Graciousness on S'pore's streets
Got hope?
Elderly S'porean mocked for saying please
August 20, 2008
PLEASE heed this story. It is about our streets, the inhabitants of our streets, and the way they behave.
PICTURES: TNP, ST, LIANHE ZAOBAO
It is about graciousness gone to the dogs.
And whether Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's appeal for greater kindness and graciousness will be heeded.
Add the word 'please' to our vocabulary more often, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.
One man did - and was mocked for it.
Another man, The New Paper reader Suneel Ramchandani, 31, was outraged when he saw what happened.
He was just an observer, he said, but he felt for a fellow citizen, one who is in his 70s.
Mr Yee Teck Peng, 75, was being polite when he asked for a drink at a food court in Little India.
'One coffee, please,' Mr Yee, a retiree, told the drinks stall supervisor, Mr Tay Guizhong, who is in his 20s.
The response Mr Yee received riled Mr Ramchandani.
Mr Tay said: 'How to make that? I don't know how to make 'coffee-please'.' Mr Tay answered. After saying that, he allegedly kept repeating the word 'please' in different tones.
It could be that Mr Tay has never come across customers using the word, 'please'. How else would you explain why he found it amusing enough to be facetious?
Mr Ramchandani, self-employed, was in front of Mr Yee, waiting for his drinks. He was so upset that he decided to act. Going up to Mr Tay, he told him off for his rudeness.
He told Mr Tay that he should be thankful that there are still people who are so polite.
Mr Ramchandani told Mr Tay that he should have been more polite in his response.
He even offered quick advice on the proper reply. He told the stall vendor: 'You should have answered, 'Yes, sir, thank you,' or 'Wait a minute, please'.'
He also told Mr Tay to apologise to Mr Yee for being rude and making fun of him.
Instead, Mr Tay challenged Mr Ramchandani to make a case of it. Mr Tay said: 'I was only joking with him. But, you go and report if you want to.'
When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Yee agreed with Mr Ramchandani that Mr Tay was impolite.
He had also told Mr Tay: 'You shouldn't have done that. You should not behave that way towards your customers. It is not right to make fun of people.'
Mr Tay did not apologise to Mr Yee.
Instead, he turned on Mr Ramchandani for being 'kay poh' (nosy) and stared at him angrily when he passed his table.
Mr Yee commented: 'The man was very rude and he did not project a good image of how people working in Singapore should behave.'
But he said he bears no grudge against the drinks stall and will return for his coffee.
His wife, Mrs Mary Yee, 70, a retiree, was seated at a table and did not see the exchange.
She felt there was a reason Mr Tay behaved that way. 'The man is Mandarin-speaking, so when he meets an English-speaking person, ordering drinks in a polite way, he regards him as an 'angmoh sai' (anglophile) and thus mimicks him.
'However, it doesn't give him the right to make fun of my husband.'
When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Roy Goh, 40, the Area Manager of Foodmore, said he was informed about the incident only on Thursday, after The New Paper visited the place.
It is understood that on that day, the duty supervisor was off and Mr Tay, the supervisor at another drinks stall in Bukit Panjang, covered for him.
Mr Goh felt that 'it was just a different kind of understanding of the language'.
He said: 'When customers order coffee, they simply say, 'coffee', 'coffee black' or in dialect, 'kopi o' (coffee with no sugar and milk), 'kopi gao' (strong coffee) or 'kopi siu dai' (coffee with less sugar). They usually do not say, 'Coffee, please'.'
Mr Goh felt that Mr Ramchandani is making too much of the incident.
He added: 'It was a trivial matter between the customer and supervisor and none of his (Mr Ramchandani's) concern.'
He wanted an amicable settlement of the case and offered to set up a meeting between Mr Tay and Mr Yee to resolve the issue.
Catherine Lim, teacher on attachment
Got hope?
Elderly S'porean mocked for saying please
August 20, 2008
PLEASE heed this story. It is about our streets, the inhabitants of our streets, and the way they behave.
PICTURES: TNP, ST, LIANHE ZAOBAO
It is about graciousness gone to the dogs.
And whether Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's appeal for greater kindness and graciousness will be heeded.
Add the word 'please' to our vocabulary more often, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.
One man did - and was mocked for it.
Another man, The New Paper reader Suneel Ramchandani, 31, was outraged when he saw what happened.
He was just an observer, he said, but he felt for a fellow citizen, one who is in his 70s.
Mr Yee Teck Peng, 75, was being polite when he asked for a drink at a food court in Little India.
'One coffee, please,' Mr Yee, a retiree, told the drinks stall supervisor, Mr Tay Guizhong, who is in his 20s.
The response Mr Yee received riled Mr Ramchandani.
Mr Tay said: 'How to make that? I don't know how to make 'coffee-please'.' Mr Tay answered. After saying that, he allegedly kept repeating the word 'please' in different tones.
It could be that Mr Tay has never come across customers using the word, 'please'. How else would you explain why he found it amusing enough to be facetious?
Mr Ramchandani, self-employed, was in front of Mr Yee, waiting for his drinks. He was so upset that he decided to act. Going up to Mr Tay, he told him off for his rudeness.
He told Mr Tay that he should be thankful that there are still people who are so polite.
Mr Ramchandani told Mr Tay that he should have been more polite in his response.
He even offered quick advice on the proper reply. He told the stall vendor: 'You should have answered, 'Yes, sir, thank you,' or 'Wait a minute, please'.'
He also told Mr Tay to apologise to Mr Yee for being rude and making fun of him.
Instead, Mr Tay challenged Mr Ramchandani to make a case of it. Mr Tay said: 'I was only joking with him. But, you go and report if you want to.'
When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Yee agreed with Mr Ramchandani that Mr Tay was impolite.
He had also told Mr Tay: 'You shouldn't have done that. You should not behave that way towards your customers. It is not right to make fun of people.'
Mr Tay did not apologise to Mr Yee.
Instead, he turned on Mr Ramchandani for being 'kay poh' (nosy) and stared at him angrily when he passed his table.
Mr Yee commented: 'The man was very rude and he did not project a good image of how people working in Singapore should behave.'
But he said he bears no grudge against the drinks stall and will return for his coffee.
His wife, Mrs Mary Yee, 70, a retiree, was seated at a table and did not see the exchange.
She felt there was a reason Mr Tay behaved that way. 'The man is Mandarin-speaking, so when he meets an English-speaking person, ordering drinks in a polite way, he regards him as an 'angmoh sai' (anglophile) and thus mimicks him.
'However, it doesn't give him the right to make fun of my husband.'
When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Roy Goh, 40, the Area Manager of Foodmore, said he was informed about the incident only on Thursday, after The New Paper visited the place.
It is understood that on that day, the duty supervisor was off and Mr Tay, the supervisor at another drinks stall in Bukit Panjang, covered for him.
Mr Goh felt that 'it was just a different kind of understanding of the language'.
He said: 'When customers order coffee, they simply say, 'coffee', 'coffee black' or in dialect, 'kopi o' (coffee with no sugar and milk), 'kopi gao' (strong coffee) or 'kopi siu dai' (coffee with less sugar). They usually do not say, 'Coffee, please'.'
Mr Goh felt that Mr Ramchandani is making too much of the incident.
He added: 'It was a trivial matter between the customer and supervisor and none of his (Mr Ramchandani's) concern.'
He wanted an amicable settlement of the case and offered to set up a meeting between Mr Tay and Mr Yee to resolve the issue.
Catherine Lim, teacher on attachment
