I have a co-worker who swears by Singapore as the greatest place to make a living. Low flat tax and business friendly etc, and as an expat you get paid big bucks and get lots of perks. Also what you said about the social-economics angle is interesting too, because he was saying how he knew this soft spoken polite guy (to everyone) but after the guy spent some years in Singapore, he noticed that his friend was no longer the same polite guy to the working class types. Here we even say thanks to waiters and such, and this guy had that habit too before he left but after many years in Singapore living large. When my coworker went back after many years on a visit, his friend no longer even acknowledge the existance of such people let alone say thank you to them. Not sure if its just an exception or just being spoiled by the perks and people kowtowing to him, but the disparity in incomes often results in these kinds of social dynamics i think.

Nordic-kulta, Pidän sinusta oikein paljon. Kiinalaisten ja suomalaisten lapsista tulee kauniita!

That's called a tax bracket change...that happens here too....

Yeah, but then again, that's just Asia all over. Same thing everywhere, whether it's Thailand, HK, China...

There is an invisible barrier between the haves and the have-nots because the income-disparity is so large. You can buck it by choosing to treat everyone with respect or you can do as one does in Rome by following the example of those around you by treating the Servile Classes like shit and keeping them in their place.

To be fair to that guy you mentioned, it's actually exceedingly difficult to live in that environment for long periods of time and still abide by your ideals by treating everyone with the same level of dignity. It's not about you or or them, it's the SYSTEM. You didn't create it and you might not like it but you still have to live in it. George Orwell, one of my heroes and a very humane soul, talks about this quandary in some of his essays and memoirs of his time as a Colonial Policeman.

You might want to treat the servants and workers a certain way but it isn't easy. Most people are not strong enough to maintain their integrity in this type of situation. And never forget that the impoverished workers are often out to fuck you over and take from you whatever they can get. You learn this after a half a day in Bangkok.

BTW, when I'm hanging out in Asia, after a few days, I stop lusting after the longer, curvy, European body type that I'm accustomed to in Oz and I start focusing on the lithe, lissome, Singaporean woman-body type.

I don't even look at European women when I am in Asia. Yes, I'm fickle. LOL

WOW XENZU! Thank you for your response.

I didn't expect you to take my post seriously considering I myself could not articulate the matter as much as I wanted to, but thanks again. Up until now, myself being the only person I knew who even dared to raise the matter I did only to be met with a wall of hostile "There is no problem"s from the Singaporeans I knew, really put a dent into my psyche. I am grateful for your insight.

Now picture this act of supplication with a solemn look on its face, instead of a smile --->

There's something else I realised. I just had an excellent weekend where the failures, mistakes and incompetencies of my past just seemed to melt away. I feel so free, once again, to choose my own damn future and life, and I just realised that even bothering a single second more about the situation in Singapore helps so little. Before I went there, I actually expected that the more cosmopolitan environment there would have showed me something worth knowing: to be a man of the world, rather than the man of just a single house. I know better now.

I have so much more faith in myself now than I did before. The things that I have seen have shown me beyond a doubt that despite my failures and disadvantages in so many areas, I have yet quite a few blessings that others are not privileged to have. I earned these few privileges, and I shall earn more.

I found Singapore strange, but despite my failure there, the engine of change continues to turn. And the soldiers of change yet turns with it.

Things will be different.

Ah! Expanding from what Xenzu said, from observation, I've noticed that it's exactly this side of Asian societies that you may recognise who is a person of worth. A common person follows a script and behavior that is expected of him and which is socially allowed. But the man and woman of worth has actually learned how to judge the nature of people, and treats them accordingly. In much of Asia, the moment something goes to court or goes sour in any other way is the moment something has already gone bad, and there is nothing to be gained from it, except damage limitation. Because of that, men and women of worth have always relied on their instincts to judge who they can trust. Do not underestimate this.

The concept of fair play in many Asian countries is quite different from those in Western countries. Some things an outsider observes will definitely appear ruthless, but I wonder if these same outsiders stopped to consider other aspects of nobility they may have missed.

You're always welcome. And glad to hear that you had a good weekend!

You didn't mention how long you were in Singapore or what you did there?

It can be a fascination social environment to observe at times. But I wouldn't want to live there. I get the most out of just catching up with people I knew or grew up with. I also get a kick out of checking out the many changes that've happened and also from what doesn't change.

And the S'pore social scene is like a strange Twilight Zone - mundane and boring, really - fascinating only for its superficiality. That said though, the thing about S'pore - the most astonishing thing about S'pore is the number of honest, genuine, kind, high-quality people that you can meet there, despite the shittiness of the system and the aggressive mercantilist nature of the society.

Also, when I am there, I tend to avoid expat situations whenever I can and I always avoid identifying myself with them in anyway - downplay my own 'foreignness' and that is how I walk that line and try to keep my balance in S'pore.

One final thought: one of the barriers that can exist in S'pore between expats and locals (which I've never really had to articulate before now but thought about quite a bit) and particularly between expats and local men is that all local men become associated with the aggressive, shallow, materialistic, fairly unsophisticated S'porean Millieu. It doesn't help to be identified with such a staid and anal-retentive image. Hope you know I mean. LOL

Anyway, it's a fun topic. I could talk about it for hours.

Thanks for the info, Xenzu, and the rest of you. It just dawned on me, I was told that in Singapore, Filipinas are stereotyped as domestic helpers. Is this close to the truth? I'm not so sure though how they see Chinese-Filipinos like me.

Now that Xenzu and the gang have mentioned it, does that mean there's no chance in hell that I'd get to date a Western woman in S'pore? I'm not expecting that. In other words....Hmph. Their loss.

Seriously, I prefer sceneries, historical sites, and anywhere where there's good music. Where should I go in S'pore if I want to check out their blues scene?