How would you define civilization? Official definition from dictionaries stated that it’s a refinement of thought, manners, or taste. But then again, who should set that standard of refinement? To me, being civilized is simply being socially responsible and I suspect some Chinese nationals prefer to call it hypocrisy. This topic will step on people’s toes but being ethnically Chinese, I feel this is something my fellow dragon siblings should take a good look at.
What prompted this thought is a recent trip to HK via Macau. As we had booked our flight out of Bangkok late, the only route available to HK is on AirAsia via Macau. I’ve been avoiding China (excluding HK) over the years due to the people’s generally uncivilized behaviour. So, for this trip via Macau, I was all prepared for that extreme rudeness since I’m expecting there will be lots of Chinese tourists on this flight. With that in mind, I paid extras for the Express Boarding option on AirAsia in order to avoid rubbing (literally) shoulders with the Chinese. Thank god I did.
While at the boarding gate, upon seeing the airline staff approaching the announcement stand, the Chinese flocked to the counter like bees to honey. Who cares about the kids and elderly when this is a budget airline and we are Chinese, mind you. Their rule of thumb for queing is DO NOT LEAVE any space in between, row wise and column wise. So you will get to see this really chaotic situation of 3 rows in a line meant for 1 and cheeks pressing on backs. When the Express Boarding (moi) passengers were invited to their designated priority queue, one dissatisfied Chinese actually question me (she sounded fine though while the others look on like I’m a freshly baked Peking Duck).
My unpleasant experiences also include the shouting conversations prior to the plane taking off and squabbling between a teenage girl and a man in his late twenties at the custom. Yes, they are all Chinese nationals. Compared to my flights to China 6 years ago, this is a much improved situation. At least there’s no loud conversations in the sky and no smelly feet or ‘dragons’ blocking the aisle.
I’ve been trying to empathize with their behaviour and can actually sound really open minded and forgiving during conversations with friends. But when I’m surrounded by them, it’s really hard to stomach their obnoxious behaviour and I’m only a guy who survive without hair gel nor cufflinks.
However, I still believe civilization takes time and it sure doesn’t equate to wealth. It has to go through a long stretch of self-criticisms to reach there. Remember those days when we can see the term Kiasu on our (Singapore’s) papers nearly on a daily basis? What about the mountains of food on plates at buffet dinner? Not that we are totally rid of that by now but at least it isn’t as prevalent. To me, that is a progress in civilization. Having been shut out from the rest of the world for so long, it is understandable that the Chinese, with their new found wealth and international exposure, is still trying to fathom why spitting in a museum is disgusting. Hopefully, the Olympics will speed up their effort to become a more civilized nation though I’m quite sure we will need to continue ‘empathizing’ for several more years to come and I will try my best to stay out during this transition period.
