The Robotic Nature of Singaporeans

If you're a movie buff like I am, you would surely remember the scene in Matrix Revolutions where everyone in the whole city transformed into agents with Neo and his gang being the only ones remaining human. In a way, that is how I feel living in Singapore. Ignoring the slight nuances in their character and mannerisms, Singaporeans generally are the same. Singaporeans my age speak the same way, we react to situations roughly in the same manner and have the same narrow attitude towards life. This "narrow attitude towards life" is what I want to talk about today.

As the exams are approaching, more and more of my lived-in-Singapore- all-their-lives schoolmates are skipping meals just to get some work done. For them, their ideology is simple: "I just need to sit down and work and ignore any background distractions" which, apparently, hunger and basic needs of socialising are not part of. My dad was someone different. He realised that socialising during times of stress is key to rising to the occasion during the exams. He thus at my age, he brought his textbook to bowling alleys, and he scored well in both his game and his test later on. 

These different study methods bring a little bit of colour in my life, and I also saw this in Jakarta. Each had a different study method, and each had time to explore into different methods to see which way worked for them. For me, this makes everyone different and special in their own way. Unfortunately Singaporeans, especially those who stayed in Singapore while I went abroad, were taught that there was only one way of studying, and that's spending all day at the library. For some, it is encouraging to see Singaporean teenagers spending their time in the library while for me it just looks saddening to see so many Singaporeans live their lives without spending a little time to explore who they are and, along the way, find out what study methods works for them. Now imagine me in a sea of these people. How scary does this look as an outsider?

I was working in the library the other day (ironically, I work best outside of the house in quiet environments: the library. However I am proud to say that my study method is different and works best for me. Yes, I did take some time to understand myself in Jakarta) and my friend was asking a how to do a question. As I was trying to explain the question she said to me "Matt, I only need to know how to answer the question, not the explanation". That for me was the saddest moment in education. That was a sign right that education only served as a purpose for marks and not for knowledge purposes. Upon saying this to my mother, she responded by looking at me questioningly and asking "what's wrong with that?"

I'm not saying that all Singaporeans are like that, I'm only saying that a majority of Singaporeans act this way and at the moment I feel isolated as I fail to find people with different views towards life. There is more to life than studying, and I don't know if Singaporeans have found out how big that world is. 

I only take the pleasure that being different is another word for "unique", and that I feel more enlightened than the rabble. In a world of black and white, I am the only one that's coloured (ignoring any racist implications)

My dear reader, if you are reading this and feel the same way, please know that you are not alone and that you just have to find that someone who makes you see colours in a world of black and white.

This is what Singaporean libraries look like every day after school no matter the time of year: packed with students. 

Cheers,

Matthew Tan