keninabu!

Fellow Singaporeans in H-town

It's damn weird lah.

I meet Singaporeans here in H-town, and on both sides, we simultaneously want to be friendly, and start behaving as though we are strangers on Orchard Road.

I met this family in my usual Vietnamese haunt, The Original Givral's Sandwich shop (also known now as Banh Mi Hoang) in the Hoa Binh hellhole, and from the accent of one of the two ladies (I'm guessing they are either good friends or in-laws), I asked the other if they were from Singapore.

She replied with a English-upper-class-wannabe accent, "Yes. The fault lies with her (points at other woman), her accent is the giveaway!" which sparked off an immediate mental response in me, that there is nothing wrong with a Singaporean accent if others can understand you, and why should one be ashamed of being from Singapore? But then I just smiled and was polite. She asked me what I was doing here, and I said I was studying chemistry at the local uni in H-town. She heard the name, and was quite impressed, but anyway, I got back to my business of eating and paying my bill.

The other lady then made it a big deal, saying "the question is whether are you (points at first lady) a Singaporean, or are they (points at kids) Singaporean, or am I a Singaporean!" which completely befuddled me. I was like, ok....

I heard one of them talking to the other, telling her something about what I told her, about my major and my school, but I basically just ignored them. My anti-upper-class bias somehow surfaced, and prevented me from talking to them.

Or maybe it was just my old Orchard Road habits again.

Later on, thinking about it, I felt like kicking myself. This was a perfect opportunity to make connections, to find out about potential opportunities, to make new friends, and I blew it.

Oh well.

Off to sleep now.

posted by keninabu @ 11:57 PM