Are Singaporeans just uncultured?
-
Huhhh...it seems like most Singaporeans living in Singapore share a common trait.
I've had conversations with friends and family who go on vacations to great places in Europe and here in the US, and most of them spend the majority of their time shopping. One friend told me he "visited" Rome on a vacation, but actually spent the whole time at an outlet mall 4 hours outside the city. Can you believe it?
Ask any Singaporean about their vacations, in terms of museums they visited or sites they saw, and they will mostly tell you more about where you can find the best deals on shopping.
It's a pretty embarassing fact when you tell this to people of other nationalities (especially non-Asians). Maybe we've just developed so quickly economically that our cultural development hasn't had time to catch up.
I live about 45 minutes away from a pretty big outlet mall, and I joke to my wife that whenever we make our annual visit, we can hear the Singaporean before we see them because they're the ones going "cheap ah! cheap ah!".
-
even if that's all true, could it just be that it's their 'culture' instead of them being 'uncultured'?
-
You have a point, I wasn't really thinking of shopping as possibly being a type of "culture". It's probably a sub-culture of consumerism!
-
I think it would be unfair to call Singaporeans uncultured. Not being interested in cultural stuff, musuems or ancient ruins and just going for only shopping does not mean they are uncultured.
-
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say most Singaporeans are disinterested in culture, rather than lacking it.
If Singaporeans are willing to spend good money to travel overseas on shopping trips, then more power to them. From an economic perspective, the host country probably benefits more when overseas visitors spend vast sums of money on shopping sprees rather than just visit places of historical and/or cultural significance. -
I don't see how Oooing and Ahhhing over naked renaissance statues or having your picture taken in front of a leaning architectural mistake in pizza-land would imply a superior "cultural development" ....
and frankly, I believe the average joe six pack from middle america don't give a shit either ....
-
Originally posted by Fatum:
I don't see how Oooing and Ahhhing over naked renaissance statues or having your picture taken in front of a leaning architectural mistake in pizza-land would imply a superior "cultural development" ....
and frankly, I believe the average joe six pack from middle america don't give a shit either ....
Well said. And i wouldn't mind missing out on the Tower of Pisa for a slice of authetic pizza.! =D
-
who cares what the non-asians think?
if you feel that way it only means you feel inferior to the non-asians.
-
a typical singaporean only comment negatively about a typical singaporean, this sux that sux....
wat a irony.
-
define uncultured?
-
Originally posted by HiAy3Captain:
define uncultured?
playing games 24/7 (feeling that playing games more shiock then go some stupid ceremony)
-
singaporeans are just singaporeans lor.
dont compare.
-
Indeed, indeed...it's very true in this case that Singaporeans are, after all, Singaporeans. True to their shopping core.
-
someone agreed to me. -
and brain is a chinese that eat potato
sorry-i-just--can't-help-it
-
"define uncultured?"
Well, let's put it this way, you can visit stores in a mall in any country, and by and large, these stall all look pretty similar. When you visit another country, there is so much in store in terms of the different cultural experiences available to be had. So, choosing to mall-hopping instead of learning more about the country you're visiting...enough said.
"I don't see how Oooing and Ahhhing over naked renaissance statues or having your picture taken in front of a leaning architectural mistake in pizza-land would imply a superior "cultural development" .... "
Great example. A statement like that underscores my point exactly.
-
lol why potato?
-
Originally posted by youyayu:
and brain is a chinese that eat potato
sorry-i-just--can't-help-it
thank you, its the fact anyway. -
Originally posted by HiAy3Captain:
lol why potato?
i cant really speak chinese though im a chinese. -
If you want to use the term 'any Singaporean', then I'm not a Singaporean. And don't you know that metropolitan areas share the same name with the more famous city centres?
Who are you to say what aspect of travel people should focus on in their conversations?Malls are not the same in every country although they usually have international chains. Why can't people have the right to get excited over souvenirs, cheaper goods or product ranges that can't be found at home?
This can change depending on the audience. I'm sure that if the topic calls for it, they can talk about the sightseeing, unless they spent more time inside the coach than outside of it. Why don't you rail instead at people who choose to eat only at Asian and international fast food restaurants abroad, or stick to their clique of fellow countrymen instead of interacting with other travellers or locals on exchange programmes? Those are real signs of insularity.
Then again, who are you to say that cultural immersion should be the sole purpose of going on a vacation? You may think that Singaporeans place little value on culture, but because you see it as such, it also raises suspicions that you might be a hoax, trying to manipulate knowledge and signs of cultural capital to appear to belong to an upper class. Very Singaporean indeed.
-
Seriously when i go travelling, shopping is the last thing on my mind. Nature, sceneries are my thing. But musuems, ancient ruins bored me to death. When I was in France, the part that I like most when we went along the coastal lines of Lyon and Monaco....but when I go to the Eiffiel Tower, the Panteon, the Notre Dame...I was like..."wow nice...wow rich history...but..wow...who cares..." what history they have does not make a difference to my life.
So am I uncultured!?
-
Ok, so we singaporeans are "uncultured". Does that REALLY affect your day to day life? I don't see the point to whine about this. Unless it really does bothers you (lost sleep becoz some s'poreans went shopping instead of looking at a broken building?) .. then whining is useless. Go do something bout it.
-
Originally posted by gasband:
Seriously when i go travelling, shopping is the last thing on my mind. Nature, sceneries are my thing. But musuems, ancient ruins bored me to death. When I was in France, the part that I like most when we went along the coastal lines of Lyon and Monaco....but when I go to the Eiffiel Tower, the Panteon, the Notre Dame...I was like..."wow nice...wow rich history...but..wow...who cares..." what history they have does not make a difference to my life.
So am I uncultured!?
Did you venture into the Alps?
P.S. To the threadstarter: Pragmatism aka utilitarianism prevails in our society and policies, but not all of us have allowed it to take over our minds. And manipulating knowledge to show off and create a veneer of culturedness is just another manifestation of utilitarianism.
-
-
maybe it is more cultured to visit Amsterdam and their fish tanks, and go wow and ah and oo over it