Of dark chocolate and smelly beancurd

A sour stench permeated the air when a group of 3 chinese foreign workers boarded the train. 2 made themselves comfortable on the floor near the door (non-opening side) while the third found a seat.

The smell is a mixture of a) sweat, b)grime and c)poor oral hygiene, (C) being the most toxic. His breath was so formidable that we squirmed in our seats each time he opened his mouth to shout across the breadth of the cabin to his friends.

(Well, i have no case against (a) and (b), since these folks are the ones building the HDB flats, paving the roads, and doing all the stuff that we jaded Singaporeans refuse to do. When the day comes that China, India, Bangladesh and whichever countries where foreign labour originate from have fully industrialised, we Singaporeans better pray we're as advanced as Japan and depend on AI to do all these jobs, or we'll be drowning in our own shit and rubbish. I've never believed that SG is really clean and green. We're 'clean' cos we employ legions of foreign workers to clean up the mess we leave everywhere, be it cutlery at hawker centers, old furniture we leave at corridors and void decks or the seemingly endless amount of litter we generate. Just look at Orchard Road at 2am or the Padang after National day celebrations and you'll see the 'real' city at its worst.)

I'm digressing ... Back to Mr Dragonbreath


Anyway, it was so bad that the guy sitting on his immediate left found it unbearable after 2 stations and decided to forgo his seat. (He retreated to a safe spot a few metres away and proceeded to lean on a pole.) The girl next to me (2 seats from his left) tilted her head towards me and was obviously trying to take small measured breaths. While Miss Hufferphish who was 3 seats away from the source wished she was down with a flu.

The 3 stops to Jurong East Interchange seemed like forever. I got off the train gratefully and hoped the poor girl next to me won't be deprived of too much oxygen.

To make things worse, they seemed to have this uncontrollable urge to scratch and dig at every orifice. In order of preference, as determined from the 'frequency' of contact are ... 1. Feet (Space between and around the toes.) 2. Still feet (Upper part of the foot) 3. Nostrils. (Where it seems to have an endless supply of precious metal to unearth.) When Dragonbreath's pals flashed him a toothy grin, the state of decay of their teeth attested to the lack of dental hygiene.

This observation made me wonder whether it is a general trait, or a pet peeve of chinese workers only.

From my observations, it seems that Banglaesh workers are relatively well-groomed, especially when they are heading towards Mustafa on their off-days. They are a happier bunch and seem to have a much better grasp of personal hygiene as compared to their chinese counterparts. In fact they look quite smart in their long sleeved shirts(usually with sleeves folded up) and pants. I may be biased here but i do feel that Bangladesh workers do look much cleaner, don't keep rubbing their feet, or have dragonbreath. In fact most of them have nice teeth and even when they get on the mrt after a day of hard labour under the scorching sun, in their work boots scuffed and covered with mud, do not smell any worse than sweaty school children on their way home after PE lessons!

This brings me to the conclusion that it is mostly chinese men who smell bad and love to scratch their groins. How do i find an explanation for this then? I'm afraid i'm clueless.