The long and short of it is quite simple. The Malays have a claim on this island as native and both you and I are not. This is an argument no politician of non-malay stock will go into unless he is playing to the non-malay gallery and therefore is clearly playing the race card.
yes...save for the last bit...if we r talking real hard truths out in the open based in good faith n clear conscience...than i say let us do away wif this illusory token Art 152 n move towards a true singaporean psyche n identity...no more bs...
The ideal approach is to talk about nationhood and to develop a Singapore psyche. That means to ensure that all 4 main races are given equal rights and attention. The Malays have a constitutional position that is above all others in recognition of their native status, something we should all accept gracefully.
100% yes...cherian dealt wif this quite well in his 'air-con book' a decade ago, but naturally wifout the "hard truths"...it wld appear that only harry has this 'regal privilege' as it now stands...
The PAP has played the race card with SAP schools. We know that for fact. You and I cannot give a valid reason why SAP schools exist but to hold on to the language. The language interestingly is not the mother tongue of the Chinese majority but something that put the old man in equal terms with his political opponents. If mother tongue is so important, then there should have been SAP Malay, Indian and Eurasian schools. That is not the case. Look at River Valley School. It now is in old St Andrews with running track and all plus some lecture style setting. This is political.
yes...but let me add singaporean born n raised parents...
You are product of SAP school and will never know the feeling of integration and attending school with those of other races on a daily basis. I think you will also realise that well educated parents will always send their kids to RI and missionary schools rather than SAP schools. Do you know why? A well rounded education means opening one's eyes and seeing the world. SAP in all shape and form is a political tool. It is also unfair to other non Chinese Singaporeans. Old Man closed Sang Nila Utama Malay school but chose build SAP school.
does this not imply perhaps that the apparent sinicization of singapore society in the last 30 odd yrs may hv something to do wif this situation to a certain extent at least?...for eg. cld it be that a large majority of middle class singapore indians emigrated in the 80s...thus generally leaving behind only working class n elite class singapore indians?...i personally saw this wif my own eyes when i returned to singapore in the mid 90s after living abroad for well over a decade...for eg. all the pump attendants n carpark attendants were largely singapore indians...this was not the case prior to the early 80s...same wif security guards n other v menial v low paid jobs...in fact i sensed when i first returned that the singapore indians had generally gone backwards n that in fact the singapore malays had generally improved albeit by not that much but still relatively better...i looked ard n sensed that the singapore indian middle class had hollowed out in the decade that i was away...
no doubt now we hv the 'new' pool of 'indian singaporeans' but it is clear that they r different just like the 'new' pool of 'chinese singaporeans'...so how do we address n solve this 'new' complex problem created by harry n the paps?...again i quote ngiam in this regard..."to practise social engineering is fraught wif risk...but to practise political engineering is positively dangerous..."
The only leeway that I want to see is affirmative action where the races are seen across work and other social spectrum. In our first 30 years of our existence, I saw a sprinkling of Indians and Eurasians holding senior positions in Govt right up to Perm Sec and they were all capable. You also see it in the professions such as medicine, law and accountancy. Now all you see is a sea of Chinese. So what happened. Suddenly the Indians and Eurasians became lazy, stupid or progressive turned dumb. The situation became so bad that in 2007, they went out of the Admin service to find a non-chinese Perm Sec.
yes, yes, yes...
Some of us have now realised that we now in a similar boat when the decision was made to allow non-citizens admission to Admin Service in 1991. With the presence of Ah Tiongs and Ah Nehs our backs are now against the wall. See the complaints from Singapore Chinese about PRC scholars, bond skipping, behaviour in the workplace. Note when the NTU lecturer ended up in hospital, it was PRC students that was constantly visiting him to suck up to him.
Get the picture. You have to make up your mind. You either aspire a Singapore for Singaporeans or protect Mandarin which is not your mother tongue but your gateway to protecting the Chinese culture in a foreign land. You can't have both.
