Every Indians' panty buncher. To be called typical.
We try so hard at distinguishing ourselves that so many kinds of 'typical' has evolved.
So before i force my views down your throats, i tested water with various people on my MSN list who were awake at this ungodly hour.
These came back..
Chick doing Law in UK for the last few years :
erm. By endorsing the common misconception of being 'typically indian', we attach with it a negative stigma, so profound. While each race has had its quirks, its moments of closed-mindedness, such connotations do no good for the Indian community as a whole.
Chinese Goth Dude:
Singaporean Indians, when boiled down to it, are no different from Singaporeans of any other kind. Sure, their skin may be a little darker, their scent a little more exotic, but when push comes to shove, they shove as hard as a chinaman, half-f*ck ang moh, or mat salleh brotherWe love our food. They love their food. We love our shopping. They love their shopping, with even a one-up at a certain famous 24hour store.We love our drinking. They love their drinking,We love our women. They beat their women. Stereotypes aside, the Singaporeans I know, who happen to be Indian by race, had no choice or say in it. But none of us do- and it's what we share in common that makes us the same, Singaporean, whether mama, manjun, mat, or (ang) moh.And the Singaporeans I know, who just happen to be of darker tone, are decent, generous, trustworthy human beings, the same as the rest.But indians from india, however..... :P
Indian Chick:
hot tempered, egoistical, jabbers for a hobby, finds street tamil rather cool, finds indian clubs a bangin hang out, cheap cologne, ill coloured hair, homogenised sense of dressing..
Chinese 'Mobster' Dad:
very smart but out to screw with u, good business acumen but out to screw you, always overcharges you when u order at his/her indian rojak store
Northie dude:
ugly, black, coffee shop, beer,doesn't know wut to do wif life..most impt
Ah Lian:
black,curly hair,speaks with a curly tongue,erm.......tall,big wide smile and nice teeth
iNerd:
those who christened every indian..into a Mike and maccha and instead of using Fuck..they use Ponna eh ydae i was Ponna drunk la.. -? example in the 90s and all..leopard print was the fashion statement now very hard to identify them cuz all have morphed into hip-hop wannabes congregating at a chosen english hip-hop club which will then close down a few mths later cuz it has too many maamas and so random fights every night well the girls hmm...the Mangs. are more ferocious than their male counterparts and not afraid to fight it out usually wear the colour of their rainbow as their contact lens and matching eyeshadow. ALWAYS HAVE MATCHING EYESHADOW nowadays they have morphed from hair which will be let down no matter what the length to rebonded..to keep up with the times
Mat-Mamak:
evening chain-guinness stout followed by a walk back home but not before throwing a punch or two onto someone's face, just about anyone, either a family member, friend or a stranger.
NUS Engineering Chinese Dude:
A typical Indian to me falls under 3 categories. One is the intellectual ones. They are made from a cookie cutter, they all seem to wear collared long sleeved shirts, tucked into their blue jeans, wearing a pair of new balance track shoes they probably bought from Mustafa. They seem to travel around in packs like hyeenas. Study together, eat together and no one is allowed to join their clic. One place you'll find them in NUS is the computer labs. ^_^ haha OMG when will they stop living up to their stereotypes. The other type is the skirt wearing, structure building specialist, aka the "bangala". They don't stray far from the intellectual types, in that they travel together in packs, some times wear a long sleeved shirt and occasionally jeans. But that is where all the similarities end.
They love to hold hands and walk with their other hand in their crotch. I bet the intellectual indians are wishing they could do that but that would be un-"KOOL", god knows what would happen if they did that. Their father might SLAP them. (Angry Indian man ^_^). Instead of the computer lab, you'd probably find them at 7-11 buying cans of cheap beer for their entourage.Finally comes the "Singapore Indian". They are split into 2 sub categories. First is the normal ones. Not much to say, except being Singaporean and Indian, they tend to relate everything back to INDIAN Culture! French crepe = THOSAI! When in a supermarket, first thing they look for is the MASALA!
Then comes then second type, the Indian Ah Beng, the Anjadi.With his overly gelled hair, skinny jeans, tight shirt and sharp comb in his rear jean's pocket, its looks like he is ready at a moments notice to head down to BA BA BLACK CHIC! to meet his Khaki Langs. To me, it seems the sharp comb serves a more insidious purpose other then resetting his hair incase a strong gust of wind displaces it. With recent crack down of weapons in clubs, it seems the next best thing would be a sharp comb to the eye to put and end to a dispute.
So what is this 'typical' Indian identity we talk about? Must it necessarily be a negative one? Why do people try as hard as they can to distance themselves from being a 'typical' Indian in the strive to attain a higher social strata, imaginary though that may be?
When i decided that i should do a tad of research before delving more into this topic and bugged my sad MSN list, i also figured that i should not limit this to the privileged few on my contacts but let some public views in as well.
Tell Us. Negative or positive. What is your take on this whole 'typical' stereotyping.
And we'll hit you back with our KLKonklusion
stereotype, singapore, indian
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
We try so hard at distinguishing ourselves that so many kinds of 'typical' has evolved.
So before i force my views down your throats, i tested water with various people on my MSN list who were awake at this ungodly hour.
These came back..
Chick doing Law in UK for the last few years :
erm. By endorsing the common misconception of being 'typically indian', we attach with it a negative stigma, so profound. While each race has had its quirks, its moments of closed-mindedness, such connotations do no good for the Indian community as a whole.
Chinese Goth Dude:
Singaporean Indians, when boiled down to it, are no different from Singaporeans of any other kind. Sure, their skin may be a little darker, their scent a little more exotic, but when push comes to shove, they shove as hard as a chinaman, half-f*ck ang moh, or mat salleh brotherWe love our food. They love their food. We love our shopping. They love their shopping, with even a one-up at a certain famous 24hour store.We love our drinking. They love their drinking,We love our women. They beat their women. Stereotypes aside, the Singaporeans I know, who happen to be Indian by race, had no choice or say in it. But none of us do- and it's what we share in common that makes us the same, Singaporean, whether mama, manjun, mat, or (ang) moh.And the Singaporeans I know, who just happen to be of darker tone, are decent, generous, trustworthy human beings, the same as the rest.But indians from india, however..... :P
Indian Chick:
hot tempered, egoistical, jabbers for a hobby, finds street tamil rather cool, finds indian clubs a bangin hang out, cheap cologne, ill coloured hair, homogenised sense of dressing..
Chinese 'Mobster' Dad:
very smart but out to screw with u, good business acumen but out to screw you, always overcharges you when u order at his/her indian rojak store
Northie dude:
ugly, black, coffee shop, beer,doesn't know wut to do wif life..most impt
Ah Lian:
black,curly hair,speaks with a curly tongue,erm.......tall,big wide smile and nice teeth
iNerd:
those who christened every indian..into a Mike and maccha and instead of using Fuck..they use Ponna eh ydae i was Ponna drunk la.. -? example in the 90s and all..leopard print was the fashion statement now very hard to identify them cuz all have morphed into hip-hop wannabes congregating at a chosen english hip-hop club which will then close down a few mths later cuz it has too many maamas and so random fights every night well the girls hmm...the Mangs. are more ferocious than their male counterparts and not afraid to fight it out usually wear the colour of their rainbow as their contact lens and matching eyeshadow. ALWAYS HAVE MATCHING EYESHADOW nowadays they have morphed from hair which will be let down no matter what the length to rebonded..to keep up with the times
Mat-Mamak:
evening chain-guinness stout followed by a walk back home but not before throwing a punch or two onto someone's face, just about anyone, either a family member, friend or a stranger.
NUS Engineering Chinese Dude:
A typical Indian to me falls under 3 categories. One is the intellectual ones. They are made from a cookie cutter, they all seem to wear collared long sleeved shirts, tucked into their blue jeans, wearing a pair of new balance track shoes they probably bought from Mustafa. They seem to travel around in packs like hyeenas. Study together, eat together and no one is allowed to join their clic. One place you'll find them in NUS is the computer labs. ^_^ haha OMG when will they stop living up to their stereotypes. The other type is the skirt wearing, structure building specialist, aka the "bangala". They don't stray far from the intellectual types, in that they travel together in packs, some times wear a long sleeved shirt and occasionally jeans. But that is where all the similarities end.
They love to hold hands and walk with their other hand in their crotch. I bet the intellectual indians are wishing they could do that but that would be un-"KOOL", god knows what would happen if they did that. Their father might SLAP them. (Angry Indian man ^_^). Instead of the computer lab, you'd probably find them at 7-11 buying cans of cheap beer for their entourage.Finally comes the "Singapore Indian". They are split into 2 sub categories. First is the normal ones. Not much to say, except being Singaporean and Indian, they tend to relate everything back to INDIAN Culture! French crepe = THOSAI! When in a supermarket, first thing they look for is the MASALA!
Then comes then second type, the Indian Ah Beng, the Anjadi.With his overly gelled hair, skinny jeans, tight shirt and sharp comb in his rear jean's pocket, its looks like he is ready at a moments notice to head down to BA BA BLACK CHIC! to meet his Khaki Langs. To me, it seems the sharp comb serves a more insidious purpose other then resetting his hair incase a strong gust of wind displaces it. With recent crack down of weapons in clubs, it seems the next best thing would be a sharp comb to the eye to put and end to a dispute.
So what is this 'typical' Indian identity we talk about? Must it necessarily be a negative one? Why do people try as hard as they can to distance themselves from being a 'typical' Indian in the strive to attain a higher social strata, imaginary though that may be?
When i decided that i should do a tad of research before delving more into this topic and bugged my sad MSN list, i also figured that i should not limit this to the privileged few on my contacts but let some public views in as well.
Tell Us. Negative or positive. What is your take on this whole 'typical' stereotyping.
And we'll hit you back with our KLKonklusion
stereotype, singapore, indian
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
15 comments:
Indian stereotypes.
Black, smelly, stupid, deranged, untrustworthy.
Eloquent, cultured, graceful, brilliant, loyal, philosophical.
Both negative and positive stereotypes abound when it comes to the Indian identity.
Which should be an indication that the entire stereotype that people like to speak about is a fallacy.
However people will have their delusions. As long as said delusions are positive, who is to give a damn?
Div
dawgster, i've removed your comment because it contains attacks with regards to the "pungent" and "bias".
I still think the discussion should be curtailed to "stereotypes" and what others hold and what we ourselves hold.
Alas, my error too. The word "chink" henceforth will be removed from the post. It is after all a derogatory term.
cheers
Cuz Indians,in general,are an insecure lot. They care abt what other people say.
I have heard these negative comments from the day I went to Primary school till this present moment...during my school days it made me very conscious of myself and even insecure....now (a matured adult, I think)...I tend to shrug it off as "what to do?" a small persentage of the population making a fool of themselves but that small percentage has been unfairly tagged us Indians as troublemakers...so everytime we do something in public...even if we think we are not giving us Indians a bad name...at least know that you're shaming your family....
Hi...
Noted! No worries.
my my my...and I thought it was our duty as youth to slam stereotypes and not reinforce them...so you never heard of Chinese men beating the shit out of their wives? Never seen a northie get into a fight? Never seen a Malay dude drink like a fish? Stereotypes exist coz some tiny minds refuse to step out of their ignorance- ignorance is the most violent element of society..I would like for a change to celebrate our indianess- those leopard print wearing makkals are no different from the makkals who dress like Afro-americans and do the whole "doo wop" thing. Open your eyes, smell the dosais and celebrate your indianess - and while you're at it, slam some stereotypes!
Insecurity is not a race-restricted issue. Neither is domestic violence, alcoholism, rioting etc etc etc - all are societal issues. Until you change your outlook, you are part of the problem not part of the solution!
aphrodite.. I agree with you completely here.. "Stereotypes exist coz some tiny minds refuse to step out of their ignorance- ignorance is the most violent element of society"..That "small persentage" that SIGH refers to exists in every community. The "tiny minds" that steareotype are the ones with the real problem. Why shoud we feel insecure? I have always celebrated my "indianess" while excelling in my studies ( earlier) and now my carrer. The "tiny minds" have never caused me much trouble. Like you, I too choose to celebrate my indianess too.
.. JustTamil
in my eyes, i see stereotyping as baseless judgements made by other insecurepeople who have made their impressions based on a fewthey have come across and just pretty much assume the whole lot behave in a similar manner.
s0,all i kan say to fellow indians is don care about the stereotypes and just embrace yourself,yr culture and your roots.
and there is absolutely no point in trying to defend ourselves against these stereotypes as i feel let the barking d0gs bark
we just carry on with our lives and people will come to realize n0t all indians are like what they have been streotypeD as.
:)
n sadly to say.these stereotpyes have not only been formed by other races but also by fellow indians who try to distance themselves from the very culture they gre up from.
n why?
1) other races think tekka is juz about the only place we hangout in.
2)red & black r shunned by indians[e "so-called" ones anywayz.]
3)many feel that indians emit the "coconut oil" smell. -.-
4)n they ALL think we have an ACCENT & cant write in proper english.
its been t0oo many times when i recall that i been applauded for the way i speak English without an ACCENT.
ahz.
n i don feel happy when i hear this compliment.cuz it doesnt put us in a positive light.we have been misunderstood cuz of stereotyping.
[argh]
I am not technically Indian, but I do hail from a minority race of one-half Indian subcontinent heritage. For convenience sake, I usually just claim to being Indian to save me from explaining my mixed parentage.
And like many Indians, I too have not escaped being subject to racist abuse in my formative years. Of particular mention, was this time in Kindergarten when I'd brushed against my non-Indian classmate. He recoiled in disgust, made a frenzied attempt at rubbing off an imaginary stain I'd apparently left on his arm and spat at me with these words,"Eee-yurr, I don't want your 'black' rub on me". I looked at my skin and back at his and actually wondered if that was possible. But that was just me being a daft little 5 year old. I was very amused by this, and still am. In retrospect, I find it rather hilarious! That was one very stupid young boy.
However, at the risk of being flamed by the rest of you, I'm gonna say that I do admit to subscribing to these generalizations myself. I'm gonna say that these stereotypes have been usually rightly made. Perhaps not politically-correct assumptions; but stereotypes aren't meant to be politically-correct anyway. 'Stereotypes' usually attach with it some negative connotation. And no class of persons have ever escaped them.
How drab would life be without our blonde and mat jokes and the like?
In fact, I think, to expressly take offence to them reveals our insecurities and vulnerabilities as Indians.
We are all imperfect, and we are (all) guilty of the very (mis)conduct we fault others for.
I agree with shantini in the sense that when we are able to laugh at stereotypes, it only shows other people how ludicrous they actually are.
Why should we be offended about nothing?
Although the 'black skin' thing can be a little nasty sometimes. But I always had a ample rejoinder which involved toilet paper and that is all I'm going to say here.
I remember being bullied by this kid in primary school, who used to pick on the fact that I was 'dark skinned' above everything else.
I actually ran into her recently; she remembered me. I remembered her. It was awkward to say the least.
She did approach me to make some form of conversation, and expressed 'shock' at 'my lack of accent'.
hhmmph. People never change sometimes do they?
Ultimately, those of us who were part of the coconut oil battallion get the last laugh as our tormentors are probably going bald, paying $800 for a bottle of... you guessed it, oil.
I reference your comment aphrodite, celebrate our indianess?do it by having a good laugh at ourselves. be magnanimous enough to be the butt of the joke. its childish to adopt a tit-for-tat approach by bringing up examples of other races doing what we indians have been stereotyped to do. and your views come across as being distorted.why the contradiction? so you speak up for the "leopard-print makkals" yet slam the pseudo rapper makkals? they're "no better" ? whats your stand? validate your arguments. not merely fuel unconstructive criticism with use of frivolous terms such as "tiny minds" which irks readers like me. highlighting your penchant for cliche's such as "being part of the problem, not the solution" why not contribute constructively? like.. offer a solution?? i reference your second comment. what is your point? an examination of the warped behavioural patterns and characteristics of an individual race is a social issue. Race itself is a social construct. whats your basis for defining insecurity and societal issues? look, you "celebrate your indianess" by smelling dosais. pro-KLKians shall do it thru- Comedy. we examine issues, providing examples (ref, EZ Link Mango Makkeh, 24/4/07) in a non abrasive manner, which for the more astute among us, stimulates further thought. lighten up, have a laugh of yourself and not indulge in a long standing Yindian tradition : intra-gender conflict. this is KLKwnage.
pwned.
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