Stephanie released a video to further defend why she’s not proud to be Singaporean.
Here are 8 reasons, why she is wrong:
1. Stephanie claims Singaporeans will not make it in alternative, creative careers.
These people would have something to say about that:
Granted, some of these people found their pot of gold overseas first before they return. But nothing takes away the fact that they are Singaporean and have found renewed respect back home.
2. Stephanie claims Singapore is too obsessed with grades and if you do badly in school you won’t do well.
These companies were all started by people with no formal education:
(You may not have eaten here, but it is a multi-million dollar restaurant. Each meal here costs no less than S$200)
And there is so much funding by the government. They are literally telling you to go take the money and build your empire.
3. She says it is cheaper to live in Australia than Singapore
…and she is not wrong. Cars, land, property, food are all cheaper in Australia. And this is why:
4. She claims our education system does not support creative people
She has not heard of the existence of the 5 major art schools in Singapore. Or the sports school.
5. Steph thinks Singapore is too rigid for her taste
We’d like to point her to this quote:
“There is nothing to prevent you from pushing your propaganda, to push your programme out to the students or with the public at large…and if you can carry the ground, if you are right, you win. That’s democracy.”
– Lee Kuan Yew telling students to form political parties, Straits Times, Feb 1, 2005
6. She thinks Australia is better because random people come along to her and ask if her things are ok.
And these probably explain why:
7. Freedom of speech does not exist.
These websites show it does:
(Note: Breakfast Network’s Facebook page is still around. Bertha is still writing her own opinions on her personal blog)
8. She seems to think that Singapore only rewards people who are in the paper chase and hope to become lawyers and doctors.
These people don’t think so:
She wants to know if there is a reason why we should be proud of Singapore.
I’ve chosen to use his photo to demonstrate why I am proud of Singapore.
Despite the unfairness. Despite the bitterness. He chose to carry on and live a rich life. It is not easy and I applaud his resilience. I may not be able to do like he did.
And despite this expensive city, despite its smallness, despite everything that’s difficult in the Singaporean environment. I know I can make a difference with my life. There is no need to blame culture, to blame a mysterious entity called “Singapore”, to throw harsh words at a people I grew up with.
I think I can make my life a richer life, a better life and I am definitely in a better position to do so than if i was born anywhere else.
I am a Singaporean.
I am proud of it.
(PS: Your accent is painful to listen to)
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nice viewpoints and evidence in this article
just wish to correct one of your facts
i study in aus; FOOD in australia is wayyyy more expensive than food here. one serving of chicken rice costs about $9AUD on average. price of western food dishes /any proper meal is similar. they don’t have cheap food servings anywhere near our $3 hawker meals. even if u buy your own groceries, those cost more too
What you’ve referred to is the cost of dining out, which holds true at the lower price levels. I agree that dining out at the most basic level available in Australia costs more than in Singapore. However, this is not only because of the absence of food centres and coffeeshops down under, but also because of wage cost and serving size.
On a related note, while one would be hard pressed not to find chicken rice at any food centre or coffeeshop in Singapore, I would consider the dish as somewhat more exotic in Australia. Perhaps a more level comparison would be the cost of a meal at McDonald’s, though many would argue whether what they serve is really food, but that’s another subject. I remember their breakfast to be cheaper in Australia.
Moving into the higher end though, dining out in Australia is mostly cheaper than in Singapore. Case in point: a 10-course degustation at Tetsuya’s costs AUD220 before 10% GST while the 10-course degustation at Waku Ghin costs SGD400++.
If it’s fresh produce we talk about, food in Australia CAN BE cheaper than in Singapore. Compare prices for beef and dairy at Woolworth’s against Fairprice. Local produce down under but have to be airflown into Singapore. So while you’re there, enjoy your steaks and lattes (barring any dietary restrictions). Oh, and booze, too, though that’s not food :)
i dont think comparing tetsuya and waku ghin is a fair ‘case’. I’ve eaten at both, both cater to different markets, firstly tetsuya uses local produce from the country itself, alot of their food techniques are much simpler than Waku ghin’s. They try to make do with local produce to create a standard degustation menu. However in waku ghin, you literally get served the best from all over the world. Down to the yes, grated wasabi . Seafood is imported from tasmania and even the coffee is produced by tetsuya’s own beans in japan. Their level of food technique, balance and textures is more refined than tetsuya , hence the price difference. It’s like comparing a toyota to a mercedes.
agreed. Most restaurants price very differently too…PPP will be a much better indicator of living standards instead. You have to take note that australians earn more too across the board since there is a relatively high minimum wage!
i had a McDonald’s meal in Australia,
It is more expensive and it taste horrible
I’m sorry, I study and live in Australia. I take care of my Groceries both in Australia and singapore. To be fair and honest, Australia Groceries pricing is decent and in many ways ways cheaper than singapore, examples include milk and . $12 a kg for a rump steak. The average person eats 250gm a meal, that’s 3 bucks.. add in Veg sides perhaps 5 bucks for a good quality meal. Be a smart shopper.. I would prefer australia grocery prices here anytime.. of course that is perhaps bcos my dietary staples mainly consist of proteins and it’s much cheaper in Australia.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Singapore&country2=Australia
it’s really difficult to compare the 2 nation’s cost of living item by item because it is affected by so many different factors. As someone rightly pointed out, add in cars and property, of cos SG will be more expensive. But in terms of daily necessities, SG is generally cheaper. Think public transport (bus, metro or taxi fares), cost of dining out, clothes etc. As for groceries, it really depends on what items we are talking about. Many have cited dairy and farm products but such items being cheaper is not surprising given all the farms AUS has. But look at other groceries like bread and coke, and SG is significantly cheaper.
By the by, a glaring reflection of how ignorant she is about the real working world – I’m pretty sure her claim that AUS earning:spending ratio is utterly wrong. Gross pay to spending? Sure. Factor in respective effective income tax rates and I doubt the claim holds…
Eh, her accent si beh jialat leh…. wanna sound ang moh but damn fail.
You are awesome.
She has her points – but it just boils down to teenage angst than anything else. She’s got a pretty face and and she can use that to her advantage anywhere in the world. Having that said, Singapore won’t miss her.
Not convinced. I could simply pull out any photos and pictures and show u more people who are of disadvantaged due to our political demographic.
Wow! Please do it. Enlighten us.
so… where’s your post full of disadvantaged people photos?
Thanks for choosing us over ST and TODAY as a symbol of freedom of speech :)
C’mon girl – grow up. It’s just a phase and you’ll regret all this in the future.
If she can slag off her own country like this. She can also slag off her employer. Her clients. Her friends.
agree, Not to mention her future husband ^^
she has good points though. and let’s be honest, for a population of about 5.3 million, how many people in the creative arts have flourished to be more than regionally, or locally, renown?
That point aside, I study in Australia after my O levels, and I can guarantee that the people there are much more open and friendlier. Students, both international and local, are also much less stressed and given more freedom to express their thoughts and creativity. Maybe it’s just me, but there was always a feeling of constriction and repression of anything outside of “the norms” and standards of our (Singapore’s) society.
I just wanna reply you because I feel your comment is dumb. Seriously, how can you compare population to talent? OF course, more population = higher chance more people into art = higher chances for a talent to be spotted. But that does not mean it will guarantee there will be one?
If that is the case, china would have dominate in almost everything (sports and technology) right now no? But did they?
Freedom to express their Thoughts? Wow! You are joking right? Are you living in a hole? We have facebook, whatsapp, snapchat. There are so many medium for us to use.
I just want to reply you too bcos ur comment is dumb. I believe she referred to relative relative figures rather than absolute figures. Even by comparison of percentages. AUSTRALIA does have way more people in the creative industry than singapore. A uni degree doesn’t mean much over there and isn’t as sought after compared to singapore.
Well, I recently learnt in my Irish Literature class that there are a lot of Irish people (from the Republic of Ireland, where the population is comparable to Singapore’s) in the arts… according to my prof anyway.
I just found that interesting to note, if one were to want a point of comparison. :)
And you said you study in Australia, do you ever attented a lecture in Republic Poly? I still remember those classmate just facebook through the class, when they actually have a chance to talk freely. it’s not about the country, it’s about how one wants to live his/her life? When you think of boudaries, you are dead to the world already.People who can beat the world are who can survive with what they have.
Dear article writer,
Thank you for using your my uncle, Jason Chee’s picture as an image to the rest of the world that he shows that no matter how cruel life can be to you, you can still live the best out of it.
Have a great new year ahead.
With regards to point 1, I seriously respect those who, due to the lack of support for them in Singapore, have “found their pot of gold overseas first before they return”.
Lets just say, the funding of overseas scholars in Singapore proves the counter point. We are essentially paying these people to find their pot of gold in Singapore before returning to their motherland, and thus earning the respect of their own people.
Based on your logic, we should be curbing the amount of “foreign talent” in Singapore; Something of which the govt is going against.
Good guys will do things benefit both country :)
Ok, i seriously wanted to b the clown and say the point about her boobs is the best but tht’s until i saw the pic of jason chee and all i gotta say to you is, good job man
bro. take it easy lar. she is not entirely wrong. what do you have to say about to pointers like “singaporeans are not nice” and “singaporeans are not happy”? there is some truth in there. we grumble abt the government all the time, yesterday just released news on mrt/bus price increase, you shld have seen the number of angry posts on facebook regarding this man.
plus, she also pointed out singapore does not encourage the nurture of arts and creativity which is very true. though you’ve cited those arts/sports sch, u try telling ur relatives during CNY you study in one of those schs, the first thing they give you is that “oh you poor thing” “cannot make it into a good sch” look. trust me. and if every single one of those artiste you’ve named needs to make their first pot of gold ELSEWHERE before coming back here, this really speaks of how not-supportive our general environment here is on arts. and can you really name anyone who made their first pot of gold big time HERE in singapore and then eventually got famous else where?
and the so said “singaporeans do make alternative, creative career choices” you said above hor, i dont think so leh. i look left look right, you can name the artiste lar, in the mainstream how many can you find?
i can tell u for sure, singapore tries to make things right, they really do. they make a lot of effort to address what we’re lacking. we set up speaker’s corner because pple say we dont have freedom of speech (yet you need to apply for approval from the government BEFORE you can speak at the speaker’s corner), we set up arts/sports sch so that we can have greater diversity in our education system but hor, most of these things, do for show only. touch and go. it’s like a checklist. ah, you say i dont have this, ok let me build this and TADAH, now i have liao.
but the actual effects or results of these supposed “checked” items singapore has established, questionable lar. so your points above, really also touch and go. if got like 5 out of 5 million you also can use to say we really have hor, then you need to remind yourself, she said MOST and not everybody. so your example of 5 from each of the above just nice falls into the small percentage of exceptions lor. but honestly, 5 out of 5 million is hardly statistically sound.. you can’t proof a point with 5 out of 5 million (when she already said MOST and not everybody)..
chill bro.
Nailed it!
agreed!
i’m guessing you’ve never lived overseas before.
and i’m guessing you have tasted the sweet, sweet fruits of living overseas and never want to live in dingy old singapore anymore?
Wow I read what u just said all I see is what pappy rallies is all about bullshit. Freedom to speak ? Nope try and see what happen when you talk bad abt the familee. Pinky long will get u . And u never really travel overseas at all? Stuff in singapore is expensive. Sales or no sales expensive period , frankly speaking its a sense of fresh air that some 1 with fame will speak up and share what a lot of Singaporeans feel.
1) I do not understand what these people are arguing about. Being Singaporean is a nationality, which means you are either born a singaporean or apply to be. How do you take pride in something you’re born with? You only take pride in something you work hard for. Thus, i would say i’m happy to be Singaporean but not proud. Argument here is invalid to begin with.
2) Singapore, on our worst day, is still better than most countries at their best. During the economical collapse, many people lost their jobs. Singapore managed to build not one, but two casinos. This brought investors, job opportunities and tourism. We pulled through like a champ. We are a small country that no one will ever notice on the map, but we are 25th on the Human Development Index, which is compared globally.
3) Every system is flawed, Democratic or communist, capitalist or liberal. Greed is an inevitable. Singapore is a country where if you do not care about the politics and work, you could earn enough for yourself. Starting a family, buying a house, owning a car is too expensive for the younger generation. This has to be further improved upon.
4) There’s a difference between being honest and being ang moh pai. This video compares minimum wages of singapore and australia, but no tax is involved. Research should have been done on welfare, healthcare, income tax, natural resources (e.g oil) and other important issues.
5) The part about careers and education system contradicted itself. Many of our parents try to convince us that being a doctor or lawyer is the best career choice because of the pay and status, which actually means they want us to be financially stable when they’re not around to support us any longer ( and of course can show off to the neighbour lah! ). The education system is there simply to stream us into our different levels, but where do majority of us end up? SIM, Kaplan, SMU, NUS. There are some things called standards and qualifications. Would you consult a doctor with the passion but not the grades or licence? Singapore has a balance of academic and arts institutes and even a sports school. We have all played the recorder since primary 1 till secondary school and we have to at least get a B. Would you rather have a country with a higher artist ratio to any other professions? The system minimally ensures Singapore runs smoothly and the working class will be able to put 3 meals on the table daily with realistic hard work, that is a well managed country. We are not an oil producing country that can survive without paying tax and sit back and relax kind of country, we do not have pastures and cows like australia and government pension. Our parents were brought up by this system, believing that working a 9-5 would provide our generation with the best, sacrificing their dreams so that we could live ours. Simply turning left when the road turns right does not mean thinking out of the box. It is looking at the situation at a different angle, admitting it’s flaws and improving.
Conclusion: Being asians, we are brought up to be more conservative but this does not mean we don’t know how to voice out. We are a multi racial country once British colonised. Being Singaporean means being cha-pa-lang. We are survival at the raw-est form, adapting to every situation. It’s not that we’re not open minded, we act blur to live longer.
*thumbs up* by far i think you made the most sensible points.
Good points. But notice the many responses to Stephanie’s ‘ranting’. I tend to agree with her, and will ask about her things if got chance. Ask for arts and things expensive, these issues cannot be discussed at the same time. Poor and rich people can enjoy arts, and can pursue them. But to want things cheap, just earn more money lah, things well be cheap, relatively, isn’t it?
Migrate or move overseas then. Most kids have not seen or live the worse times yet and things may prove to be even more challenging to come. No doubt inflation will enact but somehow cost of living here is still comfortable here. The only niggling issue we have here is the views carried over from malayan days till now is that ONLY lawyers, doctors or other white collared professions are terms of success while the neverending lust for luxurious living and the constant need to lament for ‘better’ living via various means, you think it we have it. Put it to English, we are taught to be insatiable, sacrificing basic human understanding for others. For steph, i’d encourage her go overseas and not return since she greatly felt its heaven out there and if she makes it, good for her and theres no need to claim she’s Singaporean or whichever nationality so long she’s happy with it. Just as the saying goes ‘the grass is greener on the other side….only if you have the ability to bring water to it’. Ful stop.
She has lived in Sydney, Australia, as she mentioned, alongside Taiwan, and as she said herself, she just prefers Taiwan and Australia to Singapore. As it goes, creativity does not just mean creating a piece of art or literature, but also having liberties in the way you think and encompassing different points of view. Singaporeans still lack the latter by default of education system and upbringing.
As for being proud or ashamed, you are born with that nationality, although you can technically discard it once you obtain a different citizenship elsewhere. You cannot be proud or ashamed of something which you are shoved with since you are a baby. You can only decide if you feel ashamed or proud of what your countrymen do.
People should cut her some slack about her Australian-sounding accent. She lived in Australia for a while, and people tend to acquire the accent(s) of the majority in that place where they live even if it is for months. She just came back to Singapore too from Sydney, Australia, as she suggested in her video about being deceived by the manager of the K-pop entertainment company that she did not sing in Korean while she was in Australia. It might or might not fade away depending on where she lives and whom she is surrounded by.
Meh.
Like many artistes in Sin, her mouth will soon be plastered in Sin’s money over tea. Most will tone down and just go with the money path. Success is a great silencer.
Don’t worry! Breakfast Network may be back soon! :)
I guess i have boobs too because i get the same experience with steph on point 6 as well. I better seek help soon.
In every system, they will be people who succeed or fail. In you look west, or anywhere, its the same. There might be places where Art is more appreciated and even economically viable, but are the system without their bind spots for certain groups of people?
Just think of corruption, money-politics, hyper rich-poor gap.
Of course, there are other countries doing better than us, so lets learn from them, push our boundary, we are a small Singapore, it is easy to make a difference.
Not sure if raving about it make a difference, except “raising awareness”
thank you for posting this and sticking up for what you believe in! Kudos to you.
Love, all the proud Singaporeans out there who are disgraced by Stephanie
One of the best and highly regarded creative person in the world now is a Singaporean. Tham Khai Meng – Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy and Chairman of Worldwide Creative Council.
As one of the most highly-awarded creative directors of his generation, Khai has served on numerous juries. He was President of both the Film and Press juries at Cannes in 2012 and has chaired juries at D&AD, One Show, the Clios, London International Advertising, Lynx, Adfest and Spikes.
AdAge has called Khai ‘One of the world’s most influential people in the communication business.’
Got creative anot??
You have your points. you are amazing. and to you Ms.Stephanie, I believe the person who made this is not trying to bring you down but actually wants you to realize that being different can be good, but don’t go all overly dramatic with an accent. “you young chap”
The word “Creativity” doesn’t just pinpoint towards the creative industry. I guess that’s what a lot of people get mixed up with.
It’s not just being creative in the tangible sort of way, (designing/art/singing…etc).
It’s more of open mindedness, seeing things in a bigger picture, creating a different perspective, questioning.
That’s what our mentality lacks.
Steph Micayle is the most creative and uniquely different SG Asian female to bare her very average looking asian boobs in her utube videos to get people to hear what she has to say.
It’s always amusing to see girls like her trying so hard to appear different from who they really are; for example her use of english sounding name to displace her asian sounding ‘Koh’ which usually makes little sense and appeal in its own right. I mean what’s Micayle? Is that the type of english being taught here in school?
The failure of your country’s education is to have produced people like Micayle who rants just about anything, plain dumb in the mind but yet pretending to know the answers. She is right to say that its the majority of Singaporeans, the only thing is that she is also one of the majority.
It’s really quite funny whenever I see girls like these who spare no effort to impress me with their very poor sounding English, which I will usually compliment it’s the best I have ever heard. The hilarious thing is, they actually have the decency to believe in it. I don’t even have to try hard to impress. I mean seriously, it’s heaven on earth here in SIN and I can imagine no other places on this planet to pick up ladies by stroking their deep seated insecurity and helping them practice their poorly accented English which they hold so dearly to. I love this game.
LIKES “SINGAPORE” -> STAY
UNLIKES “SINGAPORE” -> LEAVE and discard your citizenship.
Give others chance to stay in Singapore.
I like this – bull’s eye solution!
I’ll like to point out that the cost of food in SG is way cheaper than AUS . But one thing that still makes this bitch a Singaporean is that she complains too much.
Actually illogical comparison on both ends, SG has always like to make itself look big and ready to take on big megalopolis like NY, Tokyo, London etc. To each they have their plus and minuses, but its all down to mindset and your luck in dealing with people. Local SG mindset sadly is too rigid even they claimed to have ‘think out of the box’. In the first place, many things that found fame or credit here either got their own locomotives helping behind to make these minorities look good and doable in this little country. But when we list out SG on the whole, we are but a shameful lot sadly. I would tend towards Stephanie slightly but still the comfort zone in SG is too appealing to let go. So far nowhere else in the world u will find so many ‘uniques’ other than here but it doesn’t mean any ah dog ah cat can make it still, else why M’sians flock here? Why most SG graduates or skilled workers CMI overseas when vs the other competitiors and returned? Something wrong? Yes, what is it and how it shkd be corrected is up to the later generation. Ultimately, SG is ok but still needs mindset tweaking and outside SG is better if you have a really down-to-earth life path in aim.
I find Singapore is a great country. If one has worked or live in another country for a while, you will then find Singapore is actually a nice place. Many complained just like a frog in the well.