I (F,<30) moved back to Singapore after years spent abroad for my studies (undergrad and postgrad) and I’ve noticed some questionable behaviours from Singaporean men I’ve went on dates with. It’s a relatively small sample size but that got me questioning. Some first date experiences I’ve had:
Guy 1 said (word for word) – “you would have never gone this far in life without your parent’s help and support”. FYI, I was on full scholarship and was also paid to do my PhD.
Guy 2 had a very strong English accent (I do have an accent, nothing too strong tbh it’s more of a mix) so I assumed he studied abroad and asked. Well, he did an exchange in an Asian country. Noticing the awkwardness I changed the topic into work (what can possibly go wrong I thought – everything). He started full on bragging about his accomplishments for an hour (his accent was gone by then) and upon discovering I hold a doctorate, immediately changed the topic into talking about horoscope. He then proceeded to brag about how his horoscope is the best. At some point he also commented about how local universities are the best and he doesn’t see a need for people to study abroad. No prizes for guessing: he’s from a local uni.
Guy 3 flat out told me that I need to ask him for his time if not he wouldn’t make any for me because 1. He is comparably more successful than his peers (not sure why this is relevant), 2. He earns more (not true, I just didn’t see the need to reveal mine), 3. I seem to have lots of time (hello, time management?).
There are also some that never made it to the list, like asking for a role play: me as a doctor (I’m not even a medical doctor). Honestly though, do Singaporean men feel the need to put women down, or even worst, treat them like objects? And like I’ve said it’s a small sample size so obviously I am not generalising it to all Singaporean men, I may just be unlucky. I’ve never experienced this when I was abroad so it’s a whole lot of question marks in my head.
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