me and my crazy mind:)

Yesterday Jodee mentioned to me about KIASU. She said its a very common attitute in Singapore.

Wikipedia say the following about KIASU:

"Kiasu is a Hokkien (a Chinese spoken variant) word for ‘extreme fear of losing’. This word is so widely used by Singaporeans and Malaysians that it is incorporated into their English vocabulary (in the form of Singlish or Manglish). It is often used in describing the social attitudes of people, especially about 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.

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."

When Jodee talked to me about this as something she didnt like in Singapore it made me think if something like this exist in my country.

In a way I think it exists in every country. Even in very "civilizated" (if there are any) countries we can find people fighting for seats on buses or running for being the first at the opening ceremony of a new outlet. But we dont have a unique word for this kind of people in Hungarian. The fact they created this word in Singapore means they think its like a type of personality…

We dont have a word for it because maybe we think this is just an attitude of being selfish and at times it can happen with everyone.

We say in Hungary: clean up in front of your house first!

So I was trying to recall when I was selfish. In which situations I can be a Kiasu? Because yes…yes…even this superman, this always nice angel can be selfish at times:)

When I am tired…I am impatient. I hardly tolerant people around me I just feel I wanna sit down and I dont care. Yes I can be selfish..but this is still not a Kiasu because its not like I am afraid of lose. I am rather eager to get. 

Actually when I lost my car I realized that I am not so much connected to material things. Losing someone is more hard but even in this field I would hardly say I am Kiasu.

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