9 Reasons for Not Wanting to be Associated with them.

I seldom travel overseas in tour groups for holidays. The free and easy approach is my preferred way. There are ten reasons for this preference:

Being Late Gleefully

1.  There will always be some individuals or groups in the guided tour hell-bent at holding up the rest of the tour participants by turning up late; late for joining the tour group after the morning breakfast and late from completing their shopping. I had been held up for 30 minutes in such trips before and the culprits were not apologetic about the delay. I pitied the tour guide for worrying about their whereabouts and personal safety.

Taking More than Necessary

2.  It is very typical to find a family of 4 taking up 6 seats in the coach. In this trip, a family of 5 had taken up 7 seats in the coach. Don't ask me about the mathematics. These are families with children from Raffles Girls School and Chinese High Secondary School. Maybe, their calculations were focused on their own comfort and greed than considering how they would be percieved by others.

Lack of a Sense of Responsibility

3.  Sometimes, passengers would place their shopping bags at whatever space that could be found in the coach. Towards the end of the day, we had bags on, under and behind the seats. At times, there will be one or two passengers, who wanted to stretch their legs, clear some of these bags from the seats and sat on the new clearing they had created. This is usually not a problem. It is only when the occupiers do not look after the bags they had removed and begun treating them like rubbish. They don't even bother to place these bags back onto the seats when they left the coach for their pee-breaks.

Cowardly Behaviors that Ekes!

4.  It is not unusual that in the rush to get the best buy from the shops, tour participants may break the items on display. I have done that before. I understand. However, what is most unforgiveable was to quietly return the broken pieces back to the shelves and pretend that nothing had happened. This is pure irresponsible but a popular behavior amongst Singaporean travelers. This happened in a recent trip. The mother accidently tripped a ceramic display over and it laid broken on the floor. Her teenage daughter came over and quietly placed the broken pieces back on to the shelf. This is bad behavior for the child and worse for the mother. At least, bring the item to the counter, apologies and offer them adequate compensation. To me, what they had done tantamount to stealing. This is a very cowardly behavior.

Turning Animals for Good Photo Opportunities

5.  Photo taking is a must for most people on a holiday trip. Sometimes, I could take home about 300 to 800 photographs from a single trip. However, I notice some Singaporeans behaved like animals when come to grapping photo opportunities. They would grab the photo angle totally oblivious of others, who were also keen to capture a memorable image of the occasion for their own. I had been elbowed a few times because they were too enthusiastic about taking the angle I used for my photography.

'Me' Attitude All Way Round

6.  There is one scene that has never fail to demonstrate the ugly side of Singaporeans. At the end of the day, luggage will need to be removed from the coach. It is wishful and dangerous thinking to believe that someone will look after your luggage because you are the last one to disembark from the vehicle. I had once stood next to the coach to observe what happened during the off loading of luggage, and I was shocked. The passengers were helping to off-loading luggage not because for the larger good but to get to their bags. Once their bags are off the coach and on the road, they will rush to the hotel. No one bothers about what happen to those bags their off loaded earlier anymore. It is just a 'me' attitude.

Queuing is not Unique in Singapore

7.  It seems that some tour participants had forgotten that queuing is a universal thing. This is not something unique in Singapore. However, once they crossed the national border, it is totally forgotten. Do ask if people in front of you if they are in the queue. Don't just squeeze into the queue as if being a tourist you have a right. Singaporeans need to be gracious both inside and outside our borders. I hate to be associated with some of these animals during the tour.

Difference Between Greed and Genuine Buy

8. We had just visited an outlet that merchandise different types of nuts and dried fruits. We were allowed to sample them to help us decide about our purchase. I usually am able to identify those who genuinely want to buy and those who do not. Those who are not buying usually overstayed their privilege and welcome. Also, there is little EQ amongst this kind of people. We need to know when you are filling your stomach and when is not, and please observe hygiene. It is disgusting to see individuals picking the samples with their bare-hands where there were thongs around and the tour guide warned against doing so.

Maids are Needed During their Holidays

9.  Maybe Singaporeans are used to having their maids and cleaners picking up their rubbish. The floor of the coach is always littered which brochures, tissue paper, sweet wrappers and other indescribable stuffs. Plastic bags were hung around as rubbish collectors but were not used. The coach driver had to clean up each evening.

Being a Singaporean, many times I feel very embarrassed being seen associated with this kind of Singaporeans. I hope these are only my unique experiences and only a few Singaporeans behave like this.

On behalf of these Singaporeans, I like to apologise to the people of the host nation for their un-cool behaviors.