There hasn't been a post to this blog in a while because I've been having issues with Singapore. Delayed culture shock is one way of describing it, or, after you read this you might opt for xenophobia--the ultimate choice is yours. My reality has been harsh and sobering; it is also fraught with the fear of exposing some not-so-nice perspectives---after all, I DO want people to keep tuning in and not be turned off.
Before I continue, I'd like you to hold the image of lying on your back with your body & limbs held in light restraint while a persistent drip of cold water gently taps your upper forehead.
I've realized that I'm very American.
For starters, I can tell you what I'm not: I do not have a gigantic entitlement complex, something I've witnessed time and again both domestically and internationally from film industry people . I do not throw my weight around while grandstanding that what we have in the US is better or matters more--I've also seen how ineffective that behavior is. Besides, if I behaved that way, my mom [now deceased] would kick my ass. I'm not dismissive, exclusionary or rude.
I am honest, and sometimes unforgivingly so. Since relocating here, the restrictiveness of this city insults my sense of independence and my freedom as a free-thinker.
Now here's a day-to-day example that can be extended in all directions [drip: It's the smallest straws that finally break the camel's back]: I walk into my local bank with a sack of coins for deposit into my account. Teller says: "Sir, we only work with customer's coins on Tuesday and Thursday." I blink, fighting back laughter and disbelief [the automatic coin counter is sitting behind her on the back counter, plugged in blinking as well]. I take a big breath and assert, "Well, it's Monday morning and I'm here now so how do we solve this?" She repeats her statement with no change in inflection. Then I threaten, "I'm not coming back here with these coins." She blinks a few times, pauses, and quietly offers, "Please wait here."
She meets me on my side of the counter, escorts me to a far corner of the exterior of the bank and shows me how to use the ATM coin machine. I have no idea it exists but am happy to learn this new task.
This might seem like an extremely minor event, but I can assure you this is encountered every day, every step of the way. Drip...drip...drip....
Similar events are really pervasive in our Chinese owned corporate office which is run like a strict, catholic high school. Flinty, calvinist nuns have been replaced by men in business suits. For feminists reading this, there are no women in upper management.
The only example I'll give here is regarding photocopying: no artist on the LA design team can directly color print from her/his computer to the network computer. Instead, the inefficient, work-stopping solution to this issue is to walk over to a designated corporate employee with a memory stick, interrupt her/his workflow and wait an indeterminate length of time for the copies to materialize---that is, if they happen to be at their desk at that precise moment. At first, the request for color copies was resisted because of the 'expense' involved [the truth is: Americans are seen as wasteful and I support that], but my convincing argument was: handing someone a black&white copy of color artwork is just as informative as handing that person a blank sheet of paper. We are artists and we communicate most effectively in color. Drip...drip...drip...drip...drip.
SNAP.
The question I ask myself over and over is: "Am I really having this conversation? Again?"
Patience is not my virtue and I suppose that qualifies me as a typical American. Folks here seem okay with asking permission and waiting for everything. Though recently, one thing that no one here asked permission about was taking an extended leave for Chinese New Year--by extended, I mean 7-10 days to be with family. This annual event is a mass exodus over sometimes thousands of miles to renew familial ties in a big way. In American terms, this holiday is so huge in Asia, that it encompasses the essence of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year's Celebration, but with gunpowder. Fireworks and loud, bashing noises go on for three weeks to drive away negative and evil spirits of the past year. While this cleansing happens, the focus is purely about Luck and Money for the newly unfolding spring and year ahead. What else is there, right?
For my money, I'd wish for individual thought and a more callow, enterprising spirit. Gong Xi Fa Cai = Happy New Year. Drip.
