LA 3rd draft

Brusqueness of Singaporean

The engines of the aeroplane cackled as it landed on a flat, firm platform. Tommy, 17, had arrived in Singapore. Still remember that everyone was so enthusiastic in the US airport but now, what Singapore awaited was a group of peaceful, quiet and sleepy foreigners. Tiredness was written on everyone’s faces. Permanent pin-dropped silence was broken by the speech of the pilot. All the high spirits possessed by the foreigners had lost together with all the fuel, Tommy was no exception. Tommy’s short trip to Singapore was to visit his friend, James, which had come to Singapore 3 long years ago.

It was 1am. He opened his heavy eyelids, and dragged himself slowly through the arrival hall. His body was like a jellyfish when he was waiting for his hotel room being assigned, eyes closing. He laid himself onto the firm and hard wall of the lift for support. He forcefully proceeded out of the lift and entered his warm and cozy room. Tommy dropped himself on the soft and comfortable bed, asleep right away.

Greeting him was the soft rays of morning light after the break of dawn; Tommy woke up from his slumber land and washed up himself. The hot shower drenched him totally from the tiredness. Fully refreshed, he headed for the ground floor for his sumptuous breakfast. All the waiters and waitresses were very polite which gave him a very good impression on Singapore. But a distinct and abrupt ringtone of his iPhone destroyed his relaxing time of breakfast.

“Hi, Tommy. Arrived safely in Singapore right? Which hotel are you in now?” James said excitedly.

“Oh, I am in hotel 88, James. It has been a long time since I heard from you, how are you doing?” Tommy replied happily.

“I am fine; we shall continue talking after we meet each other later. I will pick you at hotel 88, wait for me. I shall be your host today!” laughed James.

“Sure, see ya!”

Tommy rested himself of the bouncy sofa at the reception area, anticipating what his vacation will be in Singapore. Wild thoughts were running in his mind when he felt something warm on his shoulder. It was James! They then went joyfully out of the hotel and proceeded to Orchard Road, the busiest and most bustling place in Singapore. They went into a majestic edifice filled with all sorts of shops; food, clothes and accessories. Tommy was totally stunned when he saw how grand a shopping centre can be. Amazed, he followed James hopping around the entire mall and they were welcomed with a big smile on the shop owners’ faces.

After a full 2 hours of shopping, they found themselves starved with hunger. Once they exited the mall, with several glances, not a suitable location was spotted. James then introduced to James a hawker centre that had cheap and good food. They dashed like werewolves towards the fragrance of fried chicken wings once they arrived. The hawker centre was crowded with people as it was lunch time for employees. They waited for a seat near the famous Nasi Lemak stall and with a stroke of luck, they got a seat and Tommy decided to order the food for them. The queue was as long as a ladder and it was finally Tommy’s turn to answer.

“What do you want to eat?” boomed the stall owner, beads of perspiration trickled down her forehead.

Tommy found himself offended as he was greeted with such a nasty tone. He pointed at the appealing side dishes for 2 plates and wanted to pay for the food. Awaited him was a hard slam of the two plates of food and a shout, “$4.40!” The employee snatched his money and returned him the change in a split second or two. He was really upset and bothered by the stall owner’s tone, as he walked slowly, very slowly towards James.

“Tommy, don’t be too disgruntled, she was not being rude on purpose. This is not USA, where everyone greets each other politely. In a hawker centre for example, people would not greet you politely and serve you very nicely. Every minute to them is money, so they would need to be fast with everything they do and say although sometimes they do not know that their words are too blunt that would offend people. Therefore, don’t put this on mind, ok?” James explained.

After hearing what James had said, Tommy realized that he had blamed the employee wrongly. Due to the different environment Tommy was being exposed to, he could not adapt to such a situation so suddenly. Tommy swallowed his first mouth of food and he was surprised! It was very delicious; Tommy nearly gobbled the entire plate down together with his food too!

The Nasi Lemak had filled their stomach till their brim; therefore, they decided to take a stroll around the provision shops nearby. As they were walking out of the hawker centre, Tommy heard unpleasant words by the uncles, propping his leg on another chair, in the hawker centre. He felt very disturbed as he find that the uncles are unrefined and abuses the English language. Here comes another explanation by James. He said that the uncles here were not pleased with the Americans due to the Japanese invasion. Therefore, they like to abuse English language that they know, which were very limited, but mostly were coarse language.

It was then that Tommy knew that he could not adapt to the life of Singapore as Singaporeans have a different way of speaking and their tones might sound offensive. He mumbled to himself, “It is going to be hard for me to stay in Singapore……”