kiasuism is a controllable and intentional tactic to get above. A closer English synonym to kiasu is the idiom “keeping up with the Joneses”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines this term as a person showing that they are "as good as other people by getting what they have and doing what they do”. However, this term differs from kiasu in terms of compulsivity. The lack of close synonyms to kiasu outside of Chinese values and vocabulary can be attributed to Singapore being more attentive to kiasu tactics compared to other countries. History According to Annetta Ayyavoo and Brendan Tennakoon, the emergence of kiasu behaviour among Singaporeans is likely due to the country being an immigrant nation. Since immigrants typically lacked education and were of lower social classes, they had to be overtly competitive to earn a sufficient living. The word “kiasu” first emerged in the 1980s in its original form: “kian su”, and was used among men completing their compulsory national service. “Kian su” was used to refer to soldiers who were afraid of failure. Eventually, kiasu entered the vocabulary of everyday Singaporeans. In the 1990s, the term was mostly used to describe negative tactics, particularly due to the increasing local and international popularity of the character Mr. Kiasu, who was known for his exaggerated kiasuism. The Singapore government grew concerned that the rest of the world would have a negative image of Singaporeans. As such, the government began implementing methods to target and fix kiasuism. For instance, the 1993 edition of the government's National Courtesy Campaign had the tagline “If we could only see ourselves sometimes”, in hope that the Singaporean population would make an effort to exhibit less kiasu behaviour. Furthermore, in a parliamentary debate in 1990, Lee Siew-Choh, a member of parliament, stated that he hoped that ministers would not fall ill with the “kiasu syndrome” which the government had been actively preaching against. This speech marked the first time the word “kiasu” was used in a parliamentary setting. Despite their efforts, the government still found kiasuism to be a problem past the 1990s. For example, during the 2012 National Day Speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, told the audience to be wary of “ugly Singaporean” behaviour in reference to kiasuism among other negative behaviours. Four years later, in 2016, a member of parliament claimed that kiasuism was inhibiting innovation in Singapore. Moreover, according to a National Values