Culture shock in Singapore

Imagine a Singaporean feeling culture shock in his homeland after three years away.



The first impression I got was an overwhelm of Chinese since Baltimore has a majority of African Americans.



Most of the youngsters I spotted had dyed hair with funky hairdos. I found it irritating to have my vision obscured by strands of hair!



While waiting at City Hall Mass Rapid Transit Station during evening rush hour for my polytechnic friends, waves of commuters just kept 'pouring' out and in through fare gates. I felt claustrophobic. Foreigners were aplenty.



Another change I noticed was while hunting local dishes at hawker centers, there was an increased number of Chinese nationals working behind the stalls or clearing the tables. Formerly, these were taken by Singaporeans and the elderly. I had to see who were mending the stalls first before speaking Hokkien or Teochew. At one hardware store, I asked the stall helper in Chinese and he replied that he spoke English.



I also saw a surge in the number of cars on roads. New taxi companies were established. Cars here are parked facing out while in USA, they are often parked facing in. I was also confused with traffic direction. A few times, I looked in the opposite direction from the oncoming traffic.

Things are changing fast and I felt out-of-place.