I had wanted to write earlier but was caught in the other thread replies.
Anyway, I had lunch at a kopishop near office today and witnessed a “near fight” just in front of me.
As my “kakis” are still away on leave, I ate alone – sharing a table with a smartly dressed elderly indian man who was drinking a big can of ABC Stout.
Before I sat down, I asked for “permission” and he smiled at me, gesturing please do (though I was a little sceptical about sitting there cos I am wary of people who drink in bright sunny lunch hours, but I guess I had no choice as I was a single diner today).
I thanked him and sat down and happily munching my prawn noodles, took out my mobile and engrossed myself reading the latest news on CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press apps and also the mobile version of this Forum.
The elderly indian chap must have left to order another can of stout. Then, the dish clearing man (also an Indian but a much younger chap) came and cleared the supposedly leftover can of ABC stout and next thing I heard –
Indian Man: Hello, what you doing? (snatching back the can from the hands of the cleaner)
Cleaner: (looks agitated) finished already.
Indian Man: What finished? You hold it you know still have inside right! (and he went on to demonstrate that there was indeed some stout left in there)
Cleaner: FXXk You lah. I pay you lah.
Indian Man: (became more agitated on hearing the 4 letter word ~ and replied in some tamil language I cannot comprehend).
Cleaner: (made a crude sign ~ the sort that men likes to do ~ bringing an open palm towards a fisted palm creating a “pop” sound). You Singaporean always bully Malaysian, is it?
Indian Man: You bloody Malaysian go back lah. Work also cannot work properly.
Cleaner: (more crude signs using his hands making more "popping" sounds ~ oh mine!!!)
…….
All hell broke loose for the next 10 mins or so and I was like ~ are they going to take my bowl of prawn mee and splashed at each other. Should I just walk away and leave them to fight it out, abandoning my bowl of noodles? There goes my peaceful lunch, I wondered.
Somehow, I stood up and without thinking too much – I told both of them to cool down. A few guys also came forward and tried to diffuse the situation.
My Questions:
1. Was the elderly indian man under the mistaken impression that the cleaner was attempting to “steal” his unfinished stout? I really have no idea. How much does a stout cost in a kopishop???
2. Was it societal prejudice against cleaners?
3. Why are men so agitated about minor issues such as these?
4. What society are we heading into with all these country prejudices? Where is the gracious and polite society that was promised to us?
5. Who is responsible for all these mess in our society – race, religion, ethnicity, gender, income, country of origin and what have you all fused and ready to explode anytime, even over a minor can of stout !?!
I somewhat find that this country is heading for a big mess in time to come after the episode this afternoon.
[Message to Racists – Don’t be a clown and start your nonsensical racism comments and those guess the race gibberish! If you have nothing better to say, just keep your keyboard away from your mucky hands]
Anyway, I had lunch at a kopishop near office today and witnessed a “near fight” just in front of me.
As my “kakis” are still away on leave, I ate alone – sharing a table with a smartly dressed elderly indian man who was drinking a big can of ABC Stout.
Before I sat down, I asked for “permission” and he smiled at me, gesturing please do (though I was a little sceptical about sitting there cos I am wary of people who drink in bright sunny lunch hours, but I guess I had no choice as I was a single diner today).
I thanked him and sat down and happily munching my prawn noodles, took out my mobile and engrossed myself reading the latest news on CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press apps and also the mobile version of this Forum.
The elderly indian chap must have left to order another can of stout. Then, the dish clearing man (also an Indian but a much younger chap) came and cleared the supposedly leftover can of ABC stout and next thing I heard –
Indian Man: Hello, what you doing? (snatching back the can from the hands of the cleaner)
Cleaner: (looks agitated) finished already.
Indian Man: What finished? You hold it you know still have inside right! (and he went on to demonstrate that there was indeed some stout left in there)
Cleaner: FXXk You lah. I pay you lah.
Indian Man: (became more agitated on hearing the 4 letter word ~ and replied in some tamil language I cannot comprehend).
Cleaner: (made a crude sign ~ the sort that men likes to do ~ bringing an open palm towards a fisted palm creating a “pop” sound). You Singaporean always bully Malaysian, is it?
Indian Man: You bloody Malaysian go back lah. Work also cannot work properly.
Cleaner: (more crude signs using his hands making more "popping" sounds ~ oh mine!!!)
…….
All hell broke loose for the next 10 mins or so and I was like ~ are they going to take my bowl of prawn mee and splashed at each other. Should I just walk away and leave them to fight it out, abandoning my bowl of noodles? There goes my peaceful lunch, I wondered.
Somehow, I stood up and without thinking too much – I told both of them to cool down. A few guys also came forward and tried to diffuse the situation.
My Questions:
1. Was the elderly indian man under the mistaken impression that the cleaner was attempting to “steal” his unfinished stout? I really have no idea. How much does a stout cost in a kopishop???
2. Was it societal prejudice against cleaners?
3. Why are men so agitated about minor issues such as these?
4. What society are we heading into with all these country prejudices? Where is the gracious and polite society that was promised to us?
5. Who is responsible for all these mess in our society – race, religion, ethnicity, gender, income, country of origin and what have you all fused and ready to explode anytime, even over a minor can of stout !?!
I somewhat find that this country is heading for a big mess in time to come after the episode this afternoon.
[Message to Racists – Don’t be a clown and start your nonsensical racism comments and those guess the race gibberish! If you have nothing better to say, just keep your keyboard away from your mucky hands]
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