Better grab first, later no more!
-- Mr. Kiasu
Kiasu (怕输) is the national trait of
Singapore. From a
Hokkien
(Chinese) word meaning "
afraid (怕) to be
inferior (输)", the term was
popularized by the
eponymous cartoon character
Mr. Kiasu,
whose exploits were compiled into a best-selling book entitled
Everything also I want (
Singlish at its best!) and later even
turned into a rather less successful
sitcom. The word is now
widely used to
describe the average Singaporean's
philosophy of life, to the extent
that the word now covers everything from
competitiveness to
overengineering and outright
rudeness. Manifestations
of being kiasu (also known as
kiasuism) can be observed at...
- all-you-can-eat buffets, where people first reserve an entire table
for themselves and then cram their plates full
of more food they can eat, just to make sure they get their money's worth
(and at least as much as everybody else)
- SMRT stations at rush hour, where people insist on
attempting to cram themselves into subway trains before passengers
have disembarked
- overnight queues for special events and sales, in order to be sure to get in
Not that kiasuism hasn't had its good moments:
McDonald's
designed a
kiasuburger, whose chicken pattie was larger than the bun,
and had extra sesame seeds to boot! The kiasuburger campaign lasted
two months, and during that time 1.2 million were gobbled up.
The Alphabet of Kiasu
The essence of kiasu has been distilled into an
alphabetic list:
A - Always must win
B - Borrow but never return
C - Cheap is good
D - Don't trust anyone
E - Everything also must grab!
F - Free! Free! Free!
G - Grab first talk later
H - Help yourself to everything
I - I first, I want, I everything
J - Jump queue
K - Keep coming back for more
L - Look for discount
M - Must not lose face
N - Never mind what they think
O - Outdo everyone you know
P - Pay only when necessary
Q - Quit while you are ahead
R - Rushing and pushing wins the race
S - Sample are always welcome
T - Take but don't give
U - Unless it's free forget it
V - Vow to be number one
W - Winner takes it All! All! All!
X - X'tra = More
Y - Yell if necessary to get what you want
Z - Zebras are kiasu because they want to be black and white at the same time.
Disclaimer
But hey -- while the kiasu mentality certainly stands out in the middle
of mellow friendly
South-East Asia, to your average Westerner it's
hardly noticeable. Singapore is a tiny country that has clawed its way
to the top by outcompeting everyone else, and like in any other
rich,
fast-paced,
modern city, this has left its marks on the people as well.
Despite this, S'pore is still OK-lah!