Singapore's Dress Sense

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There is an old saying in a foreign language. Its direct translation is ‘humans are half character and half clothes’. This old saying emphasizes the importance of proper attire in life. Just last week, I had been to Orchard Road. Tons of people thronged the streets. I was waiting at the traffic light. Then I saw two people coming out from Paragon. One was laden in a singlet and a skanky pair of baggy shorts. Accompanying him was a young boy. He was wearing a jacket and his shorts could barely be seen. He was also wearing flip-flops. This in itself paints a picture of Singaporean’s dress sense. Furthermore, they were almost oblivious to the fact that they were wearing poor attire, coolly chatting with each other.

There’s no point in blaming them because poor dress sense has become a common facet of the Singaporean society. The sad truth is that these two people are not the only perpetrators who exercise a lack of civic-mindedness and sensibility. Singapore has always been in the frontier of economic and political development. However, Singapore is not advanced in this particular form of development. The main reason for this is the mindset of the average Singaporean. To the Singaporean, the whole world is their oyster. Singaporeans feel that there is no need for proper dress code. However, I feel that this is just reflective of their apathetic attitude. They simply do not care how others perceive of them. This is because they do not care about the other people’s perception of them. Armed with this ‘sloppy’ attire, they stomp into every occasion without repent. They even breach the gates of religion in this attire. They enter churches in these attires. This gives people the pretense that they are illiterate or blind to others.

People even go to the airport in this casual attire. Singapore is held in high regard by the tourists who visit Singapore. Each year, Singapore heralds tons of tourists through the gates of Changi Airport. Singaporeans expect to be entertained by world-class artistes and hope to enjoy the experiences that are provided by these artistes. However, I feel that the very least that Singaporeans could do is to dress appropriately. A proper dress code is an essential part of basic courtesy. I feel that it is reflective of the decency of the person. That’s the reason Singapore establishes Dress code during official events. This is to portray the good side of Singapore and reflect its decency as a country. However, it is inevitable that people who have poor dress sense would be spotted by tourists. Hence, this would only diminish the good image of Singapore. Singapore would end up losing the very thing it wanted to attain.

However, these people have an arsenal of excuses at their disposal. Furthermore, these people keep on using the same excuse each time to justify their actions.

Firstly, these perpetrators say that the weather is a deterrent for them to wear socially acceptable clothes. The hot and humid weather conditions create a certain degree of uncomfortability in the people. However, these people are making the assumption that proper dress code means that wearing heavy and tight clothes that make the person look sophisticated. Instead it is redundant to be actually heavily clad in armour or suffocating sweaters. Proper dress code means wearing clothes that are proper and fit to be worn for outside use. They do even need to be appealing to the eyes. They should just be pleasant to the eyes. A pleasant, polo shirt, coupled with jeans a pair of sneakers fit the bill. These people have more tricks up their sleeves. However, if we take a look at their excuses, we would easily realize that these excuses are actually invalid. These people are just trying to find excuses for the sake of finding excuses.

In general, I feel that the perpetrators can be summed into three categories. Firstly, there are few who have absolutely no idea what is appropriate attire. I feel that these people should be taught instead of being blatantly punished. Generally, I feel that these people are those who come from more traditional backgrounds. Henceforth, they are used to a particular style of wearing and they can be incorrigible. Secondly, there are people who are so lazy that they do not want to put in any effort to wearing the appropriate attire. These people are the most incorrigible people as they refuse to change their perspective. I feel that these people would be difficult to change as the problem is in the mindset. They are not illiterate or blind. They just have a stubborn attitude and are not willing to compromise. Lastly, there is the apathetic who do not care how they appear to others, let alone care what others think of them. I feel that the majority of people fall under this category. They do not care what others think of them. I feel that this is reflective of the Singaporean carefree attitude. It is something that is deeply entrenched in the Singaporean society. It lies in the mindset of the people. Hence, I feel that it would not be that easy to resolve this issue.
In conclusion, Singaporean’s sloppy dress is something that should definitely be changed as it degrades the decency and status of the Singaporean’s. Furthermore, it ruptures the good reputation of Singapore that Singapore has worked hard to attain. Hence, the poor standard of dress sense could eventually lead the collapsing of the ‘Singaporean Identity’. This is because the underlying reason for this apparent, the Singaporean attitude. Therefore, it is important to create a shift in mindset.