By Choo Zheng Xi, Editor-at-Large
Why are Singaporeans unhappy, the PAP wonders.
It is said that Singaporeans are a migrant stock. Coming and going, it’s in our blood. My own mother was born and raised in Hong Kong. She met my Singaporean father while he was helping out at my paternal grandmother’s restaurant in Kowloon in the early 80s. And then I was born.
My parents brought me to Singapore in 1988, when I was three years old.
Back then, there were only about 300,000 non-citizen residents in Singapore, out of 3 million people.
All my mother’s blood relatives are still in Hong Kong, but we are Singaporean citizens now. We will always call Singapore our first home.
I still speak only Cantonese with my mother. She came here speaking very little English, but she now speaks decent English and Mandarin (though with a strong Cantonese accent), and some pasar Hokkien that she picked up along the way.
My mother recently retired from her sales position at a 3-for-$10 stall near Raffles City where she happily worked for more than five years. She was tired of competing with the Mainlander that her boss had hired last year, who was willing to work longer for less money.
Mum was hoping to quit after receiving the annual one-month Chinese New Year bonus. The bonus, which her boss usually pays along with her January wages, never came this year. Over the phone, she told me how relieved she was that I’d be starting work at a law firm later this year.
Singapore now has more than 1.7 million foreigners out of 4.99 million people.
My mother grew to love Singapore at a time when Singapore had more space to grow to love her.
It scares me how little space Singaporeans have been left to integrate foreigners, and how visceral the xenophobic reactions are.
Why are Singaporeans angry, the PAP wonders.
Then there is my paternal granduncle. He was a bookish bachelor, and spoke a crisp Victorian English common among the English-educated of his time. He used to trundle down every weekend to the old National Library at Stamford Road, where he enjoyed reading everything from American thriller novels to Singaporean history books. He was such a loyal library member that the library used to send him commemorative coffee table books on their more significant anniversaries.
He died a few years before they turned the Stamford Library into a tunnel. I guess in a way it was better he never found out, he would never have forgiven them.
Why are Singaporeans angry, the PAP wonders.
If our Ministers took crowded MRTs and buses, ate at neighborhood coffee shops, or worked as front line service staff, they might better understand Singaporeans’ anger.
If they lived like us, ate like us — if they looked at us — they might know.
Singaporeans aren’t inherently xenophobic or hateful, my family will be the first to attest. I trust that Singaporeans can remember a common humanity even as we condemn dehumanizing policies.
But our country is changing so quickly that we now feel overwhelmed and displaced, angry, in a country which is becoming harder and harder to recognize.
It is hard to believe the PAP doesn’t know why Singaporeans are angry, but what does our anger mean to them?
Singapore is increasingly losing our physical and emotional space for love, and soon the only thing we will be able to call ours will be our Anger.
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Can you imagine how the Malays felt when your ‘foreigner’ foreparents came in and eventually brought singapore to the brink of making mandarin ‘our mother tongue’ whilst the government stated that singapore must always be a nation with a Chinese majority, amongst others? Makes the plight of current singaporean chinese nothing compared to the past don’t you think. You kept quiet in the first instance, why open your mouth now. Poetic justice don’t you think. But whatever the outcome, the Malays and Indians oscillate between 2nd and 3rd class status without or with foreigners respectively. Gross hypocrisy of the fascist kind methinks.
ed
//a2ed
rubbish.
There were so much space then.
Malays are usually pacifist.
go tell your crap some where else.
i ald started to find this country which i used to feel proud of, is getting stranger and distance away from me… i could never feel this is really called my home anymore….
its more like as if im living in a foreign country as a singaporean here… so sad!
i tink our garhment r all being demonised! becos demons got no human feelimgs at all!
Wake up Choo!Have you forgotten that we are living in a global village?.There is nothing you
and i can do about it.Even if we were to replace PAP with a new government,nothing will be changed.Any major city you go to,you are bound to encounter the same situation.Take for an example of cities like Vancouver or Toronto.Sometime i feel like i am in a strange place somewhere in China or Asia.Its ambiance and cultural identities have come to a point whereby i feel how you feel.Streets are more dirtier with litters and salivas.Food courts and restaurants
employees speak very little English.New immigrants are given free tuition in English language in the expense on taxpayers money.You name it,we have it here too.So do not think that Singapore’s bad situation is unique.The only advantage i have over Singaporeans is that,i can move out of the city to a more ‘Canadian style’ type of towns.
It is not a coincidence that large influx of foreigners started to flow into Singapore right after the government began to make Free Trade deals with other countries.Many of us are not aware that Free Trades are not just about free movement of goods and world economies.It is also about free movement of people around the world.I hope someone from TOC could write up an article on how Free Trade is affecting all of us ,including the sovereignty of one’s country.
One of my favourite authors in his book “Flashman and the Redskins” has a passage on the concerns of the existing population when newcomers move in.
Too long to quote but he says that anyone be he be English squire, redskin or farmer will be upset when newcomers come in. And if they get too angry, they do violence.
Where the PAPpies messed up big time was to allow FTs in without making sure that the infrastructure was there to accommodate them. Cutting back on train services and HDB flats did not help locals adapt.
As a 2nd generation Singaporean, who have lived and worked overseas, and returned home with few regrets after several years in Canada, I respectfully disagree with the views reflected in your article. I am neither unhappy nor angry, except that I didn’t strike 4D last night, and wonder when will I be the lucky winner of the $10 million hongbao draw?
Like Preston Loon, I have been to Toronto, and lived in Vancouver, which is usually one of the top cities in the “most liveable city in the world” list. My car was broken into 3xs during my stay in the most liveable city in the world. What was taken? My stereo each time, and my winter coat. Drunkards and vagabonds would sleep on the streets, all 4 seasons of the year, and being a democratic “free” country, of course no one from the government ever told them to go to a shelter. There were parts of the city where I wouldn’t go after 11pm because of the crime rate (I hear South Africa is so crime ridden that the SA Police warn police from Singapore not to go there!). There were migrants, legal and illegal, coming in, and of course, the locals started muttering and grumbling, just like Singaporeans now, about newcomers who didn’t bother to integrate, instead prefering to congregate in their enclaves, speaking their own language, buying all the houses and causing property prices to go sky-high. And how Asians would always win the top prizes in the school and take up the majority of places in universities.
Free trade is reciprocal, which means that Singaporeans are free to go where they choose. And we should make use of this opportunity to go and see what there is elsewhere. Even if you can’t afford, for whatever reason, to go overseas physically, the beauty of living in a country with easy and reliable access to the Internet is that you can find out anything you want on the Internet. Go online and find out what the Kiwis say about their government , what the Canadians are saying about their government, what the Americans are saying about their government.
We really should stop grumbling about the newcomers, cos believe me, someone, somewhere, is complaining about Singaporeans going to their country, buying property and causing prices to jump skyhigh and depriving citizens affordable housing, treating their country as a hotel, and not taking up citizenship in order to keep the little red book that would be their lifeline home if anything went wrong.
I love my country, all the good, all the bad. And I am not ashamed of it. And should anyone wonder what Singapore would be like without the PAP, you just have to look at the neighbouring countries. And then think….
well-written, poignant piece.
my own grandparents were born and raised outside Singapore too.
i’ve nothing against foreigners too, only the pro-foreigner policies and their after-effects. how these displaced original Singaporeans, how they depressed our wages, how they pushed up our cost of living and simultanously pushed down our standard of living.
the PAP elites don’t get it, as you succintly put it, because they don’t live like us anymore.
Vote Protest. Vote OUT PAP.
Nicely written…. explains why so many have decided to fight.
preston loon at Feb 11, 2010 claim that free trade is the reason for the massive influx of foreigners. It is only half-true. Take a look at the immigration policies at the first world countries that he and Anyone claimed to have lived in.
Do these countries allow foreigners in by a self-declaration of “no criminal records”? Or do they demand police certifications of no criminal records for the immigration applicants? I know Singapore PR applicants only need to self-declare, no need to prove their no-criminal record status.
Do these countries have policies in place to put their locals as 1st priority in employment? E.g. UK firms need to provide proof of not being able to find a local for a vacancy for 6 months before they approve a foreign hire. Yet in Singapore, locals have an employment market tilted against their favour, no thanks to PAP policies such as CPF, NS, etc.
PAP claims that they do not have such protectionism for labour because they believe in meritocracy. Perhaps their jobs and those of their associated elites should also be subjected to meritocracy and hire-and-fire. Minister of Home Affairs losing a terrorist criminal. Wife of PM losing billions of treasury monies. Labour minister when faced decreasing productivity and the downturn, has no effective remedies, just apply the slogans. Yet, all these folks are still in their jobs and without paycut too. Is this meritocracy?
Do these countries have employment policies to ensure that the new working immigrants are only sponsored for in-demand jobs? Australia, New Zealand, and Cananda all have list of skills-in-demand. They certainly do not share Singapore’s blind blanket approach to use $-value of the applicant’s salary to determine demand.
Do these countries have social policies in place to support the impact of the foreign influx on the lower income families? Do these countries have minimal wages policies and tight employment laws to reduce the downward spiral of the lower working class wages?
The list can go on-and-on, but I think the above is sufficient to illustrate that preston and Anyone are doing only one-sided comparisons.
As for Anyone’s comment that he returned home with few regrets, for each returnee like Anyone, how more many left and stayed overseas with few regrets?
To Anyone> Is this a regurgitation from other website or your own writing? Singapore without PAP = neighbouring country? LOL , again LOL ! Have you forgotten that the majority in Singapore are Chinese. Whether it’s PAP, AYE, KPE, NUS or NUH, Singapore will still succeed. The Chinese are probably the most success oriented society in the world. To all readers, please remember that PAP are replaceable but not Singapore !
I share the same sentiments as Shame of Singapore Feb 11, 2010 6:55. I do not blame the foreigners, for it is the PAP policies that opened the floodgates. Thus, it is important to vote wisely in the next election.
To Anyone:
Your response is typically ignorant of the majority of Singaporeans, and seemingly taken straight out of stock responses from past newspaper remarks about comparing Singapore with other famous, ‘first-class’ cities that the Singapore ruling party secretly looks up to and has such an inferiority complex about. I will respond to all your points methodically, and demonstrate the shallowness of your answer.
Your first point: That Toronto and Vancouver are in fact, dangerous and do not live up to their reputation, city wise – Clearly this is a fallacious statement! Every city has crime, even Singapore does. Just because you have not personally experienced crime in Singapore does not mean that Singapore is safer than the Canadian cities mentioned (If it were, wouldn’t everyone from everywhere be flocking to us to study how we have NO crime?!). Secondly, you disgrace the places that you have lived in with those comments and I am sure that they have better off without you. The crime rate in Canada is still very, very low. And to suggest otherwise is plain garbage.
Your second point, that free trade allows Singaporeans are free to go where they choose – shows your privileged and sheltered upbringing. Most Singaporeans are unable to travel wherever they choose. Have you seen the GINI coefficient? It is a fact that the number of poor in Singapore is growing, and increasingly lack resources to pull themselves out of their mess. Governmental inaction is becoming appalling. Contrast the effort that the Singapore Government put into getting F1, and developing the TWO casinos in Singapore (lets call a spade a spade here shall we? The main point of these ‘integrated resorts’ are the casinos) vis-a-vis helping to create a more equal society and we can see where their priorities lie.
Your third point – that other nationalities too complain about their own government and that complaints are normal – is flawed. People complain all the time, but rarely do we see native citizens flow OUT instead of flow IN. To take an example , the USA has had to prevent people from coming in, and even with increasing border restrictions the inflow of immigrants still greatly outnumber the outflow. In short, more people want to go into the USA than leave, notwithstanding their issues. Can we say the same for Singapore? No. In fact, the Singapore Government has had to ACTIVELY encourage people to immigrate here. And even with their efforts most do not intend to stay in Singapore.
Lastly, that we should stop complaining because others are also complaining in other countries make no sense. There are issues in our country that we need to address. Just because others are complaining about similar issues does not mean that we cannot raise them.
And finally, I would like to make a personal point, based on the little I have read from your piece. You do not seem to know about Singaporeans in Singapore, for you make many remarks that are not reflective of reality. There is a growing number of poor in Singapore, and there is a growing trend of the PAP tending towards the rich. This is not what the PAP stood for, and Singaporeans are truly becoming strangers in our land.
It’s not that PAP don’t know. It’s that they don’t care anymore. They think Singaporeans are a whiny bunch thus they turn a deaf ear to our complaints. They only see the shining new infrastructures we have popping up everyday and ignore the rot in our nation’s soul.
To a2e:
I feel your pain. I apologise for my ignorance prior. But I do not agree that just because someone is in the minority race that they are unequal in society.
Global village, Free trade, Borderless world …… go tell this to your average Singaporean Ah Pek, Ah Ma, Ah Beng and Ah Lian and they will retort without battering an eyelid: “Li kong si mi?”
Let’s not get carried away with all this gibberish talk about being a global people and the implications of free trade. These are for the politicians to worry over. Does it mean that we can look forward to the day when we have only one global government, or one governing body to oversee trade? Far from it.
Whether we are ‘global’ or not, every government still has the moral duty to govern, to lead and to care for its people. The issue here is that this government is passing the responsibility to the people, be it the need to push the people to acquire the necessary skills to compete, or, to allow an influx of foreigners to supplement the drive towards being global, or, to force the people to give up their space, lifestyles and long-established community bonds, just so that we can fit into the mould of being called ‘global’ and a player of the ‘free-trade’ game.
What about those who do not want to play a part in this game? This is one question still left unanswered except for the constant refrain to get themselves upgraded or be left out. Is this the way to govern those who do not agree, or who may prefer to choose other alternatives for themselves?
What I am saying is this; fine if the government thinks it is best that Singapore moves with the global masses but it must never forget its duty toward the people whether they support or do not support them in this endeavour.
To many of us the question we are now asking is: “why should we continue to support them when the end result is our own discomfort”?
To those who argue on ‘poetic justice’, suggesting that the Chinese migrants had disturbed the peace and tranquility of the Malays back then and deserve what they are getting now, I have this to say. Most of us are not blaming the foreigners who have migrated to our shores. We are blaming the people responsible for bringing them in by the truckloads.
Instead of making such suggestions as if the fault lies with our first generation Chinese migrants, we must see the parallel that what’s happening today is exactly what had happened when the Chinese migrant came to seek a better life at the invite of the then British rulers.
We have to be careful with whom we pin the blame on. The people invited to come to our shores (like the foreign migrants of old) or the ones who provide them the opportunity to come ashore with blatant disregard for the wishes of the people under whatever pretext, like a global village and the agreement on free trade, as argued by the current government?
Amid the furore we see and hear from our neighbours, it is heartwarming to read comments like those posted by Muhamad Nur above. As a Chinese, I am overwhelmed by such comments coming from a Malay.
With hands stretched out, I bow to you in gratitude.
@ Anyone
As Louis XIV would have put it on his deathbed; Even when PAP departs, the State still lives on. PAP is not equal to the country, not even WP, SDP etc. They are supposed to the 1st servants to the state, not to be regarded as the state. Them being kicked out of parliment do not reduce the importance of the the state of Singapore or reduce Singapore to obliteration. There are definitely some Singaporeans out there who are less self serving, more capable, willing to accept lower pay than those people who are complacent about being in power for 47 yeas.
Well written article Zhengxi! Very persuasive and moving. :)
Perhaps if we could explore a hypothetical alternate reality: How might your family have felt if you had moved to Singapore in 2009 instead of the 1980s? Would your perception of Singapore and Singaporeans have been different?
Misplaced, displaced, replaced… that’s the fate of Singaporeans if we don’t act to stop this nonsense.
The presence of foreigners in Singapore is not like the free movement of people in other cities such as those in Canada and elsewhere. This is because the inflow of foreigners, unlike other places is carefully controlled by the government through its immigration policy formulated by our Minister Mentor . Under Lee Kuan Yew’s racist policy of maintaining Chinese majority, eight out of ten foreigners allowed in are of Chinese stock. Why must this be so in a country that became independent from Malaysia rejecting racism, where one race dominated the rest?
When demographic is carefully calibrated to artificially maintain the majority of a particular race through alien stock, then meritocracy takes a backseat. Multiracial, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, meritocratic Singapore have become mere slogans, removed from reality just like the 1Malaysia bullshit that we hear daily across the Causeway.
“Anyone
Feb 11, 2010 6:06
As a 2nd generation Singaporean, who have lived and worked overseas, and returned home with few regrets after several years in Canada,”
You are still back to your own country. Ain’t you. Few regrets ???? Were you being offered any PR or citizenship ? If so, why not take it ?
“There were migrants, legal and illegal, coming in, and of course, the locals started muttering and grumbling, just like Singaporeans now”
Some pretty universal trait that is not uniquely Singaporean hoh !!!
I want to know how many PRC, Taiwan, Korean, Hong Kong people among the foreign worker population and PR population in Singapore. I want to know percentage for different income brackets among Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others Singapore Citizens. Then only will I know what kind of PAP government we have. I want to know facts. I want transparency. But guess what, these figures will never be released. Such is the government we have.
Check out http://www.notcanada.com/ http://www.notcanada.com/
think selfish , Singaporean first, then fellow asians then the rest.
Meritocracy is irrelevent only requirement is being native(then again are they?) even foreigners has degree of shades and preferences not intelligence.
From independence till the early 2000s, one will still admit that he/she is proud to be a S’porean. From then, all hell broke loose with the free flow of foreigners policy. Some foreigner are needed in some industries, most are just to cater to costs conscious employers fed on this fix, for which, the government is the main drug dealer. What happens to the nice and clean neighbourhood after the junkies moved in? You draw your own conclusion.
To ANYONE
Let’s fight for our own land & not making comparison to other countries plight. I, too, love my country but for the fact our own population is driven to desperation at the expense of foreigners, this, i cannot take sitting down. And its all due to a few clowns, who makes policies, sitting in their cushy, air con offices who knows nothing except what is the latest branded cars in the market.
Leaders need to be more customer orientated. They can no longer expect people to bow down to them as if they are demi-gods. The rule of thumb is simple these days, if things are not right, adios amigo, there is no love loss even or even a dear John letter, Just look at how the brotherhood pulled out all their gaming servers from singapore because of persistent real or imaginary ddos attacks, the reaction is swift, terse and very sharp, it sends the message, if you do not treat me like a valued customer, then you do not deserve my business!
http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/what-singapore-must-learn-from-the-toyota-fiasco/
Its like selling cars, donuts, cereals and even diapers, people are increasingly demanding value in terms of quality of life, not everyone believe it or not aspires to be a duracell battery.
Think it through. If ministers, civil servants and even the ISD can adopt a customer orientated mindset that is not so different from many other progressive countries who are learning how to treat their citizens are valued partners. Then why should there even be the impetus to migrate? Isn’t it the same with those bond breakers? If the terms and conditions were really so good, then why would they wing it and even take on two shift jobs to get out of the deal of century.
That is why my attitude has changed dramatically since I read this essay, its somehow re-evaluated many of my views, assumptions and beliefs concerning power along with the idea of delivering value and the good life. The rest is just hype and spin.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I’d love to reply to everyone, but I’ll have to settle for sharing my thoughts on a few themes that came up:
1) It’s the reality of globalization
Preston Loon, I agree with your characterization of cities like Vancouver and Toronto. In fact, I have a Hong Kong aunt who migrated to the latter. But the difference between that and Singapore is that Singapore is a country, not a city that is part of a province, and the issues relating to nationhood are quite different from those relating to the identity of the city you were brought up in. For instance, one can still remain Canadian by choosing to move from Vancouver or Toronto, but the only option left for many Singaporeans is to constantly run the rat race against ever cheaper foreign labour or for the wealthier, migrate to places like Perth.
I’ve got many thoughts on global justice and the free trade system, but I’ll find another article to express them in. Suffice to say that while I believe in the theory of comparative advantage as a theory, economists and reductionists sociologists fail to recognize that there is more to human existence than power and money. The comfort derived from association with a larger national identity is one of those ends of human existence which I think the PAP has grossly neglected.
2) Xiaogenggenz’s question of how I would have felt migrating to Singapore in 2009 instead of 1988.
Moving to Singapore in 2009 would probably mean my mom was mainland chinese, most of the Hong Kong diaspora came around the time I arrived :) I think mainland chinese who come now face discrimination, derision, prejudice, and outright xenophobia. Singaporeans who express these sentiments are people who are forced into a corner, those who feel that their jobs at risk, the lower income and increasingly the middle class (e.g. from Burmese engineers, Vietnamese accountants, Filippino nurses and of course people like my mum, who work in front line service positions like sales). Even high level professionals are not spared, just ask anyone in senior management at a local firm with a foreign CEO how the Singaporean senior management feel at being passed over for the top jobs.
While I strongly object to such instinctive and sometimes borderline racism, I also understand that Singaporeans have been forced into a corner due to the government’s ill thought out policies on social integration and blind chase for higher GDP. The government’s policies bring out the ugliest in all involved, Singaporeans as well as foreigners.
The government needs to take the lead and stop pushing the responsibility to business (e.g. by increasing the foreign worker levy). This is a fundamental problem of social integration and the meaning of nationhoood, not a question of letting the market do its magic. If we need dramatically reduced foreign worker quotas and a minimum wage as the cost of greater social cohesion, our government needs to be brave enough to take that decision.
For people like ‘Preston Loon’ & ‘Anyone’ still pushing the flawed argument of “it’s the same everywhere else in the world”, no wonder our pledge has become only an aspiration. What happened to Swiss standards of living? Oh, 99% of the world doesn’t have that standard, so heng-heng, it is Ok we can’t have that standard, is it? Somehow, we only DON’T gauge ourselves with the rest of the world when it comes to the ministers’ pay scale.
Tell me which country has 36%* foreign content as population? You guys wanna talk about Canada? They are like what, 18-19% — about HALF Singapore’s. Do Canadians serve 2.5 + 13 years NS/Reservist cycle but never get to vote in elections? Does Singapore have Canada’s min wage laws that prevent its citizens from being run to the bottom by the foreigners over cheaper wages? They have 2 official languages, but do they need things like GRC to have fair representation for the Frenchies? Does Canada have a productivity issue because of “liberal, open cross boundaries” policies for foreigners? Did Canada had the stupidity to retard its population a generation ago in order go for economic survival instead, and say “no worry mate, we can always import FTs if and when we want to”? Do Canadians work typically 56-hour weeks in order to be cheaper, better, faster — and their unions say “It’s OK”?
The only issue I have with this article (nothing personal) is that the author thinks the PAP wonders why Sporeans are angry. I don’t think they gives a shit if we are angry. Look at their track record:
1) Singapore birth rate slipped to bottom five in the world over the past 30+ years. What did gov do? Still clueless, meh?
2) S’poreans being ”angry” over influx of FT/FW since GCT time (aka 10+ years). Now at 36% population. What did gov do – still “Calibrating” (aka scratching?) their balls?
3) Productivity sure to decrease with emphasis on labour injection rather than capital injection over past 10+ years. What did gov do? Too bad, the ESC is 10 years late.
4) Ingrained discrimination against older workers (aka 35+) over past 10-20 years. What did gov do? Raised retirement to 62!
5) Aging population because of flawed population sustainability policy. What did gov do? Tell us to to go to Johor for retirement.
6) ETC… etc… etc…
Basically, S’poreans are ANGRY cos’ we are paying idiots millions for doing NOTHING! They want our votes this election? Well, I don’t give a shit!
*PS. Apologies for confusion as I keep quoting 35% foreign content previously; should round up to 36% (i.e. 1.79 mil of 4.99 mil).
You couldn’t have said it any better, Zheng Xi. On behalf of Singapore and Singaporeans, I thank you for sharing your thoughts and for speaking our language – the language of ordinary Singaporeans.
People Action Party is becoming People Alien Party. What more can we say but to vote out PAP that we no longer recognise. Besides, locking people CPF monies is the greatest crime I have ever known, and there is no excuse for holding back people CPF when PAP don’t believe in welfare state. I have not given my approval for PAP to hold back my CPF, there is no legal written consent from me to allow PAP to manipulate my funds. So where do all our monies gone to? – loss in GIC and Temasek by the Lees (who easily granted themselves access to our monies) and we are talking about the sum in billions not few hundred dollars.
To Zheng Xi,
Thanks for your response. But why are you silent over Minister Mentor’s stated racist policy of maintaining “racial balance” in Singapore? In the first place, why must there be a “racial balance” in Singapore, founded on the principle of meritocracy, unlike Malaysia from where Singapore broke away in 1965 strongly objecting to a single race dominating the rest?
If meritocracy is the hallmark in Singapore, why are Indian restaurants in Serangoon Road denied work permits to employ India Indians but only allowed to engage China Chinese? Why must there be SAP schools funded by taxpayers’ money? Why scholarships, bursaries and monthly allowances given to a specific group to study in Singapore right up to tertiary level?
My take is that the Decision Maker made two mistakes which will go down in history and tarnish his legacy. The first is his well thought out plan to pay his ministers millions to prevent corruption. I think the purpose of the humongous salary hike is to ensure the PM’s longer term survival as the official reason to prevent corruption is ridiculously illogical since the very basic requirements of an MP, let alone a minister, would be his tenacity not to be easily corrupt.
The second mistake is his decision to mass recruit foreigners to be citizens in the name of Singapore’s survival. I think the intended outcome is his party’s survival.
I based my analysis on the effects these two decisions on the daily lives of Singapore. We will have a clearer picture after the next election.
It is one thing to say that many countries were initially formed by migrants.
And it is another thing to say that because of this history everyday we should allow many new citizens and residents and FTs to come in.
The difference is in the Extent.
I really worry naive people believe in that kind of rhetoric. Naive people exist in substantial numbers. Look around, there are educated people naively believing people who say wrong things. That recent case lor.
a2ed
Feb 11, 2010 3:16
My forefather set foot on this little island in 1792 when there was literally nothing here ! For your info, there are many citizens here whose forefathers set foot on this little island way before Raffles even heard of Singapore. And that’s how Peranakan came into being !
VOTE PAP OUT. PEOPLE ASSes PARTY
Hi George,
I’m with you on opposing the neuroticism about maintainning racial balance. Singapore, as you said, is a meritocracy. Part of the neuroticism stems from some of MM’s racialist (note, I’m not saying racist) policies, e.g. ethnic based self-help organizations and categorization of races which is increasingly looking ridiculous. Also part of this paradigm of keeping people in racial/ethnic pigeon holes is the Sedition Act and HDB ethnic quotas.
Part of this is realistic: some Singaporeans are still not yet race blind. 2010 America has certainly not arrived even after over 200 years of independence.
But unfortunately some of the policies such as the ones you’ve cited and I’ve also just brought up, further entrench that neuroticism and discomfort about tackling the issue of race and religion openly, head on, and honestly.
Also as a footnote, the way level of trust we give Malays in the army is also extremely unenlightened and negative stereotype perpetuating.
Singapore does NOT belong to PAP.
PAP does NOT own Spore.
You as the citizen owns Spore.
Remember this & remember it well. Whatever threats are issued by PAP which they will during the election period, PAP is not the sole custodian of Spore.
We as the citizens of Spore elect our MPs who in turn represent their political party. Should a political party form the majority thru the electoral votes, then it gets the mandate to rule Spore.
Never let PAP con you into believing that it owns Spore and you are their slaves. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!
Talking about racial balance, i wonder is there any discussion on the recent move to allow mixed race people to choose their racial classification? What is the motive for this?
It really not about the PAP but the need for Check and Balance by an Alternative force.
Stick to this and its clearer the reason for change.
Nicely written article. I enjoyed reading it.
… and with my spatial-sense a little challenged, I’ve not realized that THAT TUNNEL I see these days was where our beloved National Library used to stand! I always knew they did something to that place but just somehow never did connect the dots. Call me dramatic but I think there is a real lost of love for our country when we demolish places like that.
I thought all the while the people trust that they will do Check and Balance on themselves?
smart people.
Zheng Xi,
Thank you for your frank reply.
I agree with you for saying that “Part of this is realistic: some Singaporeans are still not yet race blind.”
But what is objectionable and unacceptable in meritocratic Singapore is for our Minister Mentor who is in a position of power to shape the destiny of our country to hold such racist view that there is a “need to maintain racial balance”. What Singaporeans of all races rooted here for generations can’t understand is the fact that this same Lee Kuan Yew put up strong resistance to a particular race exerting supremacy over the rest when Singapore was part of Malaysia.
In present day independent Singapore Lee Kuan Yew’s racist policy is being quietly implemented zealously by his subordinates to the detriment of the long term viability and unity of Singaporeans.
It’s GDP the PAP primarily cares about. Not us.
It is the economy which they steer much to their coffer’s requirements that matters the most. Not us.
Whether we are angry, disgruntled, disappointed, & fed-up.. is immaterial to the PAP.
They always think they know what’s best.. but in the end, it is always the U-turn resolution when crap hits the fan.
So, ladies & gents, lets all wait till crap hits the fan again.. again…again…and again and again…again again again… and again..again again and again…
Singaporeans will just have to vote in another 20 -30 more opp members into the parliament and you will have the first ever opportunity to see how those MIW would react and behave from then on. Presently, most if all of them including our PM are just hiding behind the one old man in just about anything they discussed in parliament, either 1 or 2 bootlickers would just bla out some stupid arguments and made themselves a fool and the rest would just sit back relax and enjoy the circus show. That’s why they stop screening the parliamentary debate ‘live’ on national TV anymore, why? because they don’t want us to know how many idiots are being fed millions by our taxpayers money.
Abang a2ed,
Mandarin, a northern Chinese dialect was imposed on the local Chinese by the PAP. The sense of displacement is felt by the locals, not just those of Chinese origin.
Nice article. Honestly, I think PAP cares about earning money. All the recent policy changes are to appease, so to say, for the upcoming elections. They don’t understand our anger. Their aim is to stay in power, not to look after us Singaporeans.
To mon,
im a malay Singaporean, and I can attest to how sucky it feels to be one living here. Just why do you think a2ed is talking crap? If you can back up your words do so. If you cant, leave the making of intelligent comments to someone else.
merlion,
the reason i suspect for the recent policy to allow selection of race for mixed race children is because more chinese women are marrying out of the race – hence loss of chineseness. Now with new policy, pressure is on parents of mixed race children to choose the dominant race – chinese. why do you think the Others category is becoming bigger and bigger based on previous policy of following the race of father? more mixed race children are included in this group. so now this group will become smaller and future mixed marriages will shrink because now at issue before marriage will be : what race do you want our children to be? if this is not resolved, then no inter-marriage.
social engineering in sunny singapore… what else is new?
since more chinese singaporean women are marrying out of the race, then the government must bring in chinese girls – Taiwanese and PRC for local men – hoping that they will tie the knot and retain chineseness