from Today's ST Forum::
What an uncle -- pls sue me for calling you Uncle,
IN THE past 10 years, there has been a trend among service staff to address men over 50 as 'uncle'. I find this very offensive.
We all know that 'auntie' and 'uncle' are not terms of endearment when used to address strangers in Singapore.
If anything, they have come to denote someone who is old, less-educated, dull, slow-witted, nit-picking, loud, uncouth, parochial, uninformed, pedantic and clumsy, among many more negative traits.
I urge companies to tell their staff to stop using this offensive form of address.
Look at Hong Kong. Service staff speak Cantonese and address elderly customers as 'dai gor' (elder brother). It sounds nice and does not carry any negative connotation.
I suggest that service staff in Singapore use 'sir' instead. At least that does not carry any negative connotation.
Chia Buk Chua
What an uncle -- pls sue me for calling you Uncle,
IN THE past 10 years, there has been a trend among service staff to address men over 50 as 'uncle'. I find this very offensive.
We all know that 'auntie' and 'uncle' are not terms of endearment when used to address strangers in Singapore.
If anything, they have come to denote someone who is old, less-educated, dull, slow-witted, nit-picking, loud, uncouth, parochial, uninformed, pedantic and clumsy, among many more negative traits.
I urge companies to tell their staff to stop using this offensive form of address.
Look at Hong Kong. Service staff speak Cantonese and address elderly customers as 'dai gor' (elder brother). It sounds nice and does not carry any negative connotation.
I suggest that service staff in Singapore use 'sir' instead. At least that does not carry any negative connotation.
Chia Buk Chua