26 July 2021
The media needs to stop using these age derogatory terms in addressing people. Everything that is wrong, is wrong here. Why write articles that refer to people as "uncle" and "auntie"? Unprofessional, uneducated, small-minded reporters.
Where do these newspaper reporters/writers come from? Chinese-educated? Do they have a degree? Work only for a small island & report crap. Island reporters.
Since when was "auntie" and "uncle" endearing in addressing strangers? Why impose your own prejudice regarding older people with words that clearly look down on them?
One does not call presidents and their wives "aunties" and "uncles" when one meets and greets them. Do you call a CEO of a company "Hello, auntie." or "Hi, uncle." even though he/she obviously isn't young anymore? Of course not. You want to be laughed at for being a peasant?
So why embarrass yourself by calling another person who is unrelated to you, "auntie" or "uncle"? Why can't you extend the same respect for a CEO to any older person who is no less an individual?
Why hurt the person with the age-related insult when it was unprovoked? Why attack the older person psychologically?
Such terms of address that target a person's age, are psychologically damaging. And those people who do that, know that. In other words, they are evil-hearted, malicious. Far from the "respect" that they pretend to feel for persons whom they perceive as older than themselves, they aim to belittle and demean. Such people have psychological issues such that they need to put other people down in order to feel good.
Even when the person expressly want to be called by their name, the age-discriminator will refuse to call the person by his/her name, and instead purposely call the person "auntie" or "uncle". Why?
Age-discriminatory name calling is prevalent in Singapore. Even policemen and policewomen do it, not just the lower levels of society. If you work in F&B where they are plenty of Malaysians and other foreigners, you get hit by age-discriminatory insults everyday.
It becomes hard to stand up tall, after a while. Imagine: you fit a facial mask routine everyday, you dress beautifully, you do your hair. All this work, for what? All so that you look youngish and pretty. You feel positive about yourself. Then you go shopping and suddenly for no reason, at some point, someone calls you "auntie".
A few more times everyday & you are going to start feeling like it's true. You start thinking "I am old.". Nothing you do is going to change that. You stop fixing your hair in the nice way when you appear at work. You don't see the point anymore. You feel depressed every time you go out. You want to quit working at such a place. Worse, you fear. You fear getting abruptly insulted just by stepping out of your house door. The number of your age keeps popping up in your mind whatever you do. While you are swimming and some handsome person admires you, the good feeling is killed with the thought that you are "X age", you are "X age".
But let me tell you: This age-discrimination problem is only in Singapore and perhaps in other Southeast Asia countries.
When you travel to other countries, you will find that people respect you as a person. See you as a person. In Taiwan, wherever I went, people called me "Xiao Jie" (Miss). They call every lady "Miss" regardless of whether she has kids or not with her. For men, they are "Xian Sheng" (Sir/Mister). Very neutral, very professional, very respectful.
In this alone, Taiwan is superior to Singapore. Not Taiwanese food superior. Their brains are superior. I was very happy to know this. That I need not suffer what I suffer in Singapore everyday living here.
After enduring all the age-discriminatory insults everywhere in Singapore, I feared going to Taiwan recently. I feared their customs would at some point address me in an age-discriminatory way. I felt anxiety and worry. I feared how I would be perceived upon entry into Taiwan. Thankfully, --thank you Taiwan,--my fears never happened.
Plus the fact that the Taiwanese people and even their dogs are better behaved than Singaporeans, plus their trains... I realized that Taiwan is superior.
I have been there before some years ago but at that time, I was younger. I passed off as only in my twenties even though I was in my 30s. Recently due to circumstances in life wherein any person will look like shit, I haven't been looking great. Still, there is no need to highlight a person's age since it is none of anybody's business.
I begin to see why so many educated people,--or those with better minds--left Singapore.
Calling someone "auntie" or "uncle" is as bad as racism. There is no difference.
There is also difficulty in getting hired even in F&B where age-discrimination is the worst. They can really give zero respect to a person just because he/she isn't a teenager anymore or not pretty due to age. So the fact that F&B is in trouble, I say they deserve it and it's high-time they suffer.
I am surprised that Singapore calling itself "global" is just a village with island mentality. I have so many incidents to describe that have been so insulting, it's unbelievable how the people of Singapore have become like this. Or have always been like this.
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