Hokkien in Singapore
“Excuse me; may I know where the toilet is?” Tommy said hurriedly, dragging his luggage bag as he proceeded out of the arrival hall.
“Turn to your right, sir, and you would see a sign board showing the direction you proceed foe the toilet” said politely by a businessman wearing formally, holding a bag with him.
“Thanks a lot!” smiled Tommy, dashing towards the signboard.
This is the first time Tommy has stepped onto Island Singapura. With his first impression by that polite and courteous businessman and his prior knowledge of Singapore by his colleagues, he find that Singapore is a very well-educated country and gives respect to everyone they meet, therefore, he hope to bring this trait back to his motherland, USA. But his image changed immediately after he stepped on the taxi.
“Ai ke to lo! (Where do you want to go?)” the taxi driver yelled.
“Excuse me, may I beg your pardon?” Tommy asked in a state of confusion.
“Where…you…want…to…go” blabbered the taxi driver in Singlish.
“I would like to go to Orchard Road…”mumbled Tommy.
“Onh…… Orchard Road, ho… (Good)”replied the taxi driver.
Tommy did not understand a single thing what the taxi driver was saying, and just prayed that he brought him to the correct place. Throughout the whole journey, the taxi driver was talking on the phone to his friend and did not bother about Tommy at all! Tommy sighed silently along the way to Orchard Road as the good impression that he had on Singapore was totally smashed into pieces. He quickly paid the fares and dashed out of the taxi, and entered a shopping centre that was bustling with life. Everyone inside was very polite and respect each other a lot, no signs of jumping or quarrel at all! His impression on Singapore recovered slightly as he thought maybe only a minority of Singaporeans was like that but he was shocked after he sat down in a hawker centre, bustling with crowds. After a nice and refreshing walk in the cooling shopping centre, he decided to go for lunch as he was dying of hunger after the long morning. Once he walked out of the shopping centre, he wondered around, looking for a bite, till he saw a lot of people gathering around that significantly bigger hawker centre than the others. He thought that the food there was better; therefore, he headed towards the hawker centre.
As he was strolling there, people just pushed him through without even apologizing! Once he entered the hawker centre, more unpleasant sight came flushing in. People sitting and dressing like gangsters, shouting at each other, coarse language rang throughout the whole hawker centre, people banging tables and kicking chairs. This sight made him feel nausea and he nearly fainted! The only thing that looks appealing to him was the food; it looks very savory and made him drool! He found a quieter spot in the hawker centre and sat down quietly.
Here comes an uncle wearing a pouch on his waist, “ai lim si mi? (What do you want to drink?) asked rudely.
“What are you talking? I do not understand!” Tommy said frustratingly.
“Whan lai si ang mo kian! (Oh, is an American!) the uncle shouted. The whole hawker was filled with laughter short after the uncle spoke.
“What… do… you….you… like… to drink…?” giggled the uncle.
“Erm can I have Coke?” Tommy said embarrassedly.
Tommy quickly ordered his food and ate rapidly, he gobbled nearly every mouth! As he was eating, everyone was like staring at him, giggling and making fun of him with a language he does not even understand. It made him so embarrassed that he felt like hiding at a deserted corner and not being found. Once he left the hawker centre, he was very disappointed with Singapore. “How can Singaporeans bully a foreigner like him with a language he does not know and being that rude to a customer? He told himself this is the last time I will step onto Singapore. Although Singapore might a very prosperous country, but with such citizens, it will definitely spoils Singapore’s image totally.” Tommy thought. Tommy’s anticipation for the next day of his business trip had vanished into thin air as he strolled hopelessly back to his hotel.
His next day in Singapore was totally amazing as it was totally “out of control”. He got out his slumber land by an abrupt sound of his alarm clock. After getting washed up, he had his sumptuous breakfast at the ground floor of the hotel. All waiters and waitresses were very polite and courteous in their actions and words. But that made no difference to his image on Singapore. As he left for his appointment with a big customer in Singapore, he was a little reluctant. He entered a majestic edifice and he was shocked. He could not expect Singaporeans to be such courteous people! Even the technologies were also very “courteous”. Little amazed as he entered a lift, a sweet voice spoke sounded the enclosed lift, “Which floor are you going? Who are you meeting?” “Erm… I am meeting Mr. Steven, manager of the trade and industry…” Tommy answered nervously. “Ok, sure, Mr. Steven is on 25th floor, the receptionist there would tell you more, have a nice day.” Shortly after this sentence, the lift started moving up gradually till 25th floor. As he headed towards the reception counter, the receptionist smiled, “You must be Mr. Tommy, and Mr. Steven has been waiting for your arrival, this way please.” His negotiations with Mr. Steven had come to a perfect ending where both sides were delighted on the terms and conditions. As he left the building, he told himself, Singapore was not so bad after all.
When returning to hotel, he changed his views on Singapore once again. This time was final. Although Singapore had some people that are not courteous and polite mainly due to the people they mixed around with but majority of the Singaporeans were polite and courteous as the technologies were already that courteous! Singaporeans even programmed the lift to be courteous, how can people be not courteous when their facilities are? Tommy decided to take back his words and come over to Singapore more frequently to learn and adapt to Singapore’s culture. He flew back U.S.A with a wonderful impression of Singapore.
Done By: Shie Yu Hao
