Trending: The Anton Casey & Bernice Wong story

OK there's a silly little story that I have picked up on in social media today: it concerns a former Miss Singapore Bernice Wong who has married a very rich expatriate Anton Casey and some of the remarks they have made. Let me cut & paste the quotes which have generated quite a lot of debate on Singaporean social media today.

Mr. Anton Casey, who drives a Porsche and was feeling upset when he had to take public transport which doesn't smell very good to him. Meanwhile, offspring with his ex Miss-Singapore wife asks: "Who are all these poor people?" on the train. Anton was running out of patience to "finally wash the stench of public transport off him” after his car is repaired. He an asset management executive at Singapore investment firm drives a Porsche and is very dissatisfied about being on public transport. The Talented Mr Casey's GCP-wife, Bernice Wong (former Miss Singapore 2003) made some noteworthy comment that "I will say that the local guys I've met are are pretty sheltered. I'd like them to be more masculine, not so 'baby-ed' and less childish." 

Naturally, this offended many Singaporeans but allow me to wade in a ask a few questions. Imagine if Anton Casey wasn't white, imagine if he was Anton Chan, a local Chinese-Singaporean who has become rich and successful in banking. If a local Singaporean made such a comment about public transport, would Singaporeans be as upset? Would there be this outpouring of anti-Angmoh racism in social media? I don't think so - I suspect that it will either go unnoticed, or people would agree with him that improvements can be made to public transport, such as easing congestion during peak hours. Are Singaporeans completely happy with the MRT? Of course not.

Here's a basic fact: Singapore is a tropical country. It is very hot everyday. Because Singapore is so near the equator, there has never ever been a day in Singapore's history that it hasn't been very hot. As a result of this climate, people sweat when they are doing anything vaguely physical when out in the tropical heat, such as walking a short distance. When people sweat, they tend to smell - it is never a pleasant smell and many of us turn to deodorants to try to mask that smell. Public transport in any tropical city or in any city during the summer months are usually more unpleasant for that matter - try taking the tube or the bus in London in mid-July when the temperature is 30 degrees and it is not going to smell good, I assure you. It can be pretty bad during rush hour. However, in mid-January when it is 3 degrees, people are not going to sweat when it is that cold, thus the 'stink factor' on public transport is greatly reduced.

The rich in Singapore are not bothered by the tropical heat thanks to air conditioning. Heck, it is not just the rich who are enjoying the comforts of aircon, so much of Singapore is now air conditioned from public transport to malls to offices - there is always a choice for those who wish to pay for air-conditioned comfort, for example: you can eat in a hawker centre at a cheaper price (and sweat) or you can eat in a food court at a higher price (but enjoy the aircon). You can buy your groceries at the local 杂货店 which has no aircon (and presumably sweat in the process) or you can go to 7-Eleven and pay more for the same products in a much cooler and comfortable environment. It is your choice.

Why do Singaporeans take it so personally when it comes to acknowledging the basic fact that all humans (black, white, Asian alike) sweat when the weather is hot? Are they so insecure to deal with this fact? As for the silly comment by his son about poor people on the train - surely you're just splitting hairs now. He's a kid and young kids say stupid shit all the time. Surely we can all think back to the time we were about 9 or 10 years old - how many of us have not spouted some stupid, silly, vapid statement then? Except of course, when I was a child, when I said something stupid, people would have just ignored me. When children get on social media and start spouting crap, they are hung out to dry by the angry mob - so that's a very good reason to keep children out of social media.

Singapore is very hot every single day of the year.

As for Bernice Wong's statement about local men, we've been there before. I've blogged about this a lot in the past - the irony is that the silly Singaporeans on social media have coined the phrase Angmoh Dua Kee or AMDK ("white guy big dick"). Now that's a compliment really - after all, men would brag about the size of their manhood if it was something worth bragging about. So why have all these Singaporeans simply assumed that Anton Casey is rather well-hung? Have they actually verified this with his wife? Do Singaporeans not realize the irony: they are paying a huge compliment (pun intended) to the guy they are very angry with.

Anton Casey is rich (he works in wealth management) - that much we know. As for the size of his manhood, that's private - but from experience, I can tell you that not all white guys are well hung, the same way not all white guys are tall. By the same token, amongst Chinese guys, there is a the full spectrum of well hung to underdeveloped - the same way there are tall and short Chinese guys (and everything in between). I think back to my army unit back in the day in Singapore - there was a huge variation in height even within that small group. The shortest guy was about 1.55m tall and the tallest guy was about 1.85m tall. We're not built to the same specifications, there are no factory settings when it comes to our bodies - so let's not make any assumptions about things we cannot see or verify.

Let's not make any assumptions about things we can't see or verify.

But perhaps I am being a bit too literal here, perhaps the AMDK phrase isn't referring specifically to any part of Mr Casey's anatomy, but rather it refers to his position in Singaporean society as an extremely well paid expatriate, enjoying a lifestyle that most Singaporeans can only dream about. This then raises other questions: after all, it is not like the only rich people in Singapore are white foreigners - there are plenty of rich Asian Singaporeans too, those who have made their fortunes the old-fashioned way, through sheer hard work. Yes there is a wealth gap, but it is not an impossible canyon that nobody can cross. When I was a student, growing up in Singapore back in the 1980s and 1990s, our parents and teachers pushed us really hard so we could have a successful future - there was a genuine sense of optimism (verging on naivety) that we could do anything, achieve our dreams, as long as we worked hard. If we saw someone driving a Porsche, we would say, "that's the car I will buy in the future." Now from what I saw in social media today - that sense of optimism is long gone, replaced by a resentment against the presence of all these expatriates in Singapore today. It's kinda sad really as it is vital for young people to grow up with hope and optimism about their future. Why has this optimism disappeared in the last 20 years? Have things changed that much since?

Perhaps what is most telling is the way someone on the EDMW forum suggested that Anton Casey could potentially lose his job over these remarks about public transport. That is such a Singaporean reaction to the situation - so anyone who dares to speak up against the system or voice a criticism should be punished, either by the system or by his employer. That's laughable.  Well, that's the way we were brought up to think anyway. The fact is, the corporate world is a very different place - even in Singapore. If an employee makes a controversial remark on social media that may cause offence to the public, the employer would than weigh up the damage done to the company's reputation against the value this employee brings to the company. If the damage outweighs the value he adds, he will be sacked. If the value he adds outweighs the damage, then the employee will not be sacked and the employer will just have to deal with the consequences. There is no element of morality or justice to this equation - just a simple comparison of two numbers. Welcome to the real world, it seems that many younger Singaporeans still naively expect there to be an element of 'justice' in real life. Time to wake up and smell the coffee kids, the real world is not like your primary school classroom. You can't run to the teacher and say, "Teacher! That Angmoh scold Singaporeans, teacher do something about it! Expel him from Singapore, punish him!" Who are you going to turn to, who is going to help you?

Are young Singaporeans today naive and pessimistic?

This lack of optimism and confidence on the part of younger Singaporeans along with their naivety about the situation is a double whammy - it only reminded me how much Singapore has changed since I was a student growing up there all those years ago. Sure we were naive and innocent then, but at least we were optimistic about the future - now the younger generation are naive and innocent but far less optimistic about their place in society. It's a sad situation really - the next generation are going to have to struggle a lot harder than my generation and I only hope that they will have a more positive attitude about taking on the challenges they face. For example, why do they adopt such a defeatist attitude when confronted by an arrogant, rich white guy? What would your reaction be instead?

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think, thank you very much for reading.
Update, here's part 2: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/why-you-singaporeans-have-no-influence.html
part 3: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/anton-caseys-apology-and-responsefollow.html
part 4: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/lmfao-singaporean-petitions-anton.html
part 5: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-sedition-act-and-anton-casey.html
part 6: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-british-reaction-to-anton-casey.html
part 7: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/a-very-hollow-victory-for-singaporeans.html

I was extremely optimistic as a teenager in Singapore.