Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen

In today’s New York Times, there’s an article about how a whole industry is growing up around how to deal with jerks, dolts, nitwits or, as the Times puts it politely, “difficult people.”

We Singaporeans know this state of affairs intimately. Maybe it has to do with the size of our country, but for some reason (I’m sure you have reasons of your own), I find Singaporeans to be one of the most irritable people I’ve ever encountered, and often the source of that irritation is fellow Singaporeans.

I’ve heard this complaint from so many expat Singaporeans visiting home: the first 2 days of being home is all sweetness and light, catching up with friends and makan, but by the 3rd day, their blood pressure shoots up, due to any number of factors ranging from reading the Straits Times to watching Channel 5. Familiarity breeds contempt, perhaps?

Well, hopefully some professional help is on the way! Although to be honest, I find many behavioural psychology-types (especially self-help and motivational speakers) who are also invariably the folks behind these books and programmes, to be quite irritating too.

But as the article suggests, the problem is probably not them, but me… How irritating.

Share on Facebook