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[h=2]From the Courtesy Campaign to Integration Woes…[/h]
July 26th, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
UPDATE: Here is a video of a current affairs programme during which a caller phoned in and made his views felt (see 30 seconds into the video). He spoke very bluntly but he echoed the sentiment of so many Singaporeans across the country who feel crowded out and 2nd class in their own country. It is hard not to feel this way when one witness so often incidents similar to the one on the bus involving the old lady and the foreigner. On a typical ride on the bus or MRT, more than half the time Singaporeans find they are a minority in MRT carriage or bus they are on…..let me ask you, how else do you expect ordinary Singaporeans to feel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3jdVtIDzkcg
.
I remember many years back our leaders feel that Singaporeans’ manners were not too good and courtesy campaigns were organised to get Singaporeans to be more courteous to one another. It seemed that our less than perfect manners were a problem for our leaders who viewed our sometimes uncouth behavior as undesirable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IjDg_w8raDw
This scene of a conflict between a Singaporean and
(newly arrived?) foreigners is hardly new for anyone – I saw such an incident myself a few days ago. I won’t venture to guess who is right and wrong in this case but such incidents can happen due to cultural and behavior differences. Also, a video may not show the full story and finding fault with foreigners is not the point of this posting.
My point is this. Over the decades, the very domineering PAP govt has put many demands on Singaporeans – be more courteous, do not spit and litter, don’t chew gum, be bilingual, speak proper English not Singlish, flush toilet after use, You get this sensing that Singaporeans are perpetually not good enough for our leaders. Not courteous, don’t speak proper English, not good at 2 languages, not graceful …and so on. They were serious about fixing what they saw as deficiencies in Singaporeans. For example, many of my friends despite good grades for science and maths subjects couldn’t get into university because they failed their GP (General Paper). Others had to struggle with 2nd language because they were not good at languages and some of these Singaporeans had to forgo tertiary education that they were able to attain if they didn’t have the money to go overseas.
However, when the PAP wanted more foreigners, they gave them scholarships to study free in Singapore and some of them have such bad English, they can’t even speak one proper sentence, yet they were allowed to enter our universities and polytechnics. We see this eagerness of PAP govt to embrace foreigners and a comparative lack of appreciation in the treatment of Singaporeans in the past.
PAP elitism is not just about amplifying the glorious achievements of leadership but also about amplifying the inadequacies of ordinary Singaporeans. Ordinary Singaporeans are never good enough for the leadership– I often wonder if one of the favorite past-time of our leaders is to lament the deficiencies of lesser mortal Singaporeans and how to stick the spurs into their hide….oh how we fall short of their high standards. I remember a speech given by Lee Kuan Yew years ago about how Singaporeans workers did not perform as well as Japanese workers because we were not a homogeneous workforce and he went on to talk about how many decades more Singapore workers would take to overcome this disadvantage. At that time the Singapore workforce was ranked number 1 in the world but Singaporeans were still not good enough. However, when the PAP wanted to import foreign workers, the importance of “a homogeneous workforce” can be tossed aside just like that. When it comes to foreign imports, it is almost like “anyone will do”. Don’t speak good English? …never mind, here’s a scholarship come study here for free. Don’t have courtesy? Lets just tell ordinary Singaporeans not to be xenophobic and tolerate it. Homogeneous workforce? Not important anymore.
See when the PAP imported new citizens and workers, they are willing to accept what didn’t accept in their own people. With this elitist myth of superior leadership being primarily responsible for Singapore’s success slowly breaking down as more people see the govt for what it really is, the gulf between the leadership and the ordinary people is widening as the leadership tells us to integrate with foreigners.
Watching the video just reminds me those past old PAP govt campaigns to make citizens better – be more courteous, be bilingual, speak better English….make ordinary Singaporeans better because they are never good enough.
But when they wanted foreigners, anyone will do….lets open our arms to embrace them, they are good for Singapore, they help to build our economy, they are critical to our growth. Despite what ordinary Singaporeans have done in the past, we have never been “embraced”, appreciated and our achievements acknowledged in the same way the PAP govt acknowledges that of the foreign workforce. When it comes to foreigners everything can be accepted and the PAP govt tells us to be tolerant, non-xenophobic and integrate….accept their behavior…somehow Singaporeans find it hard to do this especially when it comes from a leadership so high-handed in telling us how to behave and lead our lives…..now when it comes to foreigners we must just accept.
.
Lucky Tan
Lucky Tan is an avid online blogger since 2005. He likes to study the thoughts of Singapore leaders and the laws of Singapore. He blogs at http://singaporemind.blogspot.com.
.
UPDATE: Here is a video of a current affairs programme during which a caller phoned in and made his views felt (see 30 seconds into the video). He spoke very bluntly but he echoed the sentiment of so many Singaporeans across the country who feel crowded out and 2nd class in their own country. It is hard not to feel this way when one witness so often incidents similar to the one on the bus involving the old lady and the foreigner. On a typical ride on the bus or MRT, more than half the time Singaporeans find they are a minority in MRT carriage or bus they are on…..let me ask you, how else do you expect ordinary Singaporeans to feel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3jdVtIDzkcg
.
I remember many years back our leaders feel that Singaporeans’ manners were not too good and courtesy campaigns were organised to get Singaporeans to be more courteous to one another. It seemed that our less than perfect manners were a problem for our leaders who viewed our sometimes uncouth behavior as undesirable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IjDg_w8raDw
This scene of a conflict between a Singaporean and
(newly arrived?) foreigners is hardly new for anyone – I saw such an incident myself a few days ago. I won’t venture to guess who is right and wrong in this case but such incidents can happen due to cultural and behavior differences. Also, a video may not show the full story and finding fault with foreigners is not the point of this posting.
My point is this. Over the decades, the very domineering PAP govt has put many demands on Singaporeans – be more courteous, do not spit and litter, don’t chew gum, be bilingual, speak proper English not Singlish, flush toilet after use, You get this sensing that Singaporeans are perpetually not good enough for our leaders. Not courteous, don’t speak proper English, not good at 2 languages, not graceful …and so on. They were serious about fixing what they saw as deficiencies in Singaporeans. For example, many of my friends despite good grades for science and maths subjects couldn’t get into university because they failed their GP (General Paper). Others had to struggle with 2nd language because they were not good at languages and some of these Singaporeans had to forgo tertiary education that they were able to attain if they didn’t have the money to go overseas.
However, when the PAP wanted more foreigners, they gave them scholarships to study free in Singapore and some of them have such bad English, they can’t even speak one proper sentence, yet they were allowed to enter our universities and polytechnics. We see this eagerness of PAP govt to embrace foreigners and a comparative lack of appreciation in the treatment of Singaporeans in the past.
PAP elitism is not just about amplifying the glorious achievements of leadership but also about amplifying the inadequacies of ordinary Singaporeans. Ordinary Singaporeans are never good enough for the leadership– I often wonder if one of the favorite past-time of our leaders is to lament the deficiencies of lesser mortal Singaporeans and how to stick the spurs into their hide….oh how we fall short of their high standards. I remember a speech given by Lee Kuan Yew years ago about how Singaporeans workers did not perform as well as Japanese workers because we were not a homogeneous workforce and he went on to talk about how many decades more Singapore workers would take to overcome this disadvantage. At that time the Singapore workforce was ranked number 1 in the world but Singaporeans were still not good enough. However, when the PAP wanted to import foreign workers, the importance of “a homogeneous workforce” can be tossed aside just like that. When it comes to foreign imports, it is almost like “anyone will do”. Don’t speak good English? …never mind, here’s a scholarship come study here for free. Don’t have courtesy? Lets just tell ordinary Singaporeans not to be xenophobic and tolerate it. Homogeneous workforce? Not important anymore.
See when the PAP imported new citizens and workers, they are willing to accept what didn’t accept in their own people. With this elitist myth of superior leadership being primarily responsible for Singapore’s success slowly breaking down as more people see the govt for what it really is, the gulf between the leadership and the ordinary people is widening as the leadership tells us to integrate with foreigners.
Watching the video just reminds me those past old PAP govt campaigns to make citizens better – be more courteous, be bilingual, speak better English….make ordinary Singaporeans better because they are never good enough.
But when they wanted foreigners, anyone will do….lets open our arms to embrace them, they are good for Singapore, they help to build our economy, they are critical to our growth. Despite what ordinary Singaporeans have done in the past, we have never been “embraced”, appreciated and our achievements acknowledged in the same way the PAP govt acknowledges that of the foreign workforce. When it comes to foreigners everything can be accepted and the PAP govt tells us to be tolerant, non-xenophobic and integrate….accept their behavior…somehow Singaporeans find it hard to do this especially when it comes from a leadership so high-handed in telling us how to behave and lead our lives…..now when it comes to foreigners we must just accept.
.
Lucky Tan
Lucky Tan is an avid online blogger since 2005. He likes to study the thoughts of Singapore leaders and the laws of Singapore. He blogs at http://singaporemind.blogspot.com.
.
Editor’s note: We even accept foreign “Study Mamas” who have no means to financially support their kids to study in Singapore. As a result, many of them end up working in massage parlours and KTVs cause the money comes more easily.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_mama[/URL]
“In June 2006, a female Chinese national who owned a massage parlour, which allegedly provided sex services to clients, was stabbed to death in Ang Mo Kio. This drew public and media attention to vice-related activities at some of these massage parlours. In early July 2006, the government conducted a crackdown on illegal employment at the parlours and imposed stricter regulation on their operations. This led some peidu mamas to hold a protest outside the Chinese Embassy, despite the prohibition of such gatherings in Singapore.”
.[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_mama[/URL]
“In June 2006, a female Chinese national who owned a massage parlour, which allegedly provided sex services to clients, was stabbed to death in Ang Mo Kio. This drew public and media attention to vice-related activities at some of these massage parlours. In early July 2006, the government conducted a crackdown on illegal employment at the parlours and imposed stricter regulation on their operations. This led some peidu mamas to hold a protest outside the Chinese Embassy, despite the prohibition of such gatherings in Singapore.”
