"Chinese Mentality"

it's been a long time since i have been writing.. my apologies :)

Anyway, with the title in place, some ppl may cringe at me at disgust cos i always have something to complain about Chinese ppl.. izit prejudice u ask.. neh.. i love being one, therefore its not prejudice.. Let me begin explaining what i mean by "chinese mentality"

"Study smart but not hard" used to b my principal in life. Until sometime ago, where i see that there has to b a balance btw both. and so, i changed. in my thinking, studying hard and smart gives me space to be a little bit lazy and yet achieve the same results or better than one who studies hard only.. d "space to be lazy" is a breather for me.

Some how, some where at d back of my head i kinna know that many chinese educated students had d study hard mentality only. Their competition and thirst for knowledge is so intense so much so many dont have time to think through what they are doing. Which is where studying smart comes in. All they do, is just do! Because i nvr had d opportunity to mix much with chinese educated students, i nvr got to see this in 4D (real life)

Today, i did! :) and i was at peace knowing the perception someweher at the back of my head was right after all. Let me tell u this story.....

I was at tuition. teacher gave notes. Then the teacher started teaching. Every word teacher writes on the board, it would be copied on everyone's (chinese educated students) paper. It is so automatic. they look like robots to me! one word on the board, the same word on their paper in that same split second. It was so odd that i was the only one actually listening with my eyes on the teacher instead of eyes on the board and paper like everyone else. I was thinking to myself. what the heck are these ppl copying when everything teacher is writing on the board is already in his notes.. and so, i peeped. they were writing the exact same thing!!!! this is what i call a jaw-dropping situation. i deleted all sarcastic thoughts in my mind and continued on with listening to teacher.

And so, class continued like that. So much so teacher had to say at times, "jgn salin lagi. dengar cikgu dulu". Get a clearer pict on how it was in the class? i told myself. they are just very eager to learn.. and a sarcastic thought came "they are too afraid to loose". i shook that thought away. negative. not good. must think positive of them.

Did my thing, listen and added short notes to where was necessary. Teacher came to a question where we had to transfer information from a table into statements. Since we are new to the syllabus, he decided to write down the answers on d board for us. So happen, he transferred wrong data into the answer. I realised b4 i copied it down and so i transferred the right date into my test pad. i wanted to raise my hand and correct teacher. but everyone was busy writing so i thought, "oh, they know. dont b d odd one out. unwanted attention". so i just sat there and waited till teacher and everyone finished writing. (which was at d same time, cos what teacher writes, is what they write at that same second) After teacher was done, he decided to explain d answer to us. while reading his answer, oh o.. mistake. he said sorry to us. and u know what??? everyone except for mayb 4 or 5 students took out liquid papers to correct what they copied. GOSH!! they actually dont think and interpret wat teacher says. they just, COPY! this time, my jaw dropped lower, and my eye brows..,they just went all d way up.

so happened, the special 4 or 5 students dropped into one girl's hand. when others took out their liquid papers, she laughed at them and said something sarcastic. damn.... all that was in my mind, "WHAT THE HELL!!!".

To cut the story short, the dude sitting beside me got a slight piece of my mind. For a while he referred to his notes and realised that he was copying the exact same thing as in the notes. so he stopped. A few minutes later, he felt left out cos all his friends were still copying. so he went back to this old mindset. Should have gave him the full blow of my mind. he would feel so stupid.

and so,prevails the "chinese mentality". studying hard, kia su-ness, and thirst for knowledge. bad combo.

*i am not implying that all chinese educated students are like this. This is just an event which i observed. no offence to anyone. We chinese have lots of good in us too*