, “On the fan la. That is so Singaporean”. I turned around to correct her by telling her that the said classmate’s Malaysian. My point being, I am Singaporean, I am proud of my education and the way that I was brought up to speak properly, in complete sentences.

Years ago, I worked under a Singaporean lady boss who used to wrinkle up her nose in mock disgust whilst telling our Aussie (Caucasian) client, “Singaporeans always drink warm water”. I promptly asked for a glass of warm water for myself at the F&B outlet. I see nothing wrong in drinking warm water. It soothes me.

The point I am trying to make is, we are all ambassadors of our firms, our alma maters, our associations. What’s wrong in making the effort to be ambassadors of our own country? I am not extremely patriotic but I refuse to let others brand us (brand me) unjustly.

Altruism does exist. Therefore, don’t malign (us) me!