A tribute to the original Singaporeans

This trip back to Singapore certainly puts a different perspective to the way I view the country and the locals (which definitely also includes me!). According to statistics, the current population of Singapore is 5.07 million, living in an area size of 712.4 Sq km.The ratio of locals to the expats/ foreigners are about 1:1! It is getting harder and harder to spot a original Singaporean in the public! Foreigners, permanent residents and tourists coming from China, Philippines, Europe, USA, Taiwan, Indonesia are swarming around in public areas.

There are 5 "k"s that describe the typical Singaporean - kiasu (afraid to lose to others), kiasi (afraid to die), kekian (show off), kiamsie (stingy) and kaypo (busybody)!.... Everywhere you go, if you see a Singaporean, he/she exhibits at least one or more of these character! I think if you looked hard enough, there should be t-shirts explaining about these 5 ks in Singapore!

Kiasu is typical character of a die-hard Singaporean. If you have a HDTV, I need a HDTV as well. If you have a iphone 3, I need a iphone 4! Singaporeans cannot lose to each other, not to mention to foreigners! If you travel in the subways, buses, you will notice that everyone, including a 60-year old grandma is using some sort of advance technology instrument. Grandma has weak eyesight, so cannot see clearly the Apps on the iphone... the solution - an ipad!

Kiasi is also another strong trait of a typical Singaporean. You will hardly see a Singaporean jumping into the river to save another life, but you will probably see a bunch of people standing by the river. There was a joke in Singapore - how many people does it take to save a drowning guy? 10... 9 to give instructions, one to call the cops!

Kekian, and kiamsie, ironically goes hand in hand. Singaporeans are stingy... they will not spend an additional $1 just to get something they feel they are get cheaper elsewhere. However, when it comes to the need to exhibit their wealth - Gucci, LV, Rolex, BMW, Mercedes... there is no holds-bar!

Finally Kaypo is an important trait that keeps our society alive! With 5 million people living is an area of only 700Sq km, there are numerous chances of crimes etc. It is this characteristic of kaypo which is practised by your neighbors that prevented numerous break-ins and other crimes. Thus, crime rates in Singapore is one of the lowest in the world - 650 per 100,000 population. With everyone having a mobile phone, some even have two (there are 1436 mobile phones per 1000 population!), crimes are reported almost instantly, thus giving these criminals a hard time!

Singaporeans LOVE to queue. They queue for transport, queue for food, queue for openings and queue for sales! There are different types of queues (queues for multiple persons, queues for single person etc) but everyone obeys the unwritten rules... DO NOT cut the queues!. Unless you want tens of people staring at you and shouting at you for breaking this unwritten rule, I advise you not to even remotely think about it.

Singaporeans... I love thee...