Are Singaporeans Depressed and Selfish?

As an immigrant society, Singapore has a higher variety of people, cultures and moods than most places.
Therefore any generalization like this questionable.
There are, of course, grumpy and egoistic people in Singapore, but also lots of others.

Hmmm...it's a BBC Headline on the BBC website with interviews with Singaporeans. But of course you may know better...

I think it is unfair to categorize all Singaporeans in that way. One fact is that no survey/questionnaire/interview is perfect. Also when there is certainly a cost of living increase people tend to become a bit self focused. I have lived as an expat in a few countries and have met equally good people who are ready to help others in all countries including Singapore.

GladMax wrote:

I think it is unfair to categorize all Singaporeans in that way. One fact is that no survey/questionnaire/interview is perfect. Also when there is certainly a cost of living increase people tend to become a bit self focused. I have lived as an expat in a few countries and have met equally good people who are ready to help others in all countries including Singapore.

I love Singapore and have lived there so many years and visited it time and time again. It just goes to show that if the BBC had interviewed a few of us Expats instead of wasting loads of time and money interviewing thousands of local Singaporeans then they wouldn't have got their facts so wrong. Afterall, we are expats so we are usually right. 

GladMax wrote:

I think it is unfair to categorize all Singaporeans in that way. One fact is that no survey/questionnaire/interview is perfect. Also when there is certainly a cost of living increase people tend to become a bit self focused. I have lived as an expat in a few countries and have met equally good people who are ready to help others in all countries including Singapore.

agreed. that's so one-sided. and gossips/bad news sell better these days.

I have been an expat for 30+ years and my encounters with unkind and/or selfish acts during my sojourns may easily fill up the BBC newsroom when complied, literally speaking. Such incidents happen almost everywhere and a single or few examples can not simply bespeak of unkind acts of entire Singapore.If one does notices, there are probably half, if not more than that are expatriates making up the commuters on our public transportation system .... and I am quite sure most of those expatriates do resemble Singaporeans too.

If the news are from BBC, I am not surprise to hear British beating down Singapore. Having lived lived in London and parts of North England. Wintry grey dreary skies, local people who can't even afford to buy a home in their city they called London and a vastly crumbling infrastructure depress many of its locals who can't do anything about improving the dire living situation. Hooligan teenagers rule the cities and strike fear in many of its citizens who fled to France for retirement.

So any bit of negative news about Singapore is a joy for the British to report to cheer up its own people that UK isn't so shitty after all.

Um...I don't think the BBC did the survey in Singapore to cheer up the British population 

I also think that the result of the survey probably reflected how Singaporeans feel about their lives in Singapore.

Probably as you managed to travel and live allover the world your own outlook on Singapore may differ from those Singaporeans that were surveyed. I believe the BBC actually interviewed Singaporeans to arrive at this conclusion, but of course there are exceptions such as people with good jobs, more money, travel a lot etc. I have Singaporean friends who continually complain about the cost of housing, and then again I have friends from some of the richest families in Singapore who have nothing to complain about.

As for the UK, I couldn't agree with you more about it being depressed and having loads of violent teenagers and being a very grey place with lots of poverty. In fact, I've spent most of my life trying to live away from the UK for those very reasons that you detailed. Having lived in Singapore for nine years of my life, I have not seen much unhappiness, but then I am an expat and we only see one side of the coin.

If you watch in the Public transport like MRT or the Bus, people mostly they are busy with their gadgets and they have no time to look outside. We can only blame the technology which is taking most of our time.

Even I do these mistakes unconsciously some times and never did it with intention to ignore people who are in need. This does not mean that I am selfish or arrogant. It is just that I will need to pay to the environment that I am living more than the time I spend with gadgets.

Is there some thing we will need to improve? Absolutely for every one in every country.

Very sensible response from the PM..

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bb … ays-pm-lee

BBC article a good reminder to be more gracious, says PM Lee
In response to a BBC online article that dubbed Singapore “misery city”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the report served as “a good reminder” to Singaporeans to be more considerate.
“We needn’t accept everything the writer says. But her article is still a good reminder to us to be kinder and more gracious to one another,” Mr Lee wrote in a Facebook post yesterday.

venkatesan.sankar wrote:

Very sensible response from the PM..

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bb … ays-pm-lee

BBC article a good reminder to be more gracious, says PM Lee
In response to a BBC online article that dubbed Singapore “misery city”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the report served as “a good reminder” to Singaporeans to be more considerate.
“We needn’t accept everything the writer says. But her article is still a good reminder to us to be kinder and more gracious to one another,” Mr Lee wrote in a Facebook post yesterday.

Thanks for the link. Actually, I think Hong Kong people are probably even more extreme. But I don't really think it is a problem, it is more a way of life of different countries.

No, Singaporeans are not selfish.

That's great to know 

Hi Mike,

I think answers have been given to your question. This topic is now closed.

Thank you,
Christine
Expat.com team