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Talk cock!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Singapore is different from China, and should not live in its shadow
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN HER article last Saturday, 'Why they hate Singapore', Ms Chua Lee Hoong wrote that Singapore and China have a common identity: Both are authoritarian societies. This is not exactly correct. Singapore is a declared democracy and China is communist. If there is hatred of China by the world community, it is because of China's outright abuse of human rights, as shown in Tibet and, most recently, the case of ST journalist Ching Cheong. Singapore has no such record for the world to condemn or hate. We do everything in open and transparent court. In short, legally.
Such blind bondage to China is worrying. Are we unconsciously living in the shadow of China? We already have more China-born sportswomen representing Singapore than any other country at the Olympics - swimmer, shuttler and paddler. The first instinct of our customer service and front line staff is to reply in Mandarin, as highlighted recently. More people watch Mandarin drama on TV than English. Many office workers are more comfortable communicating in Mandarin than English. And we tend to sympathise with tragedies in China more than those elsewhere. Some ignorant Westerners even assume Singapore is a province of China.
Simply put, it is not in Singapore's interest to identify ourselves more closely with China than we do now. We are a multiracial society and we have our own style of government. Being Chinese is fine but being China is a different matter altogether.
The different system in government, in culture, economics, politics and public administration is clear cut. We are better off apart than together.
China is a world superpower and can easily withstand whatever scorn and rebuke the world pours on it.
Unlike China, Singapore has no such vast resources and superior strength to stand against the world.
Douglas Chua
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Singapore is different from China, and should not live in its shadow
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN HER article last Saturday, 'Why they hate Singapore', Ms Chua Lee Hoong wrote that Singapore and China have a common identity: Both are authoritarian societies. This is not exactly correct. Singapore is a declared democracy and China is communist. If there is hatred of China by the world community, it is because of China's outright abuse of human rights, as shown in Tibet and, most recently, the case of ST journalist Ching Cheong. Singapore has no such record for the world to condemn or hate. We do everything in open and transparent court. In short, legally.
Such blind bondage to China is worrying. Are we unconsciously living in the shadow of China? We already have more China-born sportswomen representing Singapore than any other country at the Olympics - swimmer, shuttler and paddler. The first instinct of our customer service and front line staff is to reply in Mandarin, as highlighted recently. More people watch Mandarin drama on TV than English. Many office workers are more comfortable communicating in Mandarin than English. And we tend to sympathise with tragedies in China more than those elsewhere. Some ignorant Westerners even assume Singapore is a province of China.
Simply put, it is not in Singapore's interest to identify ourselves more closely with China than we do now. We are a multiracial society and we have our own style of government. Being Chinese is fine but being China is a different matter altogether.
The different system in government, in culture, economics, politics and public administration is clear cut. We are better off apart than together.
China is a world superpower and can easily withstand whatever scorn and rebuke the world pours on it.
Unlike China, Singapore has no such vast resources and superior strength to stand against the world.
Douglas Chua
