Misconceptions about your home country from Singaporeans

[Whats]

Share your experience

[from.ch]

"Who is the king of Switzerland?"

[SAE]

I was told that the UK is a huge country.  Being mainly from SAfrica this was a hard concept to grasp but I guess in a way to a Singaporean the UK is a big country when compared to the size of Singapore - so its all relative.

[Gracie]

That all of us adore royalty

[FauxNews]

That we like George W Bush

[Old Mike]

It is not just Singapore. Ignorance about other people's home countries is world wide.

" If you are from Africa, why aren't you black?"
Singapore, UK, USA
" Do you live on wild animals?" UK
" Your light switch is up when it is off and down when it is on? IMPOSSIBLE" USA.
" Do you have seasons?" Singapore.
And, my favorite
" So you live in Johannesburg. I have a frinnd in Cape town, Do you know ****?"

[Namibia]

OM, a friend from Namibia had a conversation with an American who asked if he had to shop for clothes upon arrival to the US, assuming he hadn't arrived with any - not in a suitcase or on his body.

I second FauxNews, ugh I hate that misconception.

[yankee doodle]

-That most Americans are involved in daily, or at least weekly, gunfights

-That America is a cold country (I'm from Alabama, it's hotter and more humid than Singapore...)

-That Americans eat beef with every meal, or at least daily

[when in india]

yes Old Mike, Like the "You friends with this Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, (insert Aussie cricketer), what is he like?"

[Sex-crazed]

That all Westerners have rampant sex!!  This is what annoys me about some Asians.  Years ago, I invited a friend to come over to stay with me.  She's divorced with a child and she happily accepted the invitation as she badly needed a holiday but couldn't afford it. 

The first thing my landlady asked me is:  "Is she going to bring men home ?"  - AARGGHH !!!

[Moralist]

Actually that really pisses me off too - the idea that the West is somehow more immporal, yet going to Batam/Thailand/Geylang to visit prostitutes is socially acceptable in a way it wouldn't be in the West.

[Old Mike]

More than 30 years ago when Zimbabwe was Rhodesia a Rhodesian airlines plane was shot down as it took off from Victoria Falls. Shortly after this I was in England where I met a man who had been planning a trip to Capetown, about 3500 Km from where the Rhodesian Airlines plane has been shut down. He had cancelled his trip because he felt it was too dangerous. I was unable to make him understand that, living in England, he was closer to Moscow than he would be to Victoria Falls in Capetown

[Esti]

I'm lucky - most Singaporean simply have a blank face where I say where I am from (Estonia) - the braver ones will ask 'where is that?' when I reply "near finland and russia, on the baltic coast' the usual reply is silence or a blank look followed by "is it cold there?"

Being from a small country has certain advantages! The worst I got was "so you are russian eh? women must be hot eh?" (from a Taxi uncle) the most bizzare was "wasn't that an Eskimo colony once?" (I kid you not) but mostly just blank stares as their brains fail to bring up any sterotypes to fling forth... 

[Northern cousin]

I'm lucky - most Singaporean simply have a blank face where I say where I am from (Estonia) - the braver ones will ask 'where is that?' when I reply "near finland and russia, on the baltic coast' the usual reply is silence or a blank look followed by "is it cold there?"

Being from a small country has certain advantages! The worst I got was "so you are russian eh? women must be hot eh?" (from a Taxi uncle) the most bizzare was "wasn't that an Eskimo colony once?" (I kid you not) but mostly just blank stares as their brains fail to bring up any sterotypes to fling forth... 

Yeah, at least we are known for Nokia - and that we like to drink a lot of vodka. Which kind of implies that a typical Singaporean taxi uncle hasonly observed Finns in Tallin

[Esti]

  very true! or, alternatively, they know about Nokia and assume Finns and Estonians are drunken Muscovites