SINGAPORE: A Swiss woman living in Singapore posted a video she called “Bizarre Singaporean Habits Explained 🇸🇬 | Expat Insights” last Tuesday (Sept 5), naming queueing and chope-ing as two of the “weird and bizarre” habits.
However, for Ms Mary Mueller, “bizarre” appears to be a compliment, as she added that some of these habits are “sort of cute and nice and polite”. Nevertheless, these habits left her “perplexed” when she saw them — she “could hardly believe her eyes”.
So, for Ms Mueller, here are the “bizarre” Singaporean habits she explained in the video: “The Unwavering Queue Culture, The Chope Phenomenon, Singlish – The Unique Singaporean Language, Uncles and Aunties, and Food Lovers,” who take photos of their meals before eating.
The YouTuber praised Singapore’s queue culture, saying the Swiss could learn something from Singapore. In her home country, people rush onto the train when it arrives, jostling for the best seats, she said.
As for the “chope phenomenon”, she praised Singapore for being so safe and secure that people leave even valuable belongings to reserve places.
Ms Mueller mentioned that for her, the best Singlish words are “can, can”, “lah,” and her personal favourite, “shiok.”
She went on to explain the habit of calling older people “uncle” and “auntie” out of respect, which she loves. As for food photography, she chalked it up to the constant innovations in Singaporean cuisine.
While many commenters appreciated her video, some took exception to the use of the words “bizarre” and “weird”. Ms Mueller responded to them, explaining what she meant.
/TISG