Kindness starts with one
Dr Mumbo thoroughly enjoyed a press conference hosted by the Singapore Kindness Movement this morning.
He was particularly impressed by responses to journalists given by the secretary general of the NGO – which was set up 18 years ago to encourage Singaporeans to be more gracious to one another – Dr William Wan.
Dr Wan artfully deflected a number of tricky questions from journalists, such as whether he thought brands and agencies were using his organisation to whitewash themselves and win awards, his position on “public shaming” website Stomp, and what he thought of the 16 year old boy facing jail for comparing the late Lee Kuan Yew to Hitler and Stalin.
He concluded that, while there was a lot of room for improvement in how Singaporeans behave towards one another, there were clear signs that Singapore is “maturing as a society”.
All was going so well. Until he referred to Dr Mumbo as an “ang moh”.
Now, Dr Mumbo was not offended and did not want to ruin the feel-good vibe.
Particularly as Dr Wan used the word (which literally means “red haired” but refers generically to caucasians) in such a kind, socially acceptable, graciously racist way.
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