Some fancy branded food at the supermarket. It's more expensive than the other stuff we have.
You know... Atas butter... Or Pasta...
Not sure about the pasta. I've never bought it before...
HOWEVER....
In their home countries. These are the MOST BASIC FORMS of the commodity.
President butter is like the most generic butter you can find. One of the cheapest in France.
If I go to Carrefour in Paris, I can find the Carrefour house brand butter which is the cheapest butter.
Then the next cheapest or near the next cheapest is President butter.
I'm not saying it's bad. It's still a great nice and creamy butter. But it's not particularly... fancy in the home country.
And this is similar in Italy. Barilla pasta is widely popular. In Singapore, it's more expensive.
But in Italy, it's one of the most basic pastas available.
And once again, I'm not saying it's bad pasta. It's just not fancy in the home country.
It's widely available and sells well, people use it. But it's not fancy stuff.
It's maybe similar to IF a foreigner saying that Bengawan Solo cakes are fancy cakes...
To Singaporeans, that's normal stuff, it's ok, it's widely available but... not fancy to us.
Or maybe Breadtalk buns... once again... it's widely available, it's popular but... also not fancy to us.
(Not saying that anyone has said that, just an example.)
But in SG, it's common to go to NTUC, Cold Storage, and we go to the butter section and there it is... Woahhh... President butter... it's significantly more expensive.
And we think, it must be better. And it IS better than SCS butter.
Except that our perception is flawed due to our exposure, or lack of exposure to other things.
Since we are only comparing with the stuff available in SG, then yes, President butter is probably one of the better butters available in SG.
However, in France... It's a whole different ball game. The availability of nicer, tastier butters changes perception.
And I suppose that's what travelling and being exposed to different things is supposed to do to you.
You're supposed to be more worldly. Know more things. Get different perspectives.
I mean... I know people who go to Japan and think its a wonderful country and everything is beautiful cos they just go on holidays and see the nice things.
But yet if you look deeper into Japan life and culture, there's the usual corruption in politics, sexism in their work, overwork in companies, over studying in school, low birth rate, all kinds of issues...
But if one goes to Japan as entertainment then you'll only see the nice things. And likely such a person won't learn much about the world.
Singapore is a VERY small country. And most of us travel a lot, but not everyone learns things when they travel. You think the aunties and uncles on tour groups will learn about the differences in culture and lifestyles?
Even when I went to Paris, I'm a bit sad I didn't get to see more of France, cos... many people have said Paris isn't the same as the other parts of France, Paris isn't nice, the people aren't nice, people are in a rush, the French people have told me to go see other parts of France. Things are cheaper and people are nicer.
In the US, I'm only in Texas, groceries are cheap, roads are wide, the population density isn't high, no traffic jams, most places I don't need to pay for parking. Yea, I just drive, park and leave the car. I don't pay for parking.
So that's my current perception of the "US".
But my Singaporean friend in New York paints a different picture. I took a picture of my Walmart receipt and sent it to her, she says her food is 3 times more expensive in New York. Cos the rent is more expensive for the supermarkets. Roads are crowded, a lot of rubbish is left on the streets cos the garbage truck will drive by and pick up the trash left by the shops.
To me eating out in Texas is expensive. US$15 for a meal, add tax and tips. That's expensive to me. Cos I always compare against SG.
But to my friend, Texas is acceptable, cos she pays US$25 for a meal plus tax and tips. She told me to stop thinking about SG, else I wouldn't eat out in US anymore.
But yet in Paris, meals are €18, and I hardly ate out in Paris.
I've come to realize, that to fully appreciate anything... almost anything. You need perspective. A lot of perspective.
Americans criticize China a lot, they don't understand communism, they think that the Government is going to gun you down anytime. They think it's like North Korea. And yet... many Americans haven't traveled. Most Americans don't even own a passport. Cos they can travel without leaving their country. Cos their country is big.
Now, I'm not saying China is better, or America is worse. But to even comment on something without having been there, without having seen it, without having lived there. Is just ignorant and foolish.
As a privileged Singaporean living in the US, I can see why it's a good place.
If I was living in China, I probably would have no real issues with living in China as well. It's not like I'm going to get involved in any politics in either country.
And I probably wouldn't mind living in Paris too. If the language wasn't such a great barrier.
Most developed countries are good enough if you are living in privilege. Or even as a normal person.
In every country, people do the same thing. They study, grow up, work, save, have kids, retire.
That's the same everywhere. And if the countries suck, then it wouldn't be a developed country.
So for most developed countries, it's usually livable. For all these countries the average person can get by and live a fairly good life.
And for people who think that Singapore isn't good, my question to them would be... how do you know the other country is better? They haven't lived there before. What they know is what they imagine it to be.
Living in another country isn't as easy and wonderful as it sounds. Migrating isn't easy.
Making new friends and getting involved in the community isn't easy.
The basic... make money and find a place to live, food to eat... that's easy in most developed countries.
Everything else is what you make of it.
For me, I think the new laws China imposed on Hong Kong isn't going to change things. Life will go on just fine for 80% of the people. Things will be just the same. What do you think is suddenly going to happen? China starts kidnapping people and throwing them in jail for no good reason?
For most people life goes on, but for people who have problems with politics or want more liberty... then yea, they will probably face issues.
As I grow older, see more things, I've come to a realization... Most countries are the same.
And yet they are different.
Same in a lot of ways. Everyone is trying to make a living, make money, food, shelter, and for most of the people in developed countries, this has been settled. Then they want luxuries and entertainment.
Then they talk about freedom and all kinds of other things.
But for most people... life goes on as normal. And I think that's what keeps a country going. Most people complain about the Government. But yet, most ppl in SG are doing pretty ok. MOST, not all.
In ALL countries, someone complains about the Government, and yet most people are doing pretty well.
The US is pretty ok, France is ok, China is pretty ok, Hong Kong will probably be fine when China imposes more influence on it, etc.
But there are differences in culture, the way they do things, their education system, their beliefs, etc.
It's not as though... you suddenly migrate to another country you will become a king and have a better life. No, likely you'll have a similar life. There's other perks, like I can own a car in the US, and maybe a bigger house. But eventually, I'll get used to it and want more.
So... you see, everything is relative. Happiness is only valuable cos there's sadness.
Without experiencing sadness, we'll never understand happiness.
Without eating SCS butter, you won't realize what is President butter, without going to France, I wouldn't realize President butter is normal butter.
Since I haven't lived in China or HK, I cannot and should not comment on the life there. I wouldn't know.
The more I learn, the more I know I don't know. If I didn't live overseas, I wouldn't know that life is the same everywhere. US isn't a great country. It just thinks that it is.
Japan is not like some wonderful place. It's a pretty place, but life is normal. There's a lot of social pressure in Japan to conform. Same as in Korea... Girls aren't all pretty in Korea, that's just in shows.
I highly encourage people to go and travel more and see the bad things in their travels. Don't just be entertained. That's just an illusion. Marketing. Of course a country wants tourists to see the nice things. But that's not what a country is about. A country is about the lives of the people, the past, the culture, the food, how they treat others, how they treat the poor, stuff like that.
Not just the Effiel Tower, or the Statue of Liberty or Sakura trees. Those are just landmarks.
And that doesn't tell you the soul of the country.
See more and learn more, so that you are able to appreciate the things you have and/or don't have.
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