ELECTRIC NEWS
Excuse me, xiao jie
Are you calling me a prostitute?
Woman splashes water at salesman for using 'uncouth' term
April 28, 2009  Print Ready    Email Article 

IN Singapore, it is not uncommon to hear someone address a female stranger as 'xiao jie' (miss in Mandarin).
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UPSET: Miss Wang (above) claims the salesman called her 'xiao jie' at least five times in a mocking tone. PICTURE: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

That was how one salesman addressed a woman who walked by his shop.

But that was also what got him into hot water with the woman, a Chinese national.

Why?

In China, the term 'xiao jie' is often used to mean 'prostitute'. It is seen as disrespectful to address a woman as 'xiao jie' there. (See report below.)

The incident took place last Tuesday at a handphone shop in People's Park Complex.

Around 4.30pm that day, a 26-year-old Chinese national who gave her name only as Miss Wang was walking past the shop with her friend, Miss Zhou, also 26.

One of the salesmen in the shop, who wanted to be known only as Ah Siang, told The New Paper that he called out 'da jie' (older sister in Mandarin) to the two women.

'I wanted to get their attention so they could take a look at the handphones in the shop,' the 19-year-old Malaysian said.

'One of the women then nudged the other and told her I had just called her 'da jie'. She also asked her friend if she looked very old.'

Thinking that he may have been rude to call the women 'da jie', Ah Siang then addressed them as 'xiao jie'.

But that did not sit well with Miss Wang, who took offence at being called 'xiao jie'.

In a phone interview with The New Paper, Miss Wang, who works as a designer in Singapore, claimed the salesman had called her 'xiao jie' at least five times in a mocking tone.

'He even asked me what that term meant. When I didn't respond, he shouted even louder at me,' she said.

'I didn't want to react initially. We are graduates and such name-calling is uncouth. He should have respected us.'

When Ah Siang and his colleague tried to reason with Miss Wang, she became more upset and splashed the water in a bottle she was holding at the colleague.

Miss Wang, who is from Liaoning in north-east China, admitted she did this.

Ah Siang claimed that Miss Wang also hit his colleague with the mineral water bottle, but the woman denied doing that.

Miss Wang claimed Ah Siang's colleague then spewed vulgarities at her.

Scuffle

A heated argument and a scuffle followed.

Miss Wang claimed one of the salesmen in the shop threw a stapler at them. It hit Miss Zhou in the abdomen. There were four or five employees in the shop at that time.

But Mr Anthony Lau, the shop's manager who was also there at that time, said that the stapler had accidentally hit Miss Zhou during the scuffle.

Miss Zhou sustained a bruise on her abdomen as a result.

The commotion drew a huge crowd of onlookers outside the shop.

After a while, Ah Siang said he and his colleagues stopped arguing with the women.

'We even told them to call the police if they wanted,' he added.

And the women did.

A police spokesman confirmed that the police received a report about the dispute at People's Park Complex at 4.30pm that day.

Miss Zhou, who was slightly injured, was advised on what she could do if she wished to pursue the matter, the spokesman added.

Ah Siang said he had no intention of causing any trouble by calling Miss Wang 'xiao jie'.

'Why would I want to find trouble with her? I just started work two days (before the incident),' he said.

Mr Lau added: 'I've had this shop for seven years. This is the first time something like this has happened.'

'The term 'xiao jie' is just a courteous way of addressing our female customers.'

He and Ah Siang claimed that they did not know that the term could be seen as derogatory to women in China.

But Miss Wang, who has lived in Singapore for three years, said: 'I'm sure many people in Singapore know what 'xiao jie' means in China.'