Don't sia suay Singapore while travelling, man warns people seen jumping queue in Bintan

Whenever Ray Pang is overseas, he does not dare tell other travellers that he's a Singaporean.

And it's for a good reason, he said in a TikTok video on Thursday (Nov 24).

"I feel so sia suay. Singaporeans are damn sia suay," Pang quipped.

"Sia suay" is a Hokkien colloquialism used to describe embarrassing or disgraceful situations.

To prove his point on how several misbehaving Singaporeans have tarnished their reputation abroad, Pang shared an "ugly" incident that took place at a ferry terminal in Bintan last weekend.

Adding that he was with his family – including two kids and two elderly folks – Pang said that they joined a queue and stood for about 30 minutes to board a ferry back to Singapore.

He said: "[While] we were standing and waiting, [there were] those who were chilling and [sitting at the side].

"When the gates finally opened 30 minutes later, everyone stood up, dashed and jammed up the gate."

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@raypangyh/video/7169486636223417601?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7161994054723814913[/embed]

Such an inconsiderate act was unfair for families with young children who stood and waited in line to board the ferry together, a frustrated Pang said, adding it was an "ugly scene".

"To remind all Singaporeans [since] we can now all travel, please don't sia suay Singapore."

In the two-minute clip, Pang also pointed out the difference between being kiasu [afraid to lose out], and an embarrassment.

"You can be kiasu in a very graceful manner," he quipped.

When a netizen candidly suggested in the comments that those sia suay Singaporeans had the urge to use the toilet, Pang replied: "Worse than that. Like a zombie apocalypse."

Several netizens also thanked Pang for airing his views about misbehaving Singaporeans, with comedian Hossan Leong chiming in and agreeing. 

"Finally, someone is speaking up," a netizen said.

Other netizens pointed out that it's not just Singaporeans who exhibit such behaviour overseas.

AsiaOne has contacted Pang for more information.

Ugly Singaporeans

This is not the first time that Singaporeans have been called out for misbehaving overseas.

In April, a columnist from Malaysian newspaper The Star wondered if the Causeway reopening led to the return of 'ugly Singaporeans'.

In a commentary piece, Mergawati Zulfakar gave examples of several Singaporeans who had "behaved badly" in Malaysia of late.

These incidents include Singaporeans chalking up traffic offences, those who fuelled their cars with Ron95 petrol, and a man allegedly caught peeing by the sidewalk.

"We cannot allow Singapore kiasu-ness to creep in, and they should be made to pay for bad behaviour," Mergawati said.

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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