<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Why new PR finds routine joys tough
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE been in Singapore for the past 18 months and a permanent resident (PR) since January. I have been trying to integrate into the social fabric but I always feel that somehow I am not welcome and that it would be far more convenient if I was from China.
Eating out is a challenge because foodcourt workers mainly understand Mandarin and cannot verify the ingredients.
The problem is not limited to coffee shops. When I walked into VivoCity's Kopitiam eight months ago, all the signs at the stalls selling Chinese food were in Chinese.
Does that mean that customers who cannot read Chinese are not welcome or they are not expected to eat Chinese food?
At VivoCity's Chinese New Year celebrations, I was captivated by a Chinese cultural performance but would have enjoyed it more if the announcements had not been exclusively in Mandarin. Similarly the announcements at celebrations held in community centres are overwhelmingly in Mandarin.
So how do I start to blend in?
When I was planning to live in Singapore, I understood that while there are four official languages, the language linking the various communities is English. Now that I am here, Mandarin seems to be the de facto language.
As three-quarters of Singaporeans are Chinese, I well understand the predominance of Mandarin. But such a reality also means the authorities should do more to ensure that Singapore continues to maintain its cosmopolitan nature and remains the preferred destination of expatriates planning to uproot from their countries and settle abroad.
Dr Kunwar Bir Singh
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE been in Singapore for the past 18 months and a permanent resident (PR) since January. I have been trying to integrate into the social fabric but I always feel that somehow I am not welcome and that it would be far more convenient if I was from China.
Eating out is a challenge because foodcourt workers mainly understand Mandarin and cannot verify the ingredients.
The problem is not limited to coffee shops. When I walked into VivoCity's Kopitiam eight months ago, all the signs at the stalls selling Chinese food were in Chinese.
Does that mean that customers who cannot read Chinese are not welcome or they are not expected to eat Chinese food?
At VivoCity's Chinese New Year celebrations, I was captivated by a Chinese cultural performance but would have enjoyed it more if the announcements had not been exclusively in Mandarin. Similarly the announcements at celebrations held in community centres are overwhelmingly in Mandarin.
So how do I start to blend in?
When I was planning to live in Singapore, I understood that while there are four official languages, the language linking the various communities is English. Now that I am here, Mandarin seems to be the de facto language.
As three-quarters of Singaporeans are Chinese, I well understand the predominance of Mandarin. But such a reality also means the authorities should do more to ensure that Singapore continues to maintain its cosmopolitan nature and remains the preferred destination of expatriates planning to uproot from their countries and settle abroad.
Dr Kunwar Bir Singh
