I await the day when Singapore is taken over by China “for purely commercial reasons”. Then let them tell me I’m xenophobic for the final blow.

actually you get multiculturalism too in US and even though multiculturalism is kinda official policy in Australia and Canada, some of the policies can be rather melting pot kind.

the notion, that if you are less of yourself and i be less of myself then we both can live in harmony, is a failed one. likewise the notion that if we all give up who we are and try to uniformize our diversity, we can live as one people, is another failed notion. all this have failed not just in Singapore but in every instance across the world.

diversity is something that cannot be erased and attempts to do so using superficial means such as clothes, language, etc just dont quite work. instead diversity should be embraced and what is required is to seek unity.

hence in the case of someone putting up chinese signboard in geylang, let them do it. that does give the place some character to that space and also creates his/her identify for that space. however what is required is to get the shopkeeper to include non-mandarin speaking singaporeans within that space. there are many ways the shopkeeper can do this.. for instance another signboard in english, or signs on the door in english etc etc. menus in english. shopkeepers being able to speak in english. i have seen this in so many ethnic towns around the western countries. its only a problem if the shopkeeper insist on only keeping a chinese signboard and do nothing else to delibrately exclude non-mandarin speaking singaporeans. that creates then an essentialist scenario where one group will say “hey i am essentially this… you are essentially that”……. here divisions are created out of diversity. in the earlier situation unity is created out of diversity. unlike conservative belief, its not diversity that causes divisions. its divisions that causes divisions because you can find divisions amongst the same group also.

despite the british divide and rule, singapore till the 1960s was a multicultural space. each ethnic group had a space but wasnt too large for themselves to exclude themselves from others. instead one had to get out of whatever area to go into another area for work or transactions. so actually there wasnt a need to create “non-enclave” policy in HDB. that was pure phobia and paranoia.

each ethnic group till the 1960s was visible also. that gave them identity and confidence. they didnt end up in a perpetual self-campaign to find their identity which has been the case since 1960s.

each community also was able to contribute using the strengths and support of the community. the tiny iranians, Namazies, built the capitol and played a key role in introducing CPF during british time. the armenians e.g. Sarkies built so many buildings which include if i am not wrong the raffles hotel. the chettiars who people typically think were only money lenders actually was instrumental in developing part of central business district and river valley road. the chinese community was using the support and strengths of their ethnic groups. the hakkas contributed in their own ways collectively, the hokkiens, the cantonese and so on. tamil muslim chulias more stereotypically known as mamaks and known to be only running sundry shops were also developing book trade, pharmaceutical and a few other industries. the sikhs and sindhis were very useful in bringing up textile and import/export trading businesses in singapore. the hadrami arabs from yemen were key to business and some infrastructure development from early 19th century till world war I. the tiny parsi community build social buildings such as mistri building in SGH and contributed to legal reforms up till 1960s.

since the 1960s, development has been largely a state thingy as communities were uniformized. in short communities became a facade not a strength or support from which they could draw on to contribute successfully to nation building.

given the new wave of immigration over last 10 years where immigrants are more than a 1million now, i will like to see their contribution beyond just their labour input in their job. their real strength in coming together within their communities and giving to the nation what it doesnt have yet.

Actually its not true that other races are not allowed to learn mandarin. My best fried was an indian andhe took chinese as a second laguage in primary and seconday school In fact he is fluent in both mandarin and hokkien

I checked-in the airport recently for Singapore airlines in T3. The counter staff could not speak english. What else can I say?

#2) re need:
“…given the new wave of immigration over last 10 years where immigrants are more than a 1million now, i will like to see their contribution beyond just their labour input in their job. their real strength in coming together within their communities and giving to the nation what it doesnt have yet”

I agree, if only the new migrants participate in civil society and together help to address concerns and issues like income gaps, elderly and disabled rights, FW rights, the environment etc – things that they would too consider to be ‘not right’ or ‘not fair’. I feel it’s not so much of flag waving, silly demonstration of their ability to speak Singlish and telling people how much they *heart* Singapore – those r for t.v. shows and lousy journalism like the ST.

If Singapore is going to become a China outpost, I might as well move to China where the cost of living is lower.

i was a bloomin livinin ^tourist^ in london for nearly a decade
i spoke fluent cockney/welsh asscent if i so wished to
including broken singlish french
occasionaly i will speak hokkiens with fellow singaporeans
and the damned angmor whom i never met nor says hello
would cursed @ me
and DEMAND
speak english when you are in britain
or else go back to your 3rd world country where you come from….
i wanted to whack them
but come to think of it
if i am goin to live amon them
i should be 1 of them
remember the motto
when in rome
do what the italians do
including pinchin the girls bottoms…….

I think, we are still toying with the idea of Singapore, Singaporean….defining our existing culture….learning our diverse traditions and history for that matter….
We are a young nation….driving ourself to progress in all direction…not just economics…..

And now…..we are thrown into flux again…..

I do not mind the immigration policy..but it must come in proper dosage….the current system will only create problems…because of the large number of different people coming in….it must be moderate. Thus, enabling both the new immigrants and Singaporeans to adapt and live in harmony.

People can use Australia as an e.g. ..But let me tell you…
Australia adopts a cautious policy in immigration, unlike Singapore.
It is stringent and manages to get good top quality people in.

I remember ,
When Australia gave out 25,000 PR’s to Hong Kongers sometime back… this created a hugh rukus in Australia among its people…thus till today the Chinese complain that Aussies are racist….it created a problem of its own.
….not to mention that there weren’t any Chinese before that…
But Australians started to see things differently.

Therefore, coming back to Singapore, we need to think how we are going to employ proper strategies…..the way things are going….
I don’t see it fruitful.

Throwing in 100,000 people into 4 million Singaporean, in a small space, with a smaller pie now…..will create great tensions…..of all magnitude.

And ST calling people who highlight this as xenophobhics….will never help….people will only see it as “the dogs barking for the master again”.

I agree with Reed’s argument that having a “melting pot” fails to establish conditions necessary for a strong national identity. What the article has neglected to point out that national identity is an amorphous concept that even long-established nation-states like the UK or France struggle to define. Creating a national identity, as the Japanese have done with their idea of racial and cultural homogeneity, relies on establishing a set of common aims, beliefs etc. that every citizen should exhibit. Singapore, however, being a young independent nation of racial and religious diversity, struggles to find any natural link. Thus, it has to rely on institutions, such as National Service, to create shared experiences as a means of fostering cohesion. Insofar as a “melting pot” presupposes certain common ideological, racial or religious characteristics, it will not be feasible in a diverse country like Singapore.

I find it interesting that some Singaporeans have attempted to use the ability to speak English as a benchmark for “Singaporean-ness.” In fact, it has often been used to rationalize their xenophobic attitudes. However, most true-blue Singaporeans never attain proficiency in that language (nor in their mother tongue). To say that English is part of our national identity is to consider 70+% of true-blue Singaporean citizens un-Singaporean! What we must admit, however, is that English is a working language that can facilitate interaction between people of different races. The use of Chinese-only shop signs is to be discouraged simply because, as Reed says, it excludes others. Yet, it is not a basis for claiming that the new Chinese immigrants should be “giving up some aspects of [their] individual cultures, which some from the dominant culture may be loathe to surrender”, and definitely not a reason for discrimination.

A more worrying issue is how Chinese has become the “Other” to English. In recent weeks, some Singaporeans like Miss Loh expressed her “disquiet about the government’s emphasis on the need to speak Mandarin” Irrationally, they have linked Mandarin-speaking, itself a way to foster cohesion within different Chinese language groups (or dialects as the government calls it), with the influx of PRC immigrants. One can only guess at the underlying xenophobia, or the latent dislike of Mandarin from school days, to explain this belief. It may be argued that the government’s emphasis on Mandarin marginalizes the other races, but instead of proving the need to promote English in place of Mandarin, it shows that the government should put more effort into promoting Malay and Tamil. Moreover, it also demonstrates the precarious position of Mandarin amongst the Singaporean Chinese, with classes resorting to hanyu pinyin and Higher Chinese A1 students being unable to sustain a proper conversation with a Chinese-American. Thus, Chinese is neither the “Other” to English nor a danger to national harmony.

Albeit..I must add,
the Singapore govt is going bankrupt…and it does not have a choice but to allow migration to take place and more funds to come into the country and economic activities like its housing markets to improve.

The immigration policy from the look of it…is not for cultural diversity but mainly the sole purpose being economics…which will certainly go wrong.

The e.g. given about our fore-fathers will not hold, because that “time” had a different set of dynamics at play from now.

2) ney reed

“…given the new wave of immigration over last 10 years where immigrants are more than a 1million now, i will like to see their contribution beyond just their labour input in their job. their real strength in coming together within their communities and giving to the nation what it doesnt have yet”

Actually they have, even the adult immigrants. An example I can think of is hawker food. At a time when some hokkien mee stalls have been dishing out watery hokkien me, I came across hokkien mee cooked the old way sold by these immigrants. They have also been innovative in selling pan mein with interesting ingredients. They seem to care more about pleasing their customers.

Their children will definitely give to the nation a competitive edge. They speak and act like Singaporeans & they definitely spur the local children to greater excellence. They may be children of those immigrants who give “just their labour input in their job” as our forefathers who came to Singapore did.

The Straits Times also advocate recently for the government to relax rules for shop keepers to use/rent out the five-foot way in front of shop – never mind that 2 innocent residents died in Hougang Fire in 2007 dued to clogged walkway.

Abstract:

The Singapore education system plays a central role in the mythology of the young country’s nation building project. The education system is portrayed as the cradle of Singapore’s multiracialism, fostering racial harmony and understanding. Yet this historical study of primary school English textbooks from the 1970s to the present reveals that since the beginning of the 1980s they have been systemically designed in such a way that they evoke high levels of racial consciousness, and at their worst have displayed a pro-Chinese bias that has deprived non-Chinese children of inspiring role models. This study helps to explain the results of recent sociological research that has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Singapore education system as an instrument for promoting racial harmony.

Racialised Education in Singapore
Author: Barr, Michael

Source: Educational Research for Policy and Practice, Volume 5, Number 1, April 2006 , pp. 15-31(17)

Publisher: Springer

The existence of racially segregated funds CDAC, Mendaki and Sinda is discriminatory.

The existence of SAP schools is racially discriminatory.

The race quota in HDB is racially discrimantory.

PAP has designed it to be that way.

I remember talking to a group of Berliners while i was on holiday there a year ago. We were just joking and said that Berlin is such a great place, perhaps we should come over, find work and live in Berlin.

The whole group (2 couples) went – yeah, you should. Come and join us. Would love to see what you bring to the mix – your Singaporean background with your HK-based careers. We could learn a thing or two from you guys, and perhaps you’ll learn a thing or two about Berlin.

Dear People,

I think the Malay-Muslims would prefer a multicultural, Unity in Diversity model. We cannot have a melting-pot at the DNA level. You have to convert to Islam to marry a Muslim.

The best is to move away from race-religion to socio-economic classification. Income levels etc. But its not easy because of religious complexities.

At the same time – we Singaporeans can and should demand that new immigrants must learn to speak English. Why not ? If you want to migrate to the West – you ought to learn English. Likewise I see no harm in imposing this English requirement on immigrants.

Regards
Dr Syed Alwi

Solobear,
“The existence of SAP schools is racially discriminatory.”

I understand how the two other point might be viewed as racially discriminatory. But how does SAP school do this?

Keep up the 10% economic growth and jobs for all Singaporeans and everything will be rosy. Anything less and you will realise the One People, One Nation concept are flaws of a multiracial country. The recession and the current downturn proved this flaw to the teeth. Sadly, tolerance is really the only path to follow.

I am angry; do you know why? I am angry because nowadays, none of the youth could speak proper dialects, none of the youth could manage to communicate with their grand parents & after so many years of Speak Mandarin campaign, most of us are still ‘half-past-six’ in that language! So where are we now? I remember when I was in school during the 70s & 80s; I have many Malay & Indian friends. We could speak Malay among each other & the non-Chinese buggers could wipe up Hokkien or Cantonese that would put the present generation to shame. I think the Speak Mandarin campaign started in the 80s & till now, how many of us could really speak/write good Mandarin….and I do mean Good Mandarin! Not many, I am afraid; we have been forced to watch those badly dubbed Mandarin on Ch. 8.

Our Mandarin didn’t get better nor did our English! Isnt 20 over years long enough to show that the campaign had no effects on the citizens? Not only we didn’t improve on our Mandarin, the campaign caused the Chinese to forget their own mother tongue & part of their culture disappeared whenever an elderly person passes on. What about the Malays & Indians? They probably felt left-out cos tit’s really rather hard to juggle Mandarin, Malay/Tamil & English at one go! maybe to be fair to them, we should have a Speak Good Tamil or Malay Bagus campaign! At least if you could speak good Malay, you might get a discount for the coconut you order in Bali or Malacca!!

The Charade Of Meritocracy.
http://www.feer.com/essays/2006/october/the-charade-of-meritocracy

I do not see any harm at all in the Chinese advertisement signs in Geylang. THIS IS SINGAPORE, not the United States of America, not Australia or Great Britain. The biggest problem with a certain number of Singaporeans who belong to the majority race, is that they are so thoroughly westernised that they deride their own origins. Tell me which race ever have so many members feel ashamed of their own heritage and want desperately to imagine that English is in their DNA (quoting Mr Alwi), and which race will have some of its members start to teach their babies speaking in English before even his/her “DNA language”. It is uniquely Singapore, really. Perhaps the chinese language is particularly difficult which left many to just give up. So it is not incorrect for the higher forces to put in place helping hand to help those would like to be helped. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the Speak Mandarin campaign, too. In my opinion, it’s one of the last few things that incumbent government is still doing correctly which help to win many votes. (of course 10% of the people or more might condemn it and think precisely the other way)

In my opinion, the model of unity in divesity seems to be a smart choice, even though English must remain the common language of business to attain a level playing field. More importantly, the system of Meritocracy and Colour Blindness must be upheld vigorously. If that works, and if jobs remain available, and if the politicians have compassion and are humble and reasonable, we have nothing to worry about., those advertisement signs don’t bother me as they are private businesses. I will start to worry if the street signs get changed to Urdu or Tagalog.

Regards

One minute LKY says need more foreigners next he says we are not a nation yet. It is as though he slaps his own cheek and pretend he is not the cause of all these. What kind of integrity he has. Perhaps he is too old and senile to say anything from now on.

“Michael disapproved of meritocracy because he saw it as a way of legitimising inequality. After all, if everyone starts out on a level playing field, then the resulting allocation of rewards—however unequal—seems fair. Those at the very pinnacle of our society might not inherit their privileged position, as their forebears had done, but its pyramid-like shape would be preserved. Indeed, once this hierarchical structure became legitimised, as it would in a meritocratic society, it was likely that power and wealth would become concentrated in even fewer hands”

http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2008/11/meritocracy-increasing-inequality-toby-young.html

To Alex the peasant boy #19,

I think the answer to better Mandarin is when you allow someone to study it, AT THEIR OWN CHOICE. when they decide that its an economic choice etc.

By which i mean – loosening a little on the second language policy, giving in some flexibility, akin to Finland’s, Sweden’s, Germany’s second language policies in schools.

I have close overseas chinese friends here in HK. At home, their parents/grandparents speak Canto/Hakka. Those who didnt speak, their parents sent them to classes as they were growing up, for them to be able to communicate in their mother tongue. In school, its all english. As they went to university, they realised the need for Mandarin, and the need to head to HK to work…so they picked up mandarin courses in uni.

They come back to HK – with very well-spoken English, Mandarin and Canto.

The point being – if second language is made a little more flexible, and not only to mother tongues, where Indians and Malays choosing Mandarin, then we can also have Mandarin as a common language.

All we ask is something more flexible, and not such a rigid course for learning Mandarin in the schools. You will produce Indians and Malays who can communicate, and one day, do business in China.

I quote from the article..
“But I expect these immigrants to conform to Singaporean cultural norms rather than that of their country of origin”

Hmm.. very weird that this is what Singaporeans are feeling.. we are a nation of immigrants from the start.. if the above was to be implemented, then probably everyone would know how to speak malay.

how many of us Singaporeans undersand the meaning of the national anthem as it is in Malay?

I would be a good example of integration that you all are talking about… not being arrogant or anything…

my great grand parents came from India… they live in kampung and started learning malay dealing with the local people… three generations down, I can speak pretty good malay.. even got A1 for my o’levels… haha… but sadly… i forgot how to speak urdu/tamil…. dont know a single word… :(

maybe i am one of the extreme cases… integrated too well until forgot my own language… just like the people who migrate for years but still cannot even speak english… somewhere in the middle would be ideal..

To #21)Fairplay

And what is wrong with road signs being in Urdu or Tagalog in Singapore? There are road signs in Chinese in London’s Chinatown and Bengali in Tower Hamlets in London. Would you seriously argue that Chinese and Bengalis are not “natives” of Britain and therefore do not deserve multilingual road signs anywhere in the country?

We have to move beyond imagining that the only ethnic groups that can possibly be Singaporean are Chinese, Malays, Tamils and Eurasians.

i forgot to mention another group in my earlier note that made notable contribution to nation building in pre-60s era… the burmese chinese community… their contribution is remarkable… that includes the shaw family and haw par…

you see at the most nowadays i find the new wave of immigrants are making a mark through their consumption patterns.. one comment above talked about food… well that doesnt not really add to nation building in a big way…

we have now a seizable number of americans… warren buffet instead of dishing out cliche tips and advices maybe can create some world class finance school (not just donate either).. rich indian businessmen who have migrated and who tend to flaunt their expensive houses can invest heavily in little india expansion to include say indian art galleries, creative arts schools etc etc… top indonesian chinese businessmen on top of snapping up the biggest bungalows in nassim and katong can introduce so much of the rich indonesian culture… the list goes on

“The [Straits times] went on to explain that the Geylang shop signs were in only Chinese for “purely commercial reasons”, …”

Well, then employers seeking to employ those who can speak mandarin could have been doing so for ““purely commercial reasons” and not an excuse for their cultural insensitivity? What crab. Four legs good, two legs better… “baa-baa”…

Singapore is supposed to be a Malay country but was a British Outpost.

Since we don’t like to joined Malaysia might while sell Singapore Inc to China as an outpost for economic of sale!

Intelligent Chinese Mandrains would rule Singapore better than the Lees!

3) Sloo,

“My best fried was an indian andhe took chinese”

I believe your best friend’s dad wasn’t Tamil? If so, I think MOE allows him to take Punjabi, Gujarati, Chinese, Malay or whatever.

16) Dr Syed Alwi -

“I think the Malay-Muslims would prefer a multicultural, Unity in Diversity model. We cannot have a melting-pot at the DNA level. You have to convert to Islam to marry a Muslim.”

I wasn’t suggesting anyone give up their religion. I for one am not going to, for the sake of a melting pot. I think I didn’t explain what I meant by melting pot well enough. Stay tuned. I’m going to write another article soon on this.

19) Alex the peasant boy –

During your day, English wasn’t the lingua franca in Singapore — Malay was, and to a lesser degree, Hokkien. That’s why many older Indians speak better Hokkien than me (not a difficult task if you exclude the swear words), and most older Chinese can converse better in Malay than English. Many more people now can speak English. THe reason why you perceive that our English standard has dropped, is because English isn’t spoken by just the Peranakans and Englishmen. It’s spoken by the masses (well at least the 30% of younger Singaporeans).

25) ManKhan -

Yes I think all Singaporeans should know at least some conversational Malay. It’s good that you got A1 for it, although it’s a shame your parents didn’t/weren’t able to teach you some Tamil or Urdu.

Your mother crossed the big sea ! Write it down in Chinese and say it in Mandarin loudly. Make sure that your hanyu pinyin is perfect or it becomes a
sentence of bad words !
Obamabukanosama

[i]ManKhan on July 20th, 2009 7.11 pm I would be a good example of integration that you all are talking about… not being arrogant or anything…

my great grand parents came from India… they live in kampung and started learning malay dealing with the local people… three generations down, I can speak pretty good malay..[/i]
recentLEE i was in china as the communist china
in the provincial capital city
this indian boy yes he a trueblood india indian who went to the province to study IT/chinese culture
in the IT shop
i was amaze
i expect him to speak indians or english if he was tryin to bargain for a mouse
no not a petmouse
a mouse for his computer
he spoke FLUENT mandarin with the same hongkie accent as those turbaned bhaiis in the hongkie movies
guess what
he was only in the provincial china capital for under 2 years
yet he does what the italians did in rome beside tom hank’s davinchi italianos…..

Whatever is it, so long can make economic sense is a good policy, right or wrong?

(1) As a Chinese-educated Singaporean, I would say, all the problems are originated from English-education.

(2) For example, MM Lee had commented that one reason for the Bilingual Policy is: (Without the Bilingual Policy) “We will lose our dynamism and become totally English speaking, Anglicized or westernized”.
Ref: http://www.moe.gov.sg/press/2004/CLCPRC.htm@

(3) That is to say, if we truly believe in fair-play or level-playing field concept, then, we can not enforce the use of English (a Western language) at the expense of our own Asian languages, thus Bilingual Policy is a fair choice for most fair-minded Singaporeans.

(4) Of course, as Singaporeans, we support the use of English as common working language because there are a lot of advantages, but there are also a lot of problems too.

(5) Besides the Bilingual Policy, the Asian Values debate, the Moral and Religion Education program, the Speak Mandarin Campaign (and we should support a wider, Speak Ethnic Mother Tongue Campaign for all races), the SAP schools scheme, efforts to encourage all races to preserve their traditions and cultures, etc., all these are Responses to counter-balance the various long-term effects of English-education.

(6) Thus, we must put the English-factor (both its advantages and disadvantages) in our considerations before we can fairly discuss the multi-racial, multi-language, multi-culture and multi-religion issues in Singapore.

Sorry, the link provided in #35 (2) should be:

Ref: http://www.moe.gov.sg/press/2004/CLCPRC.htm

Singapore is nothing but a Big Public Toilet.

The people who stays face more and more shit everyday. Melting Pot? More like a big pot of shit to me, with PAP as the shit stirer.

Foreigners who use Singapore as a transit stop will benefit from its convenience and leave their shit for the Singaporeans to clean up.

Orchard Ion has pedigree restrooms for the Elites to poop in!! :)

i wonder how much those cleaners are paid…. :?

Hi AYGEE (24)

Yes, I do agree that it would be more interesting for us to learn Mandarin at our own pace & not force fed onto us when we were in school. I know my roots & I am proud that I am a Singaporean that could speak Malay, English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew & Singlish. Maybe I am Old School, but nowadays, I hardly meet anyone below 25yrs old that could speak good dialects anymore.

Hahahahaha, I hope one day the Malays or Indians could speak good Mandarin & have businesses in China; the other thing is, I feel that the many Speak Mandarin campaigns over the years have caused them to distant their relationship us Chinese! Perhaps, I am wrong.

“Both Mr. Lee and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, have openly stated that Singapore is not ready for a non-Chinese head of government. But in an irony that only autocratic systems can sustain, Mr. Lee has outlawed public discussions of race relations in Singapore. Using The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, the government could interpret any discussion of religious issues as stoking racial sentiment, and could potentially detain without trial persons found doing so, putting any honest discussion of the subject in a deep freeze. ”

http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/may/constructing-singapore-elitism-ethnicity-and-the-nation-building-project

40) singapore is not ready to have non chinese head of government? how can a multiracial country leader say such thing? this is discrimination right? should he take himself in? is he also implying that the head of government should come from his family and closest allies/seat warmer?

It is pointless talking about multiculturalism or melting pots without first discussing what kind of Singapore we would like our children, grand children and great grand children to inherit.

The PAP’s economic vision for Singapore has always been crystal clear. It still is.

The social vision was crystal clear, especially in the early days. It no longer is.

What is clear is that Singaporeans who do not belong to the elite (the top 10% to 12%) are subservient to the PAP’s economic vision ie the negative social consequences for Singaporeans are obviously deemed a necessary collateral damage.

What social vision do Singaporeans have for Singaporeans? How would you like to see Singapore evolve? What sort of society would you like your great grand children to live in? Do Singaporeans have a say?

We worry about a few shop signs in Geylang. For many years now we have had 300,000 or so maids from foreign countries to whom we have handed over the pastoral care of our children. What are the long term social consequences of this? What impact does this have on the Singaporean culture? Will our children develop the attitude that some people are simply superior to others. If I want something I just yell out to the maid, who is inferior to me.

We worry about a few shop signs in Geylang. There are now 1 million foreign workers in our midst who have put SIGNIFICANT downward pressure on the earning capacity of Singaporeans. Where will it end? The intake of foreign doctors into the hospital system each year outnumbers the local intake 2 to 1. Will doctors find themselves having to accept a lower salary.

What is the Singaporean culture anyway? What is a Singaporean? What are the defining characteristics of a Singaporean? Can we readily define what a Singaporean is? What are the defining characteristics of Singapore? Apart from chilli crab and shopping.

To Happyplace: I suggest that you do some research on Australia. The Hong Kongers you refer to were Chinese nationals, mostly students, who were allowed to stay on in Australia following the Tiananmen Square incident. The Chinese have been in Australia since the goldrush in the 19th Century and have always maintained a strong presence, especially in the professional and business worlds.

Where to Singapore? It is up to all of us. We cannot just leave it totally to the PAP.

c’mon lah ppl s’porean mana ada identity we are just macam macam only lah back then i remember s’porean pretend can’t speak mandrin and gave derogatory remarks abt china and prc incuding other races now everyone knows why ppl learn chinese these days let us all see after china don’t learn what liao

Hi Gerald,

Whether it ends up as multi-culturalism or a melting-pot is, quite apart from government policy on race issues, a function of quantity: the sheer volume of immigration (a result of another government policy).

As I highlighted in my article on the “fallacy of growth at all costs”, when immigration is a trickle, it allows the newcomers to assimilate into society. When it is a flood, it overwhelms the hosts. Rather than pick up good habits from the host country, immigrants then form racial enclaves which risk becoming ghettos (the Geylang example). This is what is happening now, which is sad.

Unless immigration flows are controlled, we risk creating tensions in society and undoing a lot of good work of past years.

44)Raijv, I agree with you totally. The dilution has happened so much so quickly that there is no Singapore Identity anymore……

We can’t see this clearly now. But once trouble rises or if a war breaks out, it is every man for himself. Ask around……How many Singaporeans are willing to put their lives down for their country?

Singaporeans today feel like Tom Hanks in Terminal…..we have no country……someway along the road, the influx of foreign invaders have taken it from us….

Maybe we can do what the people of the micro-islands are doing. They are buying other islands to live in as their island is being submerged under sea water. Maybe Singapore can buy another island from Philippines and we can all start again there…….this time with a different government

so much abuse/bias/discrimination has been justified in the name of “commercial reasons”. There are so many talented minority singer/actors/models who are never seen on TV or cinemas coz of the same reasons. Even Singapore Idols, Taufiq and Hadi are told to focus on Malaysia and Indonesia market. What a lame piece of BS!

i believe the issue sg gahmen worry is the loss of chinese culture amongst chinese population. from the closure of Nanyang University in the 70s, it is all the way down for chinese language education. MM Lee and PM Lee is trying hard to reverse the downward trend, but i think it is too late even with all the business china, SAP schools thingy… To lose one’s own culture is very easy. look at those indonesian chinese or those ABCs, some dun even have chinese names. And it is too late for indonesian chinese to reverse the trend.

Come On! nowadays some SAP school students speak English more than Mandarin, I am a product of it. haha! But come to think of it, without SAP schools, i think whole singapore would be angmohnized!!! at least i can still remember some of the chinese poems my teacher taught me! SAP schools help to retain some of the chinese culture aspect. I fully support SAP schools!!!

[i] look at those indonesian chinese or those ABCs, some dun even have chinese names.[/i]

actually it not that they don’t want their chinese surnames
they are not ALLOWED
decreed by sukarno eras
includin the THAIs government
when did you ever came across a thai chinese with chinese names on their passports?
thaksin
is he not a chinese by decendant?

Heavy reading.
There are so many Singaporeanisms.

How can I be reading this about the loss of culture?
So much feels so similar with the culture of Singapore, to the Singapore I grew up in.

Speaking English needs to return to the levels it was at in the 60’s,70’s.
A lot of the older people have really good English.

When I speak to a China National in Australia, it is always insisted of me to speak in English ( a good thing as I can only speak English).

Good English in Singapore is a competitive advantage for Singaporeans!!

41) Maybe Singapore will be ready to have a FOREIGN TALENT as its leader! ha hahhahahahahahahaha!

What identity? Anti-Cantonese, Anti-Hokkien policy under the guise SGM courtesy of LKY?