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[h=2]What Singaporean minorities went through for the last 50 years[/h]
March 14th, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
Singaporeans of all races serving NS together
I am a minority Singaporean, who migrated out of Singapore a number of years ago due to the unfair treatments that I faced in the labour market. I was always amongst the top 10% achievers in academics since primary school to graduate school. I have been rated amongst the top employers in a few jobs only to be rated amongst the worst employers in the same jobs by newly appointed supervisors.
I have been rejected in job interviews for lower ranking jobs in the very same organisations where later I got higher ranking jobs. Such was the arbitrariness in the assessment of merit in a supposedly self-described meritocracy.
In all the years of working life in Singapore, every single person who interviewed me and every single supervisor was a Chinese. Amongst the jobs in which I was a rising star, it did not take me long to start getting harassed by jealous Chinese colleagues and that forced me to quit those jobs as I had no avenues to seek recourse.
Consequently during my period of working life in Singapore I never managed to get permanent employment. Ever since I migrated out of Singapore, I have been in the same job, though different supervisors, for several years. That gave me a greater conviction whatever conclusions I drew about my experiences in Singapore.
I am not saying all this to win sympathy as how netizens will love to quickly assume. Rather I urge the Chinese population who are complaining of unfair treatment by employers at job application exercises, interviews, job appraisals and so on where foreigners are given greater priority, to reflect. Many Singaporean Minorities went through for fifty years what you go through today.
The difference is that the unfair employers that we faced unfairly assessed us and unfairly valued our abilities as less than proficient and productive. Instead they unfairly determined that Chinese employees performed better. When these Singapore Minorities migrate to foreign job markets in the first world, they do not face this problem.
Today Singapore employers unfairly determine that Singapore employees are less than productive for the wages they are paid than foreign employees. Likewise if Singaporean employees of any race migrate to job markets in first world, they are more preferred than those ‘foreign talent’ that Singaporean employees prefer.
During the British Colonial era, the colonialists unfairly determined that locals are not proficient enough for many jobs in the civil service. They refused to let locals climb further than the rank of clerk or senior clerk or chief clerk. When the Chinese leadership came into power in 1959, they replaced British colonialisation of the workforce with Chinese colonialisation of the workforce. Over the last 50 years, the discriminatory practices generations of Singapore Minorities have been unfairly assessed and determined to be not proficient enough for many management positions. Between the two types of colonialisation of the workforce, Singapore Minorities fared better in the British era.
JB Jeyaretnam himself jumped into politics following an unfair promotion of his junior to a position senior to his while JBJ was in civil service. Since 1959, the Malays have been unfairly assessed and determined to be a risk for defence industry and majority of senior positions of government service.
It is the prevalent culture of unfairness in assessment of employees for invitation to interview, assessment during interview, assessment during annual appraisals etc in Singapore that has led to today’s dismal situation of Singaporeans, regardless of race, being given lesser preference over foreigners. The Chinese in Singapore will vehemently deny all this as they have done so for 50 years. As much as they pretend they are better than Malaysian Malays in the treatment of minorities, they are absolutely wrong. These are conclusions that Singapore Chinese have drawn without even asking the Singapore Minorities. If anyone should know a better about the condition of Singapore Minorities, it will be themselves not the Singapore Chinese.
Even in the PAP Cabinet, the Malay Ministers are never given any highly regarded portfolios in the cabinet. You cannot find any period in the last 50 years where the cabinet had more than one or two Malay MPs being promoted to rank of Cabinet Ministers. It will be unthinkable of the day PAP will give the defence or finance portfolio to a Malay MP.
Even today while netizens cry out loud for Singaporean Singapore, the unfair treatment of Singapore Minorities continues on a daily basis. It is this that I hope to point out with this article that a Singaporean Singapore will never be possible until the discrimination of minorities does not end. Likewise until the preference of Chinese employees over Minority employees by employers end, the preference of foreign workers over Singaporean workers will continue.
It is in such moments that I do find Singapore that was country for more than 150 years before 1959 disintegrated into a nation statehood, defined and divided by race. I have never felt a need to fight back to reclaim a country in which I was born, bred and where I served my NS. In the grand scheme of history of 800 years, Singapore has not only reached its highest peaks but also hit its lowest and hardest bottoms. This is far beyond the fairytale that Singapore existed only since 1819. There are already major signs in the last ten years that signify the decline of Singapore. What goes around, comes around.
That is something you can observe in this article and in many phenomenon in Singapore over last decade. Hence we Singapore Minorities just need to let the natural course of destiny take its shape and we do not need to plan any counter plans. However given the fact we are all born in the same land, we wish (only a wish and not a high hope) the Singapore Chinese will wake up and realise who their only eternal friends are.
.
Singaporean Minority
Editor’s note: Please be civil in posting comments. Comments with racial slurs and insults will not be tolerated here. The author is merely reflecting a true situation here faced by many Singaporean minorities.
I am a minority Singaporean, who migrated out of Singapore a number of years ago due to the unfair treatments that I faced in the labour market. I was always amongst the top 10% achievers in academics since primary school to graduate school. I have been rated amongst the top employers in a few jobs only to be rated amongst the worst employers in the same jobs by newly appointed supervisors.
I have been rejected in job interviews for lower ranking jobs in the very same organisations where later I got higher ranking jobs. Such was the arbitrariness in the assessment of merit in a supposedly self-described meritocracy.
In all the years of working life in Singapore, every single person who interviewed me and every single supervisor was a Chinese. Amongst the jobs in which I was a rising star, it did not take me long to start getting harassed by jealous Chinese colleagues and that forced me to quit those jobs as I had no avenues to seek recourse.
Consequently during my period of working life in Singapore I never managed to get permanent employment. Ever since I migrated out of Singapore, I have been in the same job, though different supervisors, for several years. That gave me a greater conviction whatever conclusions I drew about my experiences in Singapore.
I am not saying all this to win sympathy as how netizens will love to quickly assume. Rather I urge the Chinese population who are complaining of unfair treatment by employers at job application exercises, interviews, job appraisals and so on where foreigners are given greater priority, to reflect. Many Singaporean Minorities went through for fifty years what you go through today.
The difference is that the unfair employers that we faced unfairly assessed us and unfairly valued our abilities as less than proficient and productive. Instead they unfairly determined that Chinese employees performed better. When these Singapore Minorities migrate to foreign job markets in the first world, they do not face this problem.
Today Singapore employers unfairly determine that Singapore employees are less than productive for the wages they are paid than foreign employees. Likewise if Singaporean employees of any race migrate to job markets in first world, they are more preferred than those ‘foreign talent’ that Singaporean employees prefer.
During the British Colonial era, the colonialists unfairly determined that locals are not proficient enough for many jobs in the civil service. They refused to let locals climb further than the rank of clerk or senior clerk or chief clerk. When the Chinese leadership came into power in 1959, they replaced British colonialisation of the workforce with Chinese colonialisation of the workforce. Over the last 50 years, the discriminatory practices generations of Singapore Minorities have been unfairly assessed and determined to be not proficient enough for many management positions. Between the two types of colonialisation of the workforce, Singapore Minorities fared better in the British era.
JB Jeyaretnam himself jumped into politics following an unfair promotion of his junior to a position senior to his while JBJ was in civil service. Since 1959, the Malays have been unfairly assessed and determined to be a risk for defence industry and majority of senior positions of government service.
It is the prevalent culture of unfairness in assessment of employees for invitation to interview, assessment during interview, assessment during annual appraisals etc in Singapore that has led to today’s dismal situation of Singaporeans, regardless of race, being given lesser preference over foreigners. The Chinese in Singapore will vehemently deny all this as they have done so for 50 years. As much as they pretend they are better than Malaysian Malays in the treatment of minorities, they are absolutely wrong. These are conclusions that Singapore Chinese have drawn without even asking the Singapore Minorities. If anyone should know a better about the condition of Singapore Minorities, it will be themselves not the Singapore Chinese.
Even in the PAP Cabinet, the Malay Ministers are never given any highly regarded portfolios in the cabinet. You cannot find any period in the last 50 years where the cabinet had more than one or two Malay MPs being promoted to rank of Cabinet Ministers. It will be unthinkable of the day PAP will give the defence or finance portfolio to a Malay MP.
Even today while netizens cry out loud for Singaporean Singapore, the unfair treatment of Singapore Minorities continues on a daily basis. It is this that I hope to point out with this article that a Singaporean Singapore will never be possible until the discrimination of minorities does not end. Likewise until the preference of Chinese employees over Minority employees by employers end, the preference of foreign workers over Singaporean workers will continue.
It is in such moments that I do find Singapore that was country for more than 150 years before 1959 disintegrated into a nation statehood, defined and divided by race. I have never felt a need to fight back to reclaim a country in which I was born, bred and where I served my NS. In the grand scheme of history of 800 years, Singapore has not only reached its highest peaks but also hit its lowest and hardest bottoms. This is far beyond the fairytale that Singapore existed only since 1819. There are already major signs in the last ten years that signify the decline of Singapore. What goes around, comes around.
That is something you can observe in this article and in many phenomenon in Singapore over last decade. Hence we Singapore Minorities just need to let the natural course of destiny take its shape and we do not need to plan any counter plans. However given the fact we are all born in the same land, we wish (only a wish and not a high hope) the Singapore Chinese will wake up and realise who their only eternal friends are.
.
Singaporean Minority
Editor’s note: Please be civil in posting comments. Comments with racial slurs and insults will not be tolerated here. The author is merely reflecting a true situation here faced by many Singaporean minorities.
