Have you noticed the Kiasu attitude in Singaporeans? Have you wondered why there is so much unhealthy competition in Singapore? Have you thought of reason why students have so many tuitions?
The answer is simple – Singaporean’s “cannot lose” attitude. Taking a step further, let us analyze the reason for this attitude.
From my point of view, I feel that Singaporeans Kiasu-ism is bred by the Government’s education system which promotes competitiveness amongst students. We are forced to compete with others without actually knowing. Those who do not work hard and fall behind in their studies find that they are unable to go far in society. Why? This is because society favors people with higher educational qualification than those who are slightly lacking behind. Even getting 3As and 1B can be very bad for students who want to qualify for scholarships. And as we progress, we unknowingly turn this competiveness into a habit, where everything we do, whenever we do is a challenge to outwit the others.
Secondly, I also feel that Kiasu-ism is actually caused by our selfishness; we cannot admit or bow down to the fact that we have “lost” out to the other party. It is because of this mentality that leads to our bad habit. While this habit of ours may be a good thing, being too competitive may lead to lack of trust among Singaporeans. If we continue with this, Singaporeans will not be able to have the bond that other countries have.
One example of this can be in a MRT or a bus. How many times have you seen someone actually waiting for passengers to alight before boarding the MRT? Of course, there are always some considerate people who would do that, but most people still do not wait for the passengers to alight. In fact, the number of passengers who appears to be oblivious to those in need of seats in a crowed MRT or bus by pretending to be sleeping, reading, or listening to their MP3’s are alarming. All I can say of this attitude that Singaporeans have is that we Singaporeans tend to have that mindset of “nobody is good in this world, it’s one of yourself”. Indeed, this inconsiderate attitude is present in many Singaporeans, making them only do things that only benefit themselves. Many parents send their children to many tuitions so that they would score well, allowing them to compare with their friends about their child’s score.
In fact, a popular Singaporean cartoon character, Mr. Kiasu, was created by Johnny Lau; the CEO of Vasunas, a Singaporean animation technology company who published Mr. Kiasu book entitled “Everything also I want” in 1990. Mr. Kiasu is depicted as a person who jumps queues, hogs road, haggles for every cent, and, if confronted with a buffet table, piles his plate “uneatably” high. This clearly brings out the true kiasu attitude in Singaporeans by illustrating events that we usually see in our daily lives. For example, seeing people jump queues and piling his plate high in a buffet is abnormally normal.
However, one must realize that in this world, working alone will never bring you far. One must have the support of others to make it far in society. If someone is only concerned about himself and does not care about others, nobody will like him and will not support him, and this person will find himself unable to succeed as he have no one to help him in times of trouble. However, a person who cares for his friends will go far in society as they will help each other in times of need, eventually leading to their success.
Some say that Singaporean’s Kiasu-ism is what makes Singapore unique and special, an aspect that we should be proud to showcase to other countries – the culture and tradition of our country. Indeed, being kiasu is a unique trait of Singapore, but I do not think that it is something to be proud of or something that we want to be remembered for. Why can’t we be as generous as people of other countries? Why is it that most people in other countries give their seats to those in need of them while many people in Singapore turns a deaf ear to this? I think that there surely must be a problem. Although unique, this may bring about a bad image of Singapore to tourists who find themselves victims of such inconsiderate actions.
What is the point of being the country that has the lowest-crime rate or the safest country with the highest literacy rate if the people in Singapore do not have the proper upbringing to do even the simplest tasks like being courteous and generous?
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Singaporeans are known for their competitive attitude. Sometimes, this can be good as it gives us motivation to do better but this is hardly the case. A lot of times, we tend to take this a step too far, like the incidents where kiasu-ism is shown in your above post. More Singaporeans should try to cultivate good moral values to ensure our country doesn't become one known more for it's overly-competitive people than it's low-crime rate and high literacy rate.
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