Who are we representing?

I have been wondering for the longest time as to how 'burdened' can one person get. By 'burdened' I mean the responsibility that we carry for ourselves, our family, our school and our country.

You see, when we step out of the house and walk on the streets, we are probably not, and cannot be, ourselves.

We (at least I) must remind ourselves that we represent our family, our dialect, our race, our school and even our country. How this thought arose was when we were talking about how we judge which school certain people come from. I know this is very stereotypical and rather mean but I would say, there is 70% truth in this, but not always accurate.

I usually guess where a person went to school by the way s/he talks. If he has a very flat intonation or puts "s" where there is no "s" in the word, I would immediately say that they were from a neighbourhood school. Those who articulate well, I usually guess that they are from mission schools (schools run by Catholic nuns and brothers). They are the ones who have a more (what I call) British accent.

My friend's boyfriend goes one step further as to be able to tell from which mission school the kids are from (that is assuming when they are not in their uniforms). I must hand it to him for I have not reached that level yet.

This is not to say that students from neighbourhood schools do not speak well. Most of my friends/ colleagues from neighbourhood schools do speak very well and I feel that is partly due to their parents' influence.

When I chat with friends, we often talk about which dialect group talks the loudest, which has the prettiest ladies (Teochews) and which makes the best husbands (Hainanese). We also compare Shanghainese and Beijing-ers (that's what I like to call them) and there is always a consensus as to who we prefer to be our friends.

When I see people jaywalking, throwing rubbish on the ground or spitting, I start to wonder whether they are Singaporeans or not. For we were taught from a very young age not to do so. A large part of these not-so-good habits start from young and at home though, and sometimes even if you are a Singaporean, you may still do it because you have seen your parents and your parent's parents do it. You may feel that it is nothing wrong.

I have also heard many stories about travel and how the Americans and Europeans think that everyone who have slit eyes are all from China. There are also stories from our parents' generation where the 'ang mo' think that Singapore is somewhere in China.

My own little personal experience is the surprised look on this Taiwanese auntie's face when she realised that I am a Singaporean. She expressed that she did not know that Singaporeans could speak Mandarin so well.

Therefore, with this knowledge that we are representing something as large as our own country, the onus then falls upon ourselves to be good representatives and not let people think otherwise.

There is then, two sides to the story: either you feel 'burdened' or you take pride when you step out of your house. Choose one.