14th

#14: Noisy passengers on Swiss trains

Every country is famous and infamous for certain things or behaviour. The trademark characteristics of a Singaporean are 'Kiasu' and 'Kiasee' i.e. afraid of losing out and afraid of dying but damn efficient (partly because we are 'kiasu' so we want things to be done fast!). I used to take this very seriously and am very conscious of such behaviour be it when I am at home or overseas. However, the more I travel, the more I realise that everyone, regardless of their nationality, is kiasu. It is just the degree that differs. The only country that I find an exception is Japan. Their need to conform to a group identity makes them less likely to overreact in situations and they are the most polite and considerate people that I have ever met in my entire life.

Most people have this idea that the westerners are very chillax and are the least kiasu people around. They are very gentlemanly and considerate as well. I want to correct this stereotype in this post. While travelling on the Swiss trains on this trip, I met two different groups of Swiss nationals who were extremely rowdy in the train cabin, talking, screaming, laughing like the entire world was deaf to their conversations. Once, it was early in the morning at 8 am and the other time was around 8 pm at night. Even when I put on my earpiece and blasted music up to a volume of 80%, I could still hear them. They might be the black sheep among the lot but still, people generalise. Only a handful of Singaporeans are kiasu and kiasee but it has become a label on the people from our country. After this trip, I no longer think that these Europeans are considerate or superior in behaviour to us.

Next, while flying, there were so many instances of them rushing to queue up to board the plane and after the plane has landed, they were all rushing to stand up and open the overhead compartment to retrieve their belongings to disembark. The worst experience, IMO, is their inconsiderate act of squeezing their coats into the overhead compartment. Isn't the overhead compartment meant for cabin bags? A coat does not have a fixed shape and can be easily placed on one's lap. If you find it uncomfortable to hold on to the coat, think about the next person who has to carry his or her cabin bag with him or her throughout the entire flight. That happened to me. Just because my cabin bag was a bag pack, I had to carry it with me because this one passenger refused to remove his coat from the overhead compartment and allow cabin bags to be placed instead. It is not that people in Asia do not behave in a similar fashion but that thankfully we never have to carry big coats with us while flying.

My conclusion is that these people are so kiasu because there is a price to pay for losing out. Circumstances shape a person's behaviour, not the country of origin. The westerners have enjoyed way too much comfort and freedom for way too long when they have strong economic fundamentals and financial strength to back them up. They can afford to be chill about things because they have never had to compete.

I am not pro-Asian or anti-Westerners or whatsoever. I strongly believe that every country has its own culture that we must respect. We must appreciate a country for both its good and bad. My point is that if we all behave in the same way, why do we then choose to despise our own races and celebrate the superiority of another?

That said, I am not complaining. I just wanted to share positive and negative things that I have come across during the trip and not paint a picture that life is a bed of roses. :)