Humility Is A Highly Sought-after Virtue !!!
I met a System Analyst from China. He was one of the very few Chinese nationals in Singapore who impressed me with his down-to-earth attitude and humility. I told him my positive impression of him.
But, unfortunately, in less than five minutes, the wife had said something to him, which influenced his thinking. I believe that the wife had said something out of her national narrow-mindedness and chauvinistic arrogance. The wife spoke to me only a a few words but forcefully came across to me as self-centred, arrogant and unfriendly. Anyway, I continued to talk with the husband.
As the man admittedly told me, many people in China (supposedly including his wife!!!) have locked themselves up from the outside world for too long. As a result, many of them still think they are indispensably great nationally and culturally. This self-perceived greatness has been unconsciously expressed in their speech and through their actions. This is generally true if you have been observant enough.
You might be aware that it takes great effort and financial resources for someone in China to go out of his or her country and stay abroad. When one is able to achieve that, inadvertently, both the national superiority and personal inferiority complexes set in. This creates a very confusing identity in some of them. SOME of these Chinese nationals abroad have, over time, created a culturally and socially unacceptable behaviour in certain countries including Australia, as I have been told stories of incidents that happened there.
As a Chinese Singaporean who speaks, reads and writes formal Chinese Language with reasonably good grasp of the Chinese cultural background, I feel ashamed of such behaviour. Therefore, I could not help but to tell the man and indirectly the wife, with some elaborations, that there is no place in Singapore and most parts of the world, for people who are self-centred and arrogant just because of the more than 5000 years of long-standing civilisation.
There is nothing wrong in feeling good and great about one's cultural history and identity, but we should be constantly reminded that humility remains an important and highly sought-after virtue till today!!!
But, unfortunately, in less than five minutes, the wife had said something to him, which influenced his thinking. I believe that the wife had said something out of her national narrow-mindedness and chauvinistic arrogance. The wife spoke to me only a a few words but forcefully came across to me as self-centred, arrogant and unfriendly. Anyway, I continued to talk with the husband.
As the man admittedly told me, many people in China (supposedly including his wife!!!) have locked themselves up from the outside world for too long. As a result, many of them still think they are indispensably great nationally and culturally. This self-perceived greatness has been unconsciously expressed in their speech and through their actions. This is generally true if you have been observant enough.
You might be aware that it takes great effort and financial resources for someone in China to go out of his or her country and stay abroad. When one is able to achieve that, inadvertently, both the national superiority and personal inferiority complexes set in. This creates a very confusing identity in some of them. SOME of these Chinese nationals abroad have, over time, created a culturally and socially unacceptable behaviour in certain countries including Australia, as I have been told stories of incidents that happened there.
As a Chinese Singaporean who speaks, reads and writes formal Chinese Language with reasonably good grasp of the Chinese cultural background, I feel ashamed of such behaviour. Therefore, I could not help but to tell the man and indirectly the wife, with some elaborations, that there is no place in Singapore and most parts of the world, for people who are self-centred and arrogant just because of the more than 5000 years of long-standing civilisation.
There is nothing wrong in feeling good and great about one's cultural history and identity, but we should be constantly reminded that humility remains an important and highly sought-after virtue till today!!!
posted by Jonathan Ooi @ 15.1.06
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