In the Hokkien dialect, the word kiasu means 'afraid to lose'. In Singapore, it is widely used to describe, and more often poke fun at, the competitive nature of Singaporean culture. Kiasu is so engrained in the vocabulary that a few years ago, McDonald's even named a chicken sandwich the Kiasu Burger. It had extra lettuce, extra sauce, extra-long buns and more sesame seeds.
Examples of kiasu behaviour abound. When I first arrived here, I was baffled by a small packet of tissues left on a table at the hawker centre. I thought someone must have left it behind. But no, the owner was just 'reserving' a seat while queuing up for her food.
I have heard restaurants complain that if they offer a free buffet for under-fives, parents will argue for hours that their child may be six, but he or she really eats like a four-year-old, and so should not be charged. The most recent kiasu pastime was comparing Valentine's bouquets, in 'a mine is bigger than yours' kind of way.
On a darker side, the kiasu mentality is pushing parents to pressure their children from a very early age - as young as three or four - to study hard by attending 'enrichment' courses that will help the child be ahead of the pack when he or she enters school.
At an even deeper level, many people say they will not have children because education is just too expensive. Most of my Singaporean friends have been trying hard to convince me that I should not send my children to local schools if I can afford otherwise, saying that there is too much pressure on the child. Many say they are planning to send their children to boarding schools (Singaporeans cannot attend international schools in the city-state). The government is well aware of the problem and, in the past year, a raft of measures has emerged to make the curriculum lighter and refocus attention on creativity.
Yet, it is hard to let go of this kiasu mentality. A recent article in the local press highlighted that Chinese students were giving their Singaporean counterparts 'a foretaste of global competition in the classroom'. Chinese children's remarkable academic achievements, the paper said, were stirring emotions from jealousy and envy to awe and admiration among parents and students, with growing concern that they would start getting all the top places in schools. 'If that happens, Singapore would lose face,' one parent was quoted as saying.