A woman who taunted and urged heartlanders to “stay away from Holland Village” has apologised on public radio.
The woman, identified only as Samantha, phoned in to 91.3FM’s The Married Men on Friday morning and said she wanted to retract her words on how local heartlanders should stay away from Holland Village because they are not “high-class” and “cultured” enough.
She explained that she was at a Starbucks outlet at Holland Village on Wednesday when she heard vulgarities from two men dressed in slippers and shorts, which prompted her to vent her frustrations on radio later that morning.
But after a day of reflection, Samantha said she decided to make the public apology. However, even after she did so on Friday morning, some listeners who called in still complained about the insincerity of Samantha’s apology, reported The Straits Times.
“I live in Holland Village, and I just can’t understand why people from the heartlands want to come here. We people are cultured, and you heartlanders are definitely not cultured,” she had originally said on radio.
She defined heartlanders as being “people from Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Toa Payoh and the nearby Bukit Batok” who “have no manners”, “talk loudly” and wear “cheap clothes from Bugis Street”.
“People who come here are cultured. So if you want to come here, you know, when you’re in Rome, behave like a Roman. When you’re in Holland, behave like us — cultured people,” she added before warning heartlanders, ”Please stay where you are, I think you fit best there.”
Her original comments triggered a firestorm of debate among netizens. Over 700 Yahoo! users alone criticised her for her elitist comments.
Said Isaac Moss, “Samantha, are you one of those rich, spoilt brat girls? Shame on you for making those comments.”
Another Yahoo! user, Homeless Lim, said, “Please don’t stereotype, stay humble.”
Popular radio deejay Rod Monteiro, one-third of The Married Men, earlier told Yahoo! Singapore that listeners who responded after the show unanimously disapproved of Samantha’s remarks.
Monteiro, who lives in Siglap, said, “It’s not just the locals, even expats thought what she said was unwarranted. Even a foreigner living in Simei called in to say Samantha’s comments were elitist.”
“Personally, I feel that it’s one people, one nation, one Singapore. It’s not really about how we dress. Of course, we should dress well while eating at posh restaurants, but when it comes to eating at Holland Village’s coffee shops, people should be allowed to wear what they want,” he added.
TOO HIGH CRASS... FOR HEARTLANDERS EH? YOU ARE ONLY FROM HOLLAND VILLAGE, DARLING, NOT HOLLAND....
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