Grass Over The Other Side...

A friend dropped by office today while on transit from Melbourne back to his assignment in Korea. David spent the day in our Singapore office, having too much time in hand after his presentation scheduled this afternoon for the president had being cancelled. David is a nice and frank bloke, maybe a little too frank for his good when he speaks his mind too liberally in some asian communities. His directness got himself into lots of trouble in Korea when Koreans don't appreciate his sense of humor, especially after they literally translated from the English dictionary the words used in his Australian jokes.

"I'm here to distrub you, Allen," he warned me first thing in the morning when we exchanged hello. And that he did. Once in an hour or half he came behind and called out "ALLEN~!" by straining his voice pitch-tip while trying to mimic how our boss Zafer would have sounded when he calls from his office. At other times he would tell me over the messenger how bored he is. Do your work, David, or I'd inform Zafer of your boredom.

"It's no fun. So hard...," he went on and on during lunch and dinner. He was expressing his dread in returning to Korea tonight. From his adventures/misadventures in Korea he shared, it seems that his encounters with the Koreans have not been pleasant. He had a really hard time trying to convince the Koreans what he asked for really need to be done. "Somehow when asked of the progress, they'd just say they do not know how to do." Perfect excuse. I have a feeling his instructions just weren't taken seriously. Somehow the laungague barrier wasn't the main problem.

He also kept reminding me how he loves Singapore, that he wants to stay here and look for a job if he's out of job in the next few months. "I want to meet someone, and she's definitely not going to be white." Uh-oh, another yellow-fever in the making.

This guy have had a bad experience in his marriage. Being only 28, he's already separated with his wife, leaving him only an ugly truth that his wife ran away with another guy. Too hard for a nice honest chap like David. In fact, this is leaving him driving hard to work himself up back to shape, thanks to inspiration of our mutual friend Chris. More importantly, it has left him with shattered hopes for relationship with someone from back home.

"Coming to Singapore has opened up my eyes, that nice girls who are true to themselves really exist. Think I married too young..."

Now why is this all so familiar? I have heard of real SPGs (Sarong Party Girls) who prefer white guys for good reasons. Previously, my immediate impression of white guys in the company of SPGs will be rich and tall expats, living in company-sponsored service apartments around Orchard area and drive luxury sports car they call 'toys'. However, it just daunted to me that a guy of David's profile fits right in the common criteria of most SPGs in reality. Outspoken, confident and kind, a person like David can easily catch the attention of westernized asia women in Singapore, particularly those who are brought up deep in the east-west fusioned mentality and exposed to the new global standard of relationships. Unlike most asian guys who carry a tad too much egoism in themselves, a simple caucasian guy like David can open the confident shell to reveal a gentle core, so gentle that his words can swoon females up into their romantic cloud 9.

Now this is what came to mind when David was expressing his praises for Singapore. This guy is clearly intriged by asian community here when he was shown so much attention being a white guy. Somehow Korean didn't seem too appealling to him. They must have been rather unapproachable during his previous stay of 3 months.

"They're all so friendly here. I know it's just that I'm white, but I like it." You just can't disagree on this when a guy actually enjoys the attention. Homo sapiens are all attention-seeking creatures, and we'd just die trying to get it one way or another. No-one can survive without contact of another living being. I hope David will not fall for the wrong girl here who might dope him for his money. Take care, David, my dear friend. Hope you will eventually find someone who will be as true to you as she is to herself.