Now that the haze has finally cleared (and with it the grubby cloud of smugness and finger pointing that had drifted across to Indonesia from our own shores), we got to thinking how much easier it would be if we just blamed other nations for all our problems.
The intolerable arrogance that informs our dealings with all of our near-neighbors? That’s not our fault—we just picked it up from our erstwhile colonial overlords in England. That and the nasty habit of Singaporean men ignoring their spouses for the duration of the Premier League season. Don’t blame us—blame the Brits!
Bad driving is another problem that might look homegrown but is actually hard-wired into our DNA. Ever wondered why all the southern Chinese emigrants ended up here back in 1850? Truth is, they were aiming for Bali but got a bit lost, tried to pull a U-turn in the Straits of Malacca, stalled, swore a few times and just gave up. Got a problem with your cabbie’s driving? Take it up with the Guangzhou Historical Records Board.
Young people getting blind drunk and making a fool of themselves along the River at the weekend? That’s Australia you have to thank for setting such an appealing/appalling* example to all our returning overseas students. (*Delete depending on whether you’re the one getting drunk or watching the fallout.)
Truth is there’s no problem too small we can’t offshore the blame elsewhere. Staff using too many MC days? Must be a Malaysian bug going round. Forgotten your login password? Blame America for making us all so paranoid about online security. Sick of paying high prices for wine? If only France could get off its derrière and move closer.
And who to blame for this immature avoidance of responsibility, the drop-of-a-hat culture of complaining, the naming and shaming of anyone but ourselves? Well, we can’t say for sure. But it sure ain’t us.
