Who says ‘Kiasu’ is a Singaporean thing?

KIASU (kee-ah-soo)Hokkien adjective literally meaning, "afraid of losing". A highly pejorative description beloved of Singaporeans. Possibly our defining national characteristic. The nearest English equivalent is "dog in a manger", though even that is pretty mild in comparison."You went to get a handicapped sticker just to chope a parking space? How kiasu can you get?" (Definition contained in the Coxford Singlish Dictionary)

Kiasu is a Hokkien (a Chinese spoken variant) word for 'extreme fear of losing' (Chinese: 怕输). This word is so widely used by Singaporeans and Malaysians that it is incorporated into their English vocabulary (in the form of Singlish). It is often used in describing the social attitudes of people, especially about South East Asian society and its values. Its widespread use is often due to the fact that these attitudes are common—to not lose out in a highly competitive society (e.g. by accumulating too much food on a plate during buffet in case there will be no more later), or to the extent of parents imposing heavy study labour on their children in their wish to make them at the very top of all other students. Growing up with this attitude, these students often become ambitious businesspeople, with the desire to be on top in wealth and prestige disregard with their true capabilities.
Such an attitude is often highly competitive, and its emphasis is to be above all other people, even if it means putting other people down. But to be kiasu is not only to be competitive. Kiasu people are driven out of fear of losing probably more than the desire to succeed.
It is often perceived as part of Ah Beng culture. (This is its description from wikipedia)

I suspect that many people, including the guys at talkingcock.com, were surprised and thrilled that our famously local concept of kiasu was finally included into the Oxford English Dictionary. However, although the word may have its origins in Singapore, or Malaysia, it is certainly not exclusive to these territories – in fact, kiasu-ism is a universal concept (or perhaps universal guiding principle) in many people’s lives. No surprise then of its inclusion into the said dictionary.

Its funny to me because I just had a word with a good friend of mine (well, I’m the godfather of his children – so I don’t know whether there’s any special term to describe our friendship/relationship) and he told me that his wife was taking the kids (my godchildren) to the EXPO today for the JL sale. My first response was I’m definitely not going to be anywhere near the EXPO (and certainly I was not going to be meeting them today!). I absolutely hate crowds, and if you went today, you’re almost guaranteed to be squeezing your way through the crowds, fighting your way through the merchandise, and “inching” your way through the ridiculously long queues! (worse still if you only had 1 or 2 items to purchase!)

Besides, sales generally aren’t all that good in Singapore anyways. Nothing like those in the States, the UK and even (on new years day) in Japan! So why would anyone bother is beyond me.

This brings me to this online newspaper article that I came across just. It about how a Internet hoax led to chaos outside the doors of a London outlet of the store Primark. Now, for those who do not know what sales are like in UK, here’s a brief explanation.

When we used to live in the UK, the best time to get good bargains are during the sales (most notably during boxing day). Why is this so? Well, take the GAP for example. All their clothes tend to be heavily overpriced. A down jacket would, at regular price, set you back about 80-100GBP. That’s approximately S$240-300! And mind you, during those UK winters, it’s a necessity – not a fashion accessory.

When Christmas is round the corner, there will be sales. This means that that particular down jacket may become 30-50% off. Every week from that time on, they may be additional sales (deductions off the previous sale prices). By the time you get to January/February, you could possibly purchase that same jacket for about 5-10GBP!! (provided you can get the right size – of course there are some tricks to ensure that you do!) The thing that always surprised me is that January/February was the time that you actually needed the down jacket the most! (so it didn’t quite make any business sense to me – but hey.. as a consumer it was great news!)

Compared with Singapore it was amazing!

Anyways, getting back to the article. It claimed that Primark was having a 50% sale. The reason why this is significant is that Primark is like the cheapest (or one of the cheapest) possible stores you could shop in. Imagine buying a set of socks (3 pairs) for 1GBP! (that kind of cheap). What would the price be like if they did in fact have a 50% sale?!

Well funny! Anyways, yes.. all this talk just to illustrate that kiasu-ism is alive and well in London, UK!! (and I’m sure they were Brits and not our Singaporean brethren in London! LOL!)