Last Wednesday unfortunately, I missed my school bus. The first time in these three months I have to go to school on my own.
Unexpectedly, there was not any traffic and I arrived at NUS with few delay. To my great surprise, our “rainbow bus” was just ahead unloading its passengers, when the A1 shuttle bus I took was about to arrive at the central library. I tittered, feeling cheerful that I’m not the latest. I was thinking about greeting my friends after I alighted and blaming them for not holding the bus for me. But, you know what, when I got off the shuttle bus, I got even more surprised; the students there in the bus stop were not my classmates but Singaporeans!
“How can students coming down from our ‘rainbow bus’ were all Singaporeans? Hey, are you kidding me?” I asked myself.
In fact, they did kid me, because they all spoke standard mandarin and were actually SM2 scholars. I’m serious that particular group of them at that particular moment were really very Singaporean. Honestly, I didn’t dare to believe my eyes, because they looked much too “local” than I could ever expected. Anyway, whether they were just a small group of special fellows or not, they did give me a shock in the current way they looked. I wonder whether I should feel envious or rather, sorry for them.
But have you ever thought of what you will look like in a year, two year s or even 10 years ahead if you are still staying in Singapore? See now we have been here for only three months and, I deem even if it is not everybody, at least a certain number of us have already changed our dressing, our hair style as well as our living habits a bit no matter whether we did it on purpose or not. I can now imagine that possibly years later when we are walking on the campus, our junior will approach and ask us directly in Singlish as they regard us to be a local. And I doubt by that time we may not even aware how Singaporean we actually are.
This could probably be the power of culture which nobody can easily escape from. In this sense, I think I’d better quickly make myself prepared until I find the change is too hard to accept.
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3 comments:
I find it is harder and harder to tell chinese students and the local ones. They all in the same clothes style even the ways they speak are the same. sometimes it is uncomfortable when i see the SM2 students wear a short short skirt and the specific singapore slippers. I feel sad about this, and I also want to make up my mind to keep the chinese culture which I have. everyone should have his or her own principle to fallow.
Are you afraid that you will become like a Singaporean? Actually with globalization, we will merge more and more. I think the dressing of the chinese in China has also changed through the years. I think as long as you remember your values and your roots, the external changes do not matter. I just hope that SM3 students do not pick up all the bad Singaporean habits of skipping or coming late for classes, talking with each other or sleeping during class when the tutor is speaking....habits which you did not have before you came to Singapore, right? But I am seeing many of you are becoming like Singaporeans in these ways!
Seto
well, the weather decides the dressing style.Girls wear short skirt without realising they're dressing in a so called "Singapore Way",they put on that because of beauty or maybe just because that's what they can buy here. And sometimes that's not even so "Sinaporean"because Aerican girls dress in the same way.I'm quite sure if you really think you may have turn to a Singaporean one day, you'll find it easy to switch back to Chinese once you are in China again.
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