“We Singapore or Chinapore?” – Singaporean hits out after unsavoury experience with Mustafa staff unable to speak English

A Singaporean vented his frustrations online after a sour experience with Mustafa Centre staff who were unable to assist him because they do not understand English.

Revealing that he was exasperated by staff from China who could not answer his question about where a particular product is located, Facebook user Raguvaran Naidu recounted his experience on social media. In a play-by-play style post, he wrote:

“Me: Hi do you have charcoal pills?

“PRC staff: Semor?

“Me: I’m looking for charcoal pills.

“PRC staff: Wo bu zi dao

“And then he just stood there ignoring me.

“Me again: Do you have any staff here who speaks English?

“PRC staff: Semor?

“Me: English English! Speak English!

“And he just stands there ignoring me.

“I asked him again loudly and this time, the customers turned to see what was happening and some even gave that annoyed look at the staff. He then replies something in Chinese which I couldn’t understand and points to the counter staff.

“Me: You’re working in Singapore and you don’t know English. Well done!

“Approached the counter staff and she angrily directed me to the cosmetics department to look for a Sales staff to get charcoal pills. I had to go a few rounds to find for a Sales staff who brought me back to the pharmacy side to get the pill for me.”

Asserting that he is not racist or against Chinese nationals, Raguvaran urged the Singapore Government to “hire people who can speak English at the very least!”

He added: “From ordering food at a coffee shop to this, it’s getting worse by the day! We Singapore or Chinapore? What’s our first language?!

“Nowadays, I see a lot of non-Chinese kids taking Mandarin as their second language just because it’s the majority and so that they can get a job in companies who hire “CHINESE SPEAKING ONLY”. Shame on you!”

Raguvaran also urged the the management team at Mustafa Centre to “hire staffs (sic) who are friendly and helpful. Not staffs (sic) who don’t know how to speak English, reply us (sic) in Mandarin or just ignore us or worse, direct us to wrong departments! it’s time you taught your staffs some manners!”

Read his post in full here:

-/TISG