Keeping with Singapore's tendency in outsourcing labour, it seems that some have resorted to employing foreign workers in a bid to ensure a spot in front of bak kwa shops, as seen in this image uploaded by The Real Singapore.
First, let's define the word 'kiasu'. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it refers to a grasping, selfish attitude — as in 'I should have gone two hours earlier: the kiasu in me is growing'. Derived from the vernacular Chinese word 怕输, meaning 'fear of losing', this phobia of defeat has come to be a typical conduct among most Singaporeans, who'll resort to extreme measures to achieve success.
And yet in this case, Kiasu-ism goes onto another higher plane of deviant existence. Yes, Lim Chee Guan may offer one of the best bak kwa around, and yes, people do queue for hours to get their hands on them during the Chinese New Year period. But it's a harrowing sign of things when one resorts to taking financial advantage of foreign labourers, who'll sleep on cardboards just to ensure there's a box of pork jerkies in your house during Chinese New Year. The ignorance and insensitivity is multiplied by the fact that most Bangladeshi workers are Muslim, so they can't even touch or consume pork meat.
Gong Xi Fa Cai indeed.
Photo: The Real Singapore Facebook page
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Keeping with Singapore's tendency in outsourcing labour, it seems that some have resorted to employing foreign workers in a bid to ensure a spot in front of bak kwa shops, as seen in this image uploaded by The Real Singapore.
First, let's define the word 'kiasu'. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it refers to a grasping, selfish attitude — as in 'I should have gone two hours earlier: the kiasu in me is growing'. Derived from the vernacular Chinese word 怕输, meaning 'fear of losing', this phobia of defeat has come to be a typical conduct among most Singaporeans, who'll resort to extreme measures to achieve success.
And yet in this case, Kiasu-ism goes onto another higher plane of deviant existence. Yes, Lim Chee Guan may offer one of the best bak kwa around, and yes, people do queue for hours to get their hands on them during the Chinese New Year period. But it's a harrowing sign of things when one resorts to taking financial advantage of foreign labourers, who'll sleep on cardboards just to ensure there's a box of pork jerkies in your house during Chinese New Year. The ignorance and insensitivity is multiplied by the fact that most Bangladeshi workers are Muslim, so they can't even touch or consume pork meat.
Gong Xi Fa Cai indeed.
Photo: The Real Singapore Facebook page
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/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Subscribe to our mailing list
* indicates required
Email Address *
First Name
Last Name
(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);