- Joined
- Mar 17, 2009
- Messages
- 5,383
- Points
- 63
A TALE OF TWO ‘NEW CITIZENS’http://satayclub.net/2011/04/a-tale-of-two-new-citizens/http://satayclub.net/2011/04/a-tale-of-two-new-citizens/
Posted on April 13, 2011 by satayclub
Dr Janil Puthucheary has been criticised for his insensitive remarks about NS
By Wong Wen Shan
Political Contributor
A lot has been said in the lead-up to the General Election about the influx of ‘foreign talent’ onto Singapore’s shores. While some believe that uncontrolled immigration will make it more difficult for Singaporeans to compete for jobs, others argue that Singapore’s declining birth rate and high rate of emigration means that foreigners are needed in order to ensure that the nation’s economy remains competitive.
‘Foreign talent’ is now ubiquitous in Singapore – they build our skyscrapers and repair our roads, occupy top positions in both the private and public sector, and have even begun to make incursions into the political arena, with several foreign-born candidates having been introduced already.
Dr Janil Puthucheary is one of them. Born in Malaysia, the pediatrician became a Singapore citizen two years ago. His father, Dominic Puthucheary, was a former PAP politician who found himself detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) because he was suspected to have left-wing sympathies at a time when the Communist movement posed a real threat to the country’s stability.
Despite his family history, Dr Puthucheary made the decision to don the all-whites of the PAP, apparently with the blessings of his father. He did so in order to heed the call of service to his adopted country. “I’m staying, I’m fighting, I’m fully invested,” he said, as he was introduced as a PAP candidate for the upcoming election.
Dr Puthucheary has attracted some criticism because of the fact that he has not served National Service, a rite of passage for every Singaporean male. “I have been saving kids’ lives for the past ten years,” he replied, arguing that he had contributed to the nation in his own way.
Mr Chen Show Mao is another newly-minted politician who will be contesting in his maiden general election. Born in Taiwan, the former Rhodes Scholar received his formative education at National Junior College, where he was the top A-level student in his cohort – which included current Cabinet Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Mr Chen later went on to earn degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Stanford, and rose to the top of the legal profession following stints in Hong Kong, New York and Beijing, amongst others. He is now a Partner at the elite American firm Davis, Polk and Wardwell, and has handled billion-dollar IPOs. While he has only spent 20 out of his 50 years in Singapore, he claims to have returned to Singapore ‘every year’ since he became a citizen.
Perhaps most importantly, he served his NS – and impressed his superiors enough to earn an officer’s commission, moving on to hold appointments as a platoon commander and a staff officer. He did it because “it was the right thing to do”.
Two Years of Their Lives
Chen Show Mao served his NS before becoming a Singapore citizen
The fact that Mr Chen went through NS despite apparently having the option not to do so (for instance, he could have waited until later in life to become a citizen, or he could have become a citizen of the US) has endeared him to many Singaporean voters, while Dr Puthucheary’s comments about ‘saving kids’ lives’ seem to have come across as being dismissive of the sacrifice that every Singaporean male is required to make to safeguard the security of the nation.
Perhaps this is a result of many Singaporean men resenting the fact that two of their prime years had to be spent in military service, which can be physically and psychologically draining. The fact that Mr Chen volunteered to put himself through this ‘hardship’ has helped him to come across as one of them, while Dr Puthucheary seems to have alienated himself by failing to appreciate their ‘suffering’.
The fact that National Service is proving to be such a sticking point in many Singaporeans’ minds probably merits a discussion on the topic of NS in itself. Some opposition parties have called for the duration of NS to be shortened. Certain independent commentators have even begun to question the purpose of NS as a whole, arguing that it is unnecessary, and that Singapore is better off with a professional army.
What cannot be denied is that Singaporeans regard NS as an integral rite of passage that they go through, whether they believe in it or not. Nominally at least, NS is about the defence of our nation, and only those who go through NS can be seen as committed to the security of the country.
Are Singaporeans Xenophobic?
Suggestions have been made in some quarters that Singaporeans are a xenophobic bunch, having a natural disposition towards loathing foreigners simply because they are foreign. PAP supporters have argued that Dr Puthucheary’s unpopularity (he has attracted more flak than any other new candidate apart from Tin Pei Ling) stems from the fact that he was not born in Singapore, and that such assessment is short-sighted.
The argument that Singaporeans are predisposed towards xenophobia are probably far-fetched. Singapore is a city that is as cosmopolitan as any in the world, including Hong Kong, New York and London. Many Singaporeans have been educated overseas and have lived overseas, exposing them to a myriad of different cultures and ways of life. That said, strands of xenophobia can be found in just about any country in the world, because of the natural human instinct to want to protect one’s own kind from any sort of external threat – in our case, the threat of having foreign competition for our jobs.
What Singaporeans are predisposed to loathe, in fact, are not foreigners, but foreigners who want to partake in and leverage on Singapore’s success without contributing to Singapore. National Service is seen as the epitome of ‘contribution’ because it is perceived as the most unpleasant of ordeals that Singaporeans have to go through in order to earn the right to hold a pink IC. As such, a foreigner who serves NS is welcomed with open arms and accepted as one of us, whereas a foreigner who wants to become a citizen, but who does not want to serve NS – or even worse, scorns NS – is seen as a leech who merely wishes to feed off the country’s success.
What that in mind, Dr Puthucheary would probably do well to take heed of the criticisms that have been levied at him, and at least publicly acknowledge the sacrifices that Singaporeans have had to make in terms of serving NS – especially if he has ambitions of becoming an integral part of the country’s fourth-generation leadership.
–
The author is a Singaporean who has been living in New York with her husband for the past 3 years. She previously worked in the early childhood industry. She returns to Singapore at least twice each year.
Posted on April 13, 2011 by satayclub
Dr Janil Puthucheary has been criticised for his insensitive remarks about NS
By Wong Wen Shan
Political Contributor
A lot has been said in the lead-up to the General Election about the influx of ‘foreign talent’ onto Singapore’s shores. While some believe that uncontrolled immigration will make it more difficult for Singaporeans to compete for jobs, others argue that Singapore’s declining birth rate and high rate of emigration means that foreigners are needed in order to ensure that the nation’s economy remains competitive.
‘Foreign talent’ is now ubiquitous in Singapore – they build our skyscrapers and repair our roads, occupy top positions in both the private and public sector, and have even begun to make incursions into the political arena, with several foreign-born candidates having been introduced already.
Dr Janil Puthucheary is one of them. Born in Malaysia, the pediatrician became a Singapore citizen two years ago. His father, Dominic Puthucheary, was a former PAP politician who found himself detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) because he was suspected to have left-wing sympathies at a time when the Communist movement posed a real threat to the country’s stability.
Despite his family history, Dr Puthucheary made the decision to don the all-whites of the PAP, apparently with the blessings of his father. He did so in order to heed the call of service to his adopted country. “I’m staying, I’m fighting, I’m fully invested,” he said, as he was introduced as a PAP candidate for the upcoming election.
Dr Puthucheary has attracted some criticism because of the fact that he has not served National Service, a rite of passage for every Singaporean male. “I have been saving kids’ lives for the past ten years,” he replied, arguing that he had contributed to the nation in his own way.
Mr Chen Show Mao is another newly-minted politician who will be contesting in his maiden general election. Born in Taiwan, the former Rhodes Scholar received his formative education at National Junior College, where he was the top A-level student in his cohort – which included current Cabinet Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Mr Chen later went on to earn degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Stanford, and rose to the top of the legal profession following stints in Hong Kong, New York and Beijing, amongst others. He is now a Partner at the elite American firm Davis, Polk and Wardwell, and has handled billion-dollar IPOs. While he has only spent 20 out of his 50 years in Singapore, he claims to have returned to Singapore ‘every year’ since he became a citizen.
Perhaps most importantly, he served his NS – and impressed his superiors enough to earn an officer’s commission, moving on to hold appointments as a platoon commander and a staff officer. He did it because “it was the right thing to do”.
Two Years of Their Lives
Chen Show Mao served his NS before becoming a Singapore citizen
The fact that Mr Chen went through NS despite apparently having the option not to do so (for instance, he could have waited until later in life to become a citizen, or he could have become a citizen of the US) has endeared him to many Singaporean voters, while Dr Puthucheary’s comments about ‘saving kids’ lives’ seem to have come across as being dismissive of the sacrifice that every Singaporean male is required to make to safeguard the security of the nation.
Perhaps this is a result of many Singaporean men resenting the fact that two of their prime years had to be spent in military service, which can be physically and psychologically draining. The fact that Mr Chen volunteered to put himself through this ‘hardship’ has helped him to come across as one of them, while Dr Puthucheary seems to have alienated himself by failing to appreciate their ‘suffering’.
The fact that National Service is proving to be such a sticking point in many Singaporeans’ minds probably merits a discussion on the topic of NS in itself. Some opposition parties have called for the duration of NS to be shortened. Certain independent commentators have even begun to question the purpose of NS as a whole, arguing that it is unnecessary, and that Singapore is better off with a professional army.
What cannot be denied is that Singaporeans regard NS as an integral rite of passage that they go through, whether they believe in it or not. Nominally at least, NS is about the defence of our nation, and only those who go through NS can be seen as committed to the security of the country.
Are Singaporeans Xenophobic?
Suggestions have been made in some quarters that Singaporeans are a xenophobic bunch, having a natural disposition towards loathing foreigners simply because they are foreign. PAP supporters have argued that Dr Puthucheary’s unpopularity (he has attracted more flak than any other new candidate apart from Tin Pei Ling) stems from the fact that he was not born in Singapore, and that such assessment is short-sighted.
The argument that Singaporeans are predisposed towards xenophobia are probably far-fetched. Singapore is a city that is as cosmopolitan as any in the world, including Hong Kong, New York and London. Many Singaporeans have been educated overseas and have lived overseas, exposing them to a myriad of different cultures and ways of life. That said, strands of xenophobia can be found in just about any country in the world, because of the natural human instinct to want to protect one’s own kind from any sort of external threat – in our case, the threat of having foreign competition for our jobs.
What Singaporeans are predisposed to loathe, in fact, are not foreigners, but foreigners who want to partake in and leverage on Singapore’s success without contributing to Singapore. National Service is seen as the epitome of ‘contribution’ because it is perceived as the most unpleasant of ordeals that Singaporeans have to go through in order to earn the right to hold a pink IC. As such, a foreigner who serves NS is welcomed with open arms and accepted as one of us, whereas a foreigner who wants to become a citizen, but who does not want to serve NS – or even worse, scorns NS – is seen as a leech who merely wishes to feed off the country’s success.
What that in mind, Dr Puthucheary would probably do well to take heed of the criticisms that have been levied at him, and at least publicly acknowledge the sacrifices that Singaporeans have had to make in terms of serving NS – especially if he has ambitions of becoming an integral part of the country’s fourth-generation leadership.
–
The author is a Singaporean who has been living in New York with her husband for the past 3 years. She previously worked in the early childhood industry. She returns to Singapore at least twice each year.
