'This is not China, we have rules': Chinese behavior abroad back in the spotlight

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A video about a Chinese mother who took her daughter to a clinic in Singapore went viral online on Tuesday, sparking controversy over Chinese attitudes towards queuing up when overseas, as well as anti-China prejudice people encounter when away from home.

After having already seen the doctor, the Chinese mom returned to the consulting room to ask a few more questions after collecting some medicine, as she was not sure how to follow the instructions regarding taking the treatment.

However, the doctor rejected her request and asked her to get a new number and return to the back of the queue. Faced with the mother’s refusal, the doctor said “this is not China. We have rules.”

An argument between the doctor and the patient's family soon began, with the woman's husband filming the dispute with the doctor.

Police officers were called to put an end to the conflict. However, while the fight may be over, the discussion on queuing in China has just started.

The doctor insisted the mother should not come back to talk to him, as other patients were still waiting in the queue. Even if her daughter had a fever of 39.5, other patients needed care as well, and following the rules of the queuing system was the priority.

“The patient's family thought one question would not take too long, but that's not true,” Wu Zhouqiao, a doctor from University Medical Center Rotterdam, told ThePaper.cn in support of the doctor’s stance. "As long as we answer one question, they are very likely to ask two or three more.”

Wu also suggested that patients who queue-jump to return and see the doctor may also cause conflict with other patients waiting in line.

This issue reveals the “custom” in Chinese hospitals, where patients can approach and ask their doctors questions straight away, even if they are told to wait and take a number beforehand.

Netizens conceded the doctor had a point, but questioned why Chinese people should have to work on their manners when overseas, just to placate people with a rooted prejudice against them.

“The doctor is right. The patient should take a new number. But obviously he is prejudiced against Chinese, which is not acceptable,” @ Fuchouzhelianmeng.

“If the patient didn’t follow the queuing system, the doctor could have pointed that out. But as he said ‘this is not China’, he is definitely discriminating against her. Hope he is brave enough to say ‘this is not US’ to an American one day,” @ Shanghainengshifanyi.