a different perspective

i have this new neighbour, Younes who is of Algerian descent. very friendly guy. well most Caucasians are anyways.

we had a chat at about midnight at our void deck. not the best place to have a chat in my opinion but he was very down to earth and doesn't seem bothered about it.

we had a good chat. we talked about how he was adapting to life in SG, talked about how Islam is interpreted differently here and back in his home country. random topics after that.

after hearing him explain how hard he was trying to adapt and rooming in with prcs didn't help much at all. he also lamented that the locals here are unfriendly and standoffish and that society here are basically robots.



well i couldn't exactly deny that 'cos i agree partly with him but i thought I'd give it a go and try to debunk that theory of his. so i told him locals feel pressurised with the influx of foreign talent coming in and getting jobs that should be given priority to them and how the cost of living here has made locals more money minded and they do feel slighted when they see these foreign talents living the high life, so to speak, with higher salaries and better housing opportunities.

and he replied with the fact that we're not motivated enough and all we do is complain and make up excuses. after that i couldn't say anything more 'cos i felt that it rang true. in my opinion anyways.

foreign talents come here with almost nothing, leaving their families to come here and search for better prospectives and that in a way makes them more motivated to work, longer hours if the need arises so that they can give their families back home a better life.

as for us, everything we love and need is always around us. always within reach. free of charge all the time.

maybe if we were the ones in a foreign land, trying to make a living, we would be more motivated to make it through each and every day. work endless hours if need be.

however, i still do not agree on how some of these foreigners behave. some just don't know how to adapt, bringing instead their dirty habits from their home country. not all just some.

especially when it comes to prcs. the government expect us to accept these foreigners, telling us that we should take up mandarin so we can communicate and such but the thing is they should be the ones learning English so that they can communicate with us. English is the most used language now.

and it irks me to no end when i get served by people who cant even speak basic English. i personally think that it would be a bad impression on our society putting such people in the spots where tourists frequent.

then again, this applies only to some, not all.