Sunday, February 08, 2004 @Sunday, February 08, 2004
Yay! Finished my write up finalli!
Still haven even touch on my visual A3 artwork...studyin for psycho test...compeleting psycho journal assignments...
bleah
sigh
Kiasu is a hokkien term which literally means ‘scared to lose’.It describes those who want all they can get for whatever they pay and they try to get the best deal. Every nationality has its own Kiasu-types, but Singaporeans have coined a word and mascot for it. Most of you will agree with me, when the word “kiasu” is being mentioned, Singaporeans will come to many’s mind.
It is not a wonder why this is so. Isn’t it a common sight, where people will crowd round the entrance of the MRT even before the train arrives, like they were ready to pounce onto the train the moment the door slides open. Late last year, with the opening of the NEL line, a travellator has been built along the linkway of Dhoby Gaut station. This travellator was to facilitate those who don’t wish to walk the long pathway. But more often than not, you see people on the travellator and yet still walking. So the purpose of the travellator has become not to facilitate those who do not want to walk, but to help people to “walk”at a faster rate. Talking about reaching there first, talking about being number one, talking about kiasu-ism.
Being number one is constantly on every mind of a typical Singaporean. This perhaps arises because Singapore is a really competitive society. And with yet another typical trait of Singaporeans of loving to show off and not wanting to “lose face” (pride), they will go all the way out to be the best. This is good in the sense that it serves as a motivation for people to strive hard and to stretch their potentials. However, on the other hand, it can bring ill effects if it becomes too prominent. One such case is the deprivation of childhood of today’s children. Parents are too preoccupied with the intention of creating success for their children that they sign up almost all the courses(be it academic or music, arts etc) they can get on hand for the little ones. Or perhaps wanting the best for their children is but a convenient cover-up for some of these parents who put it simply, so that they can stick their nose into the air when neighbours gather to discuss about the children’s results. Playing under the sun and getting all dirty and muddy have now been replaced by hour after hour of extra classes. Children are no longer children. It is indeed pitiful.
In another aspect, kiasu also means not wanting to lose out on anything. This is perhaps one reason that makes marketers smile and never failing to target Singaporeans for profit.
It isn’t too difficult to make Singaporeans willing to part with their money for something that they do not even need. The trick, is to throw in discounts or even better free gifts and most probably you will get your sales done. Not wanting to lose out on anything at all, even if its cheap thrills, Singaporeans will normally go for it. That is why during free giveaways or discounted sales, you see dragon queues. For example, at the launch of MacDonald’s Kiasu Burger, a marketing gimmick was thrown in: People who showed up at six-thirty a.m could buy the burger for one Singapore cent. As many as a hundred and thirty five were sold in half an hour, with kiasu Singaporeans queuing up as if it were the last sale on Orchard Road. It is said that sometimes, Singaporeans queue up without even knowing what they are queuing up for!
This grab-all-you-can and afraid to lose out trait is probably what distinguishes Singaporeans from people of all other nationalities. This kiasu trait allows you to look at one in another country and know straightaway that this person is a Singaporean. On a tour abroad, the tourist who rushes up the tour bus, chooses the best seat, and then put bags, camera, sunglasses and every other possession on the seats around him to reserve for his family and friends, we can be ninety nine percent sure he is a Singaporean. At the departmental store sale, the shopaholic who grabs everything in sight and decides at the cashier’s counter whether to buy it anot and if short on cash, he hides the bargain-basement offer elsewhere in the store so that he can buy it later, you can be sure this one’s a Singaporean too. And at elegant resorts, the tour group that brings plastic flasks to the breakfast buffet and fills them up with freshly squeezed orange juice, you will most probably be right in your guess that the group’s from Singapore.
What then, caused Singaporeans to possess this kiasu-ness in them? In my personal opinion, I feel that the environment has made Singaporeans kiasu. We were always told to be Number One, so we had the best airport, the biggest port. I think this draws back to our history and culture. Singapore is but a tiny red dot on the world map. When our ancestors arrived here, Singapore was but a piece of flat land with not much worth. They worked hard day after day and even had to fight hard for Singapore’s independence and finally brought Singapore to where she is today. The success didn’t come overnight but with much effort and sweat. Thus, it has been passed down generation after generation that we Singaporeans must not relax or else others will take over us. Hence, I reckon Singaporeans are still insecure and brought up with the thinking that we must want the best of everything, and thus comes kiasu-ism.
An interesting fact is that the kiasu word has gained international academic recognition: The Ohio university Press defined it in A Dictionary of Political Terms in Singapore.
Be it that Kiasuism is a good or bad thing for Singaporeans, we can’t deny the fact that Kiasuism is one of the few things uniquely Singaporean that sets Singapore apart from the rest of Southeast Asia. I end this article with a quote by Kuppy Lau the inventor of the famous comic character , Mr Kiasu, in relation to this typical Singaporean trait. “If Britain had Mr.Bean, the U.S. Bart Simpson and even Malaysia enjoyed Lat, why not Kiasu in Singapore?”
