Sorry, Grace Is In Short Supply

From curry-gate to the hi-jacked taxi that mowed down a cleaner at Budget Terminal, much has passed that taxed the reservoir of graciousness extended to the newcomers. Straining at the limits of the milk of human kindness, one may postulate Sun Xu's repugnant attitude was an act of youthful exuberance. He did make an effort to apologise, but even if his despicable diatribe about dogs in Singapore is forgiven, it is unlikely to be forgotten. Especially when unmuzzled barking canines make periodic appearance in parliament.

Sembawang GRC MP Vikram Nair tried to make amends for his dastardly snide attack about Nigerian scams, the euphemism used being "eagerness to engage" his political opponents. Why he chose Mandarin daily ZaoBao as platform to express contriteness (he is rumoured to favour Urdu over Tamil) is up for speculation.

For those who can't bear the sight of Chinese characters because of the ill will generated by native speakers in recent weeks, the rough translation goes thus:

他说：“我本以为陈硕茂既然当过律师，也是经济学者，
He said: "I assumed that since Chen practised law, and is an economist,

理应对我展开火力十足的反击并解释立场。
he would match my vociferousness with like vigour.

但他却没有，只说对我的演讲没有要澄清或提问的。
But he did not, instead he said he had nothing to add.

我为此感到非常过意不去，所以没有继续问下去。”
I then felt very uneasy, so I did not continue on."

Needless to say, depending on the reception of the targetted audience, expect him to be "quoted out of context", or misunderstood because of the cross-language communication. Was it so difficult to say sorry to Mr Chen, in plain English, so all of us can appreciate the effort at graciousness?