Flies on the Wall

[No racist nor xenophobic undertones intended but rather as an overture though]

Where has all the angmohs go? I was at the foodcourt earlier in my suburban little home and I saw no less than 5-6 "angmoh-related" couples. Where has this angmoh assault on the Singapore heartland come from? They come dress in their understated ang moh style and also they really none the "self-effacing" attitude in blending into crowd- it really feels kind of uncomfortable.

Maybe this is the reality of a reverse colonial hungup. This means that not recognizing their colonial superiority but as an equal, has an opposite effect of making us feel that they really want to be like us. But the reality is that it is extremely difficult- the point is that we feel guilty for treating them as an equal because in reality in their 2000 year psyche, they really think that they are better than us. It makes me as "globalized" Asian with both foots in East and West extremely guilty for making them feel humble. That's not what being Asian is about- we welcome people, but really you don't need to sink to our level- you just be yourself, that is fine by us.

This assault on the Singapore heartland by angmohs is twofold- 1) they really are participant observer taking part in an anthropological exercise of their own of mixing in the backbone of Singapore economy and society. But you see all anthropologists make the same mistake of thinking that they are the "fly on the wall" which means that we treat them as we would treat as if they were not there, how untrue, can that be. Hence they have the distinct belief in the "what I see is what I get" epistemological fallacy.

How then do they attempt to bridge this knowledge barrier- stop pretending to be like us- for crying out loud!! Once you realize that you cannot be like us, not because you are not the fly on the wall, but rather you are also part of mise-en-scene which means that how we approach the entire social situation is entirely different when you are there or not there.

The funny thing is that they are all men with Singaporean women and not "angmoh" women with local men. Let us put it this way to the "angmoh" guys out there, the women know something that we don't. They speak the truth and insofar that if it is going to take another 2000 year social baggage to get rid, then it will really take 2000 years to get rid of the 2000 year historical baggage. It doesn't matter whether we are Christian or Muslims, it simply is that anyone with Lincoln name, Washington or Smith name is immediately associated with the King of England- which is rather strange actually- because since, apparently, South East Asians is one of the biggest buyers of London property.

To state a matter of fact, it is not that we- or at least for myself is afraid of "angmoh" ladies- we simply are being self-effacing by not wanting to humble themselves from a 2000 year tradition in a matter of 50 years. We are just fair like that.

P/S: I know the above is bothering on offensive an racist undertones is extremely harsh, but there are really no white flies in reality. [ Get it, Get it]