Dumb foreigner in our midst
I really do make a genuine and brave effort to not show my instant dislike for people I take an instant dislike to.
Even when the person is a smug pompous ass. Even when the person has an unfounded sense of superiority of herself and her nationality. Even when I find her usage of the term "expatriate" to describe her presence in Singapore offensive and obnoxious. (These days, they are all foreign workers to me. They come in two packages - the too-well paid and the less -well paid).
I stoically let her bend my ear as she rattles off all the wonderful activities she is involved in to promote/preserve her country's culture and language in foreign Singapore: coffee mornings, bridge afternoons, golf days with her fellow country folk.
Then she mentioned that her foreign club also offers mahjong games.
Out of curiosity, I asked the most basic but pertinent Chinese question of this most Chinese of all games: what sort of stakes do you play?
The foreign bitch practically spat her answer at me: "We do not play mahjong to gamble! We play for enjoyment and for the social aspect of the game. We talk about anything as we play."
Stupid me thought to give her one last chance to bridge a cultural gap here, saying, "We do all the social parts too when we play mahjong. But if no money is involved, you take nonsense risks and throw the game. And you don't have to keep the winnings. The winnings can be collected over time and donated to charity."
I would have accepted, by way of concession to my point, a lame reason like it would create problems if money is involved because they are a social club. But noooo...
Foreign bitch said with rabid self-righteousness, "It is illegal to gamble in Singapore!"
Sigh. She has used up my be-nice-to-dumb-arrogant-foreigner quota for the evening.
Without further fuss or flap, I simply turned my back to her and started a tentative conversation with the stranger sitting to the other side of me.
11 comments:
Actually they play some game with mahjong set, but the game bears no resemblance to MJ. I think it is disrespectful of them to bastardize a traditional game like MJ which is part of Chinese culture.
wah die. i've no idea what you're talking about beyond that pple play mahjong. heeeee. :p i is not foreigner!
lulu - i know. i wish they'd call it something else.
imp - guess i was still ranting because i was so pissed off. i find it too annoying to deal with "expats" who brag about their privileged lifestyle here
i like you because you is not foreigner haha
and edp junkie and I were saying certain nationalities like to hire only their own people here, creating their own enclaves.
Although I don't like gambling, I agree it's pointless to play mahjong with no stakes. Just "hu" with one fold all the time lor. hahaha....
wildgoose - my feeling is that if they want to stick only with their own kind, let them.
the mahjong incident is really a metaphor for how culture clashes happen and neither side wants to be agreeable.
oh, hu with one fan not so bad if that is allowed. it's when they make mistake and thinks they hu when they really are not ready. then the whole round is destroyed.
i've had caucasion students who do not open mouth close mouth regard themselves as "expats" and these are very nice ppl. but recently i have one who rather obviously belongs to the upper echelon. so far she's been nice and cordial but i cannot stand her defensive way of thinking that every local is all out to rip them off....eg, she would buy something from me which is an import from Uk and she wants to decide how much she should pay me because she did her research on how much it cost in UK...then how about the shipping charges and the GST...i absorb ah?
suziewong - yup, there are the ones who are just distrustful with everyone about everything. Always makes me want to ask them why not do everyone a favour and go home. So insulting to think we are all cheats and liars.
SL - it's one thing for them to stick to themselves in their personal lives and quite another at work. They just hire and reward their own people, regardless of performance. How to work like that?
wildgoose - hmmm...don't work for them if one can work elsewhere? because things will never change and to stay on is to get frustrated and going nowhere.
They have a head full of coconut water.
It is almost like driving on a road without a sign that says U -turn
these people are not able to thihnk out of the box. that is why they are here. they are the rejects of their own country
bunny - whatever their reasons to be here, it's when they clash with us that sometimes, we just don't want to be nice about it.
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