General Issue

My friends in general were commenting about what I had written in The Usual Suspects. It started out as a harmless discussion between the guys and the girls in the group but as an innocent bystander I could see things were slowly heating up. Not surprisingly, the discussion ended with no conclusion.

I remember one of the local documentary's Get Rea! episode was on the topic of "Are Singaporean women difficult to love?". The host Diana Ser was querying a class of National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduates and they began sharing their impressions of local women and men. Some of them also revealed their expectations of an ideal partner. Apparently local women have high expectations for partners, not only must they be charming and romantic but be financially well to do. Local men shun local girls for brides imported from other countries because they want a wife who can cook, bear children and be there for the family (usually including the in-laws). There seems to be a wide divide between the ideals of a high life versus the simple life.

Yet the truth is that generalisations on gender differences are neverending. I admit that my blog is based on a lot of generalisations and should be taken in with a pinch of salt. Generalisation only means it is statistically correct. Perhaps this is how prejudice is derived, and feminists, chauvinists, extremists and what-ists are formed.

While generalisations may be used to predict trends, people should be mindful of its consequences. Generally, those who take their expectations of an ideal partner too seriously usually create unnecessary disappointments and misery. It is good to remember that there are always exceptions to the case, and you could be the exception.