Sunday, May 6, 2012

Invasion of PRC

The uncle in front of me order his food by giving the number. He ordered in English,  '14 and 19' from the menu display. The stall assistant, a PRC said something incomprehensible and the uncle repeated his order. The stall man answered in heavily accented Mandarin, (I realized it is Mandarin this time round) though still incomprehensible. The uncle lost his patient and started to jab at the menu on the items he wanted and said the he should learn to speak English in Singapore. The stall assistant told the uncle off that he should speak in Mandarin as he is Chinese. He then compliant to his other 2 PRC mates manning the stall about  the uncle. Yes, the whole stall is manned by PRC. They are now selling local dishes like chicken rice, laska, kua chap..etc in HDB heartland.

Sigh, typical scene repeated many times daily in recent years all over Singapore. PRC has invaded into every nooks and corners. We see them every where in all walks of life.  The main problem is they don't speak English or refuse to. I think it is a combination of both factors. We are a multi-racial society.  As a Chinese myself, I find it hard to understand their heavily accented Mandarin and fast talk. Yeah, they talk very fast. I thought we locals speak very fast, but they beat us to it.

I wonder how our Malay, Indian and other nationality friends feel, as simple daily activities now become a struggle in communication. Try asking for the bus fare or direction from a PRC bus driver - dead end. Try ordering food in hawker center, restaurant, food court - it is a chore if one does not speak Mandarin. One must be also patient enough to try to comprehend their heavy accent Mandarin.

They do not speak local Chinese dialects either. I feel closer to local Malays and Indians than Chinese from China.  Actually our govt has been successful in fostering Singapore identity during my generation. But all these are fast evaporating due the massive import of foreigners.

I feel like I am in China when in Chinatown, People's Park Complex.  The stalls are all are selling mainland Chinese food. The crowd of Chinese there speak in a language that I don't understand. The invasion is complete.

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