Who opened the floodgates to immigrants?

[smurf]

bebebub:

smurf:

usually people called gu niang for young lady. thats the only thing i find very good in PRC. coz at least they bother to address someone properly. not just uncle or aunty.

I thought our common address of uncle or aunty (strangers not relatives) is an adaptation of 'shu shu / ah yi' from mandarin to english, similar to 'makcik /pakcik' from Malay to English. Isn't this suppose to be due to our asian roots? I thought it is a proper and respectful address leh JMO

It's not proper addressing lah, how can stranger be your uncle or aunty? Shu shu means uncle. In Caucasian country, they would be puzzled, why u called male adult 'uncle'. Uncle to them, means relative uncle, therefore, it is not appropriate to call a stranger \"uncle\".

[LOLMum]

smurf:

bebebub:

[quote=\"smurf\"]usually people called gu niang for young lady. thats the only thing i find very good in PRC. coz at least they bother to address someone properly. not just uncle or aunty.

I thought our common address of uncle or aunty (strangers not relatives) is an adaptation of 'shu shu / ah yi' from mandarin to english, similar to 'makcik /pakcik' from Malay to English. Isn't this suppose to be due to our asian roots? I thought it is a proper and respectful address leh JMO

It's not proper addressing lah, how can stranger be your uncle or aunty? Shu shu means uncle. In Caucasian country, they would be puzzled, why u called male adult 'uncle'. Uncle to them, means relative uncle, therefore, it is not appropriate to call a stranger \"uncle\".[/quote]
if it is local to local, it is kinda hard to change the habit of calling uncle or aunty. but to my ang mo friends, i would prefer my kids to call them \"mr xxx or mrs xxxx\".

but i would flip if some1 call me aunty or 大姐 when it is so obvious i am so much younger than him/her. :mad: :nunchuk:

[smurf]

Ya lor! Go to market you will hear people called u aunty or da Jie just because u go to wet market!!! Especially when the person is older than u!! :mad:

[limlim]

bebebub:

Addressing them as \"xiao jie\" will kena piak piak

err.. \"piak piak\" carries a different meaning in other forums like HWZ.. :evil: :evil:

[limlim]

Talking abt integration.. How abt this..?


http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=3473367

[LOLMum]

haha, another one too.


http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=44613

[LOLMum]

but i also wonder how many of us singaporeans behave badly overseas.


i remember i was with my aunt visiting china many years ago and my aunt was always shouting at the top of her voice \"i am singaporean\" as if that gave her the right to be given priority to everything. :siao: very hao lian.

shucks, come to think of it, luckily nothing happen to us (like kidnap) otherwise................. :frustrated:

[jtoh]

HyperKiasu:

bebebub:

When u dine in Ding Tai Feng, do u consciously switch to addressing them differently (instead of xiao jie) as almost all their service crew are from China/Taiwan?


Sounds like although I am on home ground, I have to be mindful of my p's n q's with regards to their culture. Addressing them as \"xiao jie\" will kena piak piak

then call them Miss in English or \"女士\" in mandarin...

I just say \"Hello-ooo!! Excuse me-eeee!!!\" waving frantically. :rotflmao:

[jtoh]

Chenonceau:

Actually... I hate to say this because I've never thought of myself as xenophobic but I get REALLY upset when I see PRC children peeing on grass verges outside the mall when all the parents need to do is to bring the child INTO the mall. It hardly takes 3 minutes. Firstly, the child bares his privates for all to see. Secondly, it is unhygienic for every passerby who needs to smell urine for the next 2 days.


I also get peeved when the PRC people don't queue. It usually happens at the weighing station. They crowd around and jostle for the weighing staff's attention. It is rude to the staff and rude to other shoppers.

I do know that this is a cultural difference but I do reckon that in my home country, I would not have to adapt to other countries' cultural quirks. Not all PRC people are like that. What I don't understand is why we have let foreigners in that have no cosmopolitan manners at all. Surely, some degree of cosmopolitanism should define the word TALENT?

I can't agree more. This is my home, my country. Why should I adapt to the foreigners' habits and behavior? I find myself bending backwards to speak Mandarin to PRC sales people who flatly refuse to answer my questions when posed in English. What about Singaporean Malays and Indians who ask these sales people questions? Do they have to learn to speak Mandarin too? :faint:

[carebear]

If cannot call the waitress xiao jie, then call what?

Xiao er (小二）? :?