Pet Peeves: Inconsiderate, Rude Chinamen

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Inspiration for this entry: On my way back to study in school, just after 11.30pm, i passed a China couple, yakking away in mainlander mandarin so loudly i heard them long before i saw them.

As i crossed the road upfront, the bus rumbled past. the china couple broke into a run, and while passing me a spectacle case dropped from the chinaman's ridiculously wide-open bag. I picked it up, with an expressionless " excuse me, you dropped something."; and handed it to him with an equally deadpan "your bag is open." The prick takes back his case without a word and runs to the bus.

Come on man, even a fricking "xie xie" in ur mainlander mandarin would hv sufficed. I just saved you some trouble, and probably few hundred RMB in spec case and bribes back in your homeland. Not even a "thank you"? how ungrateful.

I'm not particularly affected by this incident, but it got me thinking: i encounter so many hundreds of chinamen in school... and not one of them has recently impressed me with polite, considerate behaviour, esp during exam period.

on normal days in normal conditions, they already irritate the hell out of me by speaking so, so loudly in normal everyday conditions. they speak as though their fren 0.2m away from them is 2m away and there's a train running between them. i am not adverse to noise, but not only would i like to hear myself think, the incessant chatter in loud mainlander mandarin likens to loud screeching - makes my skin crawl.

maybe it's alright in a crowded canteen, but imagine being stuck in a life with 2 chinamen shouting at each other: enclosed in 2m X 2m x 3m box with a speaker set at 80db screeching away. just inconsiderate. notice how we singaporeans (and some other developed cultures) do it? when we step into the lift with strangers, we lower our volume or stop talking completely. it's not to prevent eavesdropping, but more to show polite consideration to the other person; an acknowledgement that there's someone else in the space.

in the library during exam period, they show even more inconsiderate behaviour. i feel it's alright if u occupy one seat and ur bag occupies another: everyone needs personal space to move ard and place stuff. but these fricking chinamen place their stuff on one table and sit at another! i have already sat at these tables twice. both times the chinaman concerned ignores the table with his/her stuff completely, letting others looking for a seat hapless, thinking someone else occupies the seat. so while there is no extrinsic utility to the chinamen, they rather not let others have a decent place to study. maybe wat drives them is the hope that without a place to study, these other ppl would fail their exams and give them a higher grade?

also, you think chinamen shouting at each other in mainlander mandarin is bad enuff? wait til they WHISPER loudly rite in front of you in a largely quiet library. Extremely. Irritating. they push their voices higher but with no reduction in volume and rattle off in mainlander mandarin... likens to loud static in your headphones.

it's a long entry, i think i've said enuff for you guys to get the picture. there's lots more such annoying actions, and there's so, so many chinamen around. and there'll be more of them coming every year. but i'll stop here for today. i dunno how to solve this widepsread problem, besides telling these pricks off. you can bet i'm not going to any of those crowded, deafening, jostling, "developed" coastal cities in china anytime soon. probably never, with the noise i have to take in and the bribes i have to give out.

note to self: start telling these pricks off. but only when they're inconsiderate of rude, not just irritating. it's a fine line though......