This song is written for an AIDs campaign to promote anti-discrimination against aids afflicted people.
I wrote it from a perspective of a person who has that disease. This youtube video is it’s first debut in the campaign. More updates will be posted here. Keep checking!
A track Qaran and I got on together. We did this for an AIDs campaign. More news on that soon.
Check out the track for now! 
Before I begin this article, I’d like to make two things clear.
1. The Indians I am referring to in this article are the Indians who come from India. (Not Indians who grew up in other countries)
2. This is not a racist bash. Just a discussion of an observation I made. I may be critical but believe me, I love Indians I just feel like you guys should know this.
Over the years, I have realized that there is a growing number of Indian immigrants in Singapore. Well, naturally, I also then started having a growing number of friends who come from India. It didn’t occur to me initially that when my Indian friends would turn up late that it was actually a habitual trait for all Indians to have. I just thought ah well, that person is a late-comer.
After awhile, I noticed that every single Indian friend I have definitely comes late for meet-ups. The worst part? They don’t even know it’s a problem. Only a select few would actually apologize but you know they don’t really feel bad about it.
A couple months ago, I wanted to sell my old TV because I had just purchased a new one at that time. These two indian girls contacted me telling me they were interested to buy my old TV. We made plans for them to come over at a specific date and time. On top of that, I also made arrangements with my uncle to help deliver the TV over to their apartment because they had no other means of delivery. 30 minutes after the time they were supposed to have arrived, she sends me a text saying she can’t make it today. I was like ok fine, we’ll just change the appointment but this time they would have to sort out their own transport. So, in the end, the new plan was that they would come over at 8 O’clock to take the TV. Guess what time they came? 11 p.m.
Ridiculous isn’t it? First, I think it’s extremely rude for someone to be 3 hours late without advance notice. Second, I think it’s even more rude if there’s no apologies. Third, excuses mean nothing in the real world(It’s nothing but a display of your level of integrity and reliability). Fourth, it will never take 3 hours to get you from one place to another in Singapore. It’s impossible. 3 hours would take you to Malaysia by bus! So no excuse would be sufficient to justify the lateness.
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There are many many other stories I can tell you about this uniquely Indian trait. The truth is, most of the time I’ve spent with Indians, I spent it waiting for them. I don’t even know why they even say “Let’s meet at 7 O’clock”. Time means absolutely nothing to an Indian. The fact that people are waiting for them also means nothing. It’s a horrible habit to have. It’s extremely disrespectful and offensive. If I had to make time and make the necessary effort to ensure that I will be at a place on time, I expect the same from the other party.
I am not saying you must always be there at the precise hour and minute. I’m just saying, be considerate about it. If you really have to be late, at least let the person know that you will be late. Also, let the person know early enough so he or she can then plan his journey or day accordingly and wouldn’t have to end up waiting.
It’s actually a very sad thing. I searched it up on google to see if there are other people who share the same opinion as I do and yes, there are so many. A lot of them are Indians themselves who realized this bad habit of theirs. Many of you who would end up reading this might think, what’s the big deal? It’s really difficult to explain what the big deal is. But in my personal experience, I can think of so many opportunities that I would have missed out on had I been late. I can also think of the amount of relationships and friendships that I would have destroyed or thwarted because of my lateness. There are so many Indians that I stopped making plans with because I know they would be late. It’s sad because many of them are great friends.
In many of those blogs I found on google, it talks about how lateness even affects their nations progress. About the inefficiency of the public transport system, the way people turn up late for work and are usually much sloppier and slower compared to a non-indian’s level of efficacy. The way, shops keepers and other laborers don’t produce as much work in a given time because of their lack of the sense of time. I feel bad to say this but, in the competitive atmosphere of this world we live in, India is going to continue to lag behind if they keep up this habit of “not-caring”. It’s a waste because, there’s so much potential in India. Enough potential to cancel out a lot of the social and economical issues. Enough potential even, to eradicate poverty. Wake up.
The way the majority of a particular race handles informal gatherings and social functions in terms of time is a direct reflection of the way their country operates. In other words, if you want to know if someone is reliable or if that person is a late-comer, think of where they come from.
-Amir
Click these links to see what other people have to say;
http://govar.blogspot.com/2005/06/are-indians-habitually-late.html
http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/09/17/indian-time-insensitive/
http://www.mouthshut.com/mobilereview/pnlupoton/6-reasons-why-Indians-cannot-be-terrorists-1-We-are-always-late-We-will-miss-the-flight-which-should-be-hijacked-2-With-free-food-and-drinks-on-plane-We-forget-why-we-are-there-3-We-would-fight-among-us-for-the-photos-with-the-hostages-4-We-cannot-ke – This is just for jokes
Second video from the cypher session series. It’s call peace of mind. Lyrics are below
Everytime i close my eyes it’s like I
Got my mind locked in the night sky
my thoughts wander while i find my
Path in my life and I fight the mights
while I can try cuz my time heres fragile
we never know when we might die
we might fly, we might cry
fuck that I won’t sigh cuz I caught my lies
I was weak but I fought my fights
Sought new heights, brought tears to my eyes
Seeing what I became through all those fights
This feels so right, yea this feels so nice
Yea, this peace of mind, no one can take this peace of mind
cuz this peace is mine, yea this peace is mine.
This track is also available for download. Just click here.
The election day is coming very very soon and when I speak to my peers and family relatives, I find a growing number in people who aren’t going to vote for the P.A.P. Although I do believe that everyone has the right to have an opinion and choose their government, I do want to urge all of you to think hard about this.
The reason to why I am writing this is because I am worried that our country will divide and lose its winning streak. Here are some things to think about.
What are some of the primary factors that you consider to be important to you? A home, good education and schools, a progressive nation, social stability, security and reliability. Obviously there are more things but for such a young nation, we’ve already achieved all that. Thats a sign of a government that cares and has continued to care for its people. We’ve become probably close to 100% literate and have acquired skills that globalized our nation. Every Singapore child has the privilege to amazing education. Every Singaporean lives in a well looked after neighbourhood and has the freedom of movement that the people of many other countries could only dream of.
Sure there are many flaws you can bring up, but how can we ever have a perfect government? There’s always something that won’t work for us. But most of us live comfortably and are given equal opportunities to grow and enhance our lives.
Many other people would say, “It’s time for change, the P.A.P. has been in power for too long”. But why is it time for change? We shouldn’t ask for change just for the sake of change. We should only demand change when our government begins to fail to deliver. Has it ever failed you? The problems I face in my life are problems that I created, not my government. Others would say, “What about the rising taxes?”. What about it? We’re a country growing in population size and economy and buildings and schools and we need to expand to continue to sustain our exponential success rate. We should only question the rise in tax if nothing is given back to us. Look around you! Try to recall just 10 years ago, huge difference right? Forget 10 years, recall just 2 years! There are so many new things given to us. National expansion is accelerating.
What I am trying to say is, we should vote for what works. This is a system that works for our country and continues to deliver and deliver well. Whatever new policies P.A.P. has created, don’t think of it as unfair. Just trust that there’s obviously a good reason for it. Because I know, deep down, that my government will look after me should anything happen.
I don’t hate the other parties, I just think that it’s not the right time for change.
Love your country.
P.S. : I’ve noticed some comments on this post and don’t get me wrong but I am completely open to refutes and thats why I approved them. Just remember to be civil and respectful to each other so it doesn’t get out of hand. I don’t want to be the medium for any hate. So far it’s okay though. Thanks for reading and feel free to speak your mind.
