Coming to Singapore Made Me More Patriotic

The statement in the title was what a KL girl currently working in Singapore told me. And I must say, I agree with her.

You know how much we often complain about our country, Malaysia?

We talk about:-
How dirty the streets are,
How terrible the traffic jam is,
How rude the drivers can be,
How slow the government agencies are,
How unfair certain policies are,
On and on and on… There seem to be an endless list of negative properties about this place called Malaysia.

But at the same time, being in Singapore, you will come to see how beautiful our seemingly lousy country can be! I can’t believe it myself, but it is very true.

Being in this island, I somehow love Malaysia more than ever. Even though Singapore is more advance than Malaysia in many aspects whether it is social or economics, but it can still never really be better than Malaysia. That is what the girl and I agree on.

I guess the most obvious thing which this island can’t beat Malaysia is the sincerity of the society. In Malaysia, no matter how bad a place can be, how hectic life becomes, you will still be able to find sincere friends and have sincere talks.

But in Singapore, these don’t come often. Most people here don’t talk to each other. In their eyes, there is only their work. In other words, their money. Somehow, people here have become so competitive that they treat everybody around them as their enemy. They only slow down their footsteps to give a fake smile,3 to talk to each other when they need something from each other. There is no sincere chat here, nor a sincere smile.

Personal gain is the priority here. Because of one’s own personal interest, one can be ruthless and heartless and unfriendly, manipulate others, harm others, use others, so on.

Because of all these, I only feel that I’m in the real world when I’m back in Malaysia…