Where are the Singaporeans Left?
-
Oikono.com, 5 Aug 2009
Where are the Singaporeans Left?
It has been another two years away from Singapore. One sunny afternoon, I stopped by the Redhill Hawker Center for lunch. Two pretty Chinese ladies walk up to the table of hawkers sitting next to me. The hawkers were giving catcalls to the ladies. One of the ladies gets a hawker to buy her a meal. Walking back, she promises to introduce the hawker to a lady of the night. Talking to friends, this fascinating phenomenon seems to have been around for some time. A friend claims that sex workers from China are able to obtain visas legally since 2007. Unofficially, they have been around longer. But what I want to talk about isn’t sex (sorry to disappoint) but rather, foreigners in Singapore.
I knew it was a sign of the times when my aunt married a rich Belgian (and retired as a lady of leisure) and my brother married a Vietnamese. While travelling in China, every other Chinese I encountered seemed able to tell me that someone they know working is in Singapore. My barber in Beijing had a cousin working in a hotel here; the guy who gave me a lift in northeast China had a friend working here; the kebab guy in Dandong knew someone who is a sex worker here. When I was in South America last December, I met quite a few retrenched bankers. Some of them were planning to come to Singapore to look for jobs.
Regardless of where they come from, Singapore’s foreign crowd has gotten way bigger. The government talks about squeezing 7.8 million people on this island. How are they going to do this? [Hint: I doubt it is going to be Singapore’s low birth rate doing the job.] The foreign population has become truly obvious since I left. I spent a Friday night at Clark Quay and as I made my way back to the MRT station, I realized that everyone around me appears to be Caucasian. On some buses, I suddenly realized that the mainland Chinese accent was all around me. And that’s not to forget the Thais, Filipinos and Vietnamese.
I don’t really know what to make of this demographic change. Sometime back, I wrote about an article on income inequality in Singapore called “the Hawker and the Banker.” It struck a chord with many Singaporeans. But I now suspect that the income inequality and rising costs might have roots in our foreign resident policy. One group of workers comes from developing countries. They work in low wage jobs, live in dormitories and eat in hawker centers. The other group comes from developed countries – largely Caucasian with a sprinkling of wealthy Chinese, Indonesian, Korean or Japanese. They get salaries that are multiples of what local graduates get, live in service apartments or condominiums, and hangout in Clark Quay or the city. And never the twain shall meet.
The setting of this picture is the city-state of Singapore. And sitting in the backdrop, the question for Singaporeans must be: what do we make of this? Economically, I believe local graduate salary failed to keep pace with inflation (especially in the city area). The money brought in by the rich expatriate crowd goes into housing, entertainment and fine dining. What do new graduates feel about entertainment and housing costs soaring above their means? If I once winced at eating at Crystal Jade, I now shudder at the thought. In turn, this system requires the poor foreign worker segment, without which the average Singaporean might find Singapore quite unaffordable rather quickly.
And what does all this mean for the Singaporean identity? We asked ourselves this a long time ago, but this question is all the more urgent today. When I read former Prime Minister Goh’s comments on the urgent tasks facing Singaporeans, I wonder if our leaders are out of touch. Does his list of questions resonate with your concerns? What does all this mean for social stability? Will widening income inequality and resentment towards a rich foreign crowd make Singapore a Xinjiang? Sounds ridiculous but just mention the stereotyped rich White man and his Singaporean girlfriend to the average Singaporean male and you can see how resentment roils under the surface…
-----------------------
Latest updates @ Singapore News Alternative:
1. Where are the Singaporeans Left?
2. The ideal of equality in our National flag and its reality
3. Singapore PM’s concern: Young, educated women not having babies
4. Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas and ZZ Top to perform at Singapore Grand Prix
5. First Singapore home gets next-gen fiber
6. S’pore property picking up
.__________________
.
http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com
.
http:/twitter.com/snablog -
Regardless of where they come from, Singapore’s foreign crowd has gotten way bigger. The government talks about squeezing 7.8 million people on this island. How are they going to do this? [Hint: I doubt it is going to be Singapore’s low birth rate doing the job.] The foreign population has become truly obvious since I left. I spent a Friday night at Clark Quay and as I made my way back to the MRT station, I realized that everyone around me appears to be Caucasian. On some buses, I suddenly realized that the mainland Chinese accent was all around me. And that’s not to forget the Thais, Filipinos and Vietnamese.
Extremely disturbing, the PAP is ruining everything.
Messing up everything, destroying everything.
-
When I read former Prime Minister Goh’s comments on the urgent tasks facing Singaporeans, I wonder if our leaders are out of touch. When I read former Prime Minister Goh’s comments on the urgent tasks facing Singaporeans, I wonder if our leaders are out of touch.
If they are out of touch with reality, then they must go. Out of touch cannot stay, will cause trouble.
-
this is kind of my Uncle Chia replying to his clone
-
Singapore Left?
none of them left coz none of them were right
-
Where are the Singaporeans Left?
At first I thought they were talking about what happened to the Singapore left wing.
-
Originally posted by the Bear:
Singapore Left?
none of them left coz none of them were right
What's left?
Nothing right to begin with.
-
Nothing right to begin with.
The day Lee Kuan Yew took over, everything became wrong.
-
Where are the Singaporeans? Interviewing barbers in China and kebab guys in Brazil, I suppose.
Fucking stupid question.
-
Yeah, what's there to celebrate this "National" Day...Should be "International" liao..
-
.Should be "International" liao..
Get the 1/3 foreigner aliens to celebrate.
-
Originally posted by Ah Chia:
The day Lee Kuan Yew took over, everything became wrong.
and the day my Uncle Chia take over, i bet it will be more wrong -
and the day my Uncle Chia take over, i bet it will be more wrong
I take over, I will reduce the population of foreign aliens in Singapore; give priority to local born Singaporeans.
I will end the suppression of dialect language in state media.
-
Originally posted by Ah Chia:
I take over, I will reduce the population of foreign aliens in Singapore; give priority to local born Singaporeans.
I will end the suppression of dialect language in state media.
wha lau, become 1950s again, mai lah, please dun, i dun like to wear cheong sum ok.. -
wha lau, become 1950s again, mai lah, please dun, i dun like to wear cheong sum ok..
cheong sum must have nice figure to look good.
-
Originally posted by Ah Chia:
cheong sum must have nice figure to look good.
me ok mah, but i hate the side split open, my grandma use to wear, last time she said that was how she doped my grandpa, with a sexy cheong sam, but today she wears specially make one with less opening..lao liao.Ok, you take over, we learn Hokkien, hakka, teochew etc etc...Chiong ar!!!!
-
yes, i dont want PRC prostitutes
i want Singapore prostitutes
-
Originally posted by Chew Bakar:
What's left?
Nothing right to begin with.
It is difficult to get the Sporean who left the country for greener pastures to come back. The article commented is true n if u go to clarke quay, many of the people u bumped into most likely from other countries. -
Originally posted by angel7030:
this is kind of my Uncle Chia replying to his clone
shut your gap,crawl back to your brothel cum pub to serve your clients. -
my national day will be spend watching dvd. I don't even want to watch the parade. been watching it for the past 20 years of my life sian already
-
What's left? Nothing good for the locals except the ruling party gaining from the influx of foreigners here.
-
Originally posted by angel7030:
me ok mah, but i hate the side split open, my grandma use to wear, last time she said that was how she doped my grandpa, with a sexy cheong sam, but today she wears specially make one with less opening..lao liao.Ok, you take over, we learn Hokkien, hakka, teochew etc etc...Chiong ar!!!!
you ok mah? hahaz... -
Originally posted by angel7030:
and the day my Uncle Chia take over, i bet it will be more wrong
I suppose better than u take over. If you ever take over I believe you make this a whore nation. Think you will gain more talking to your counterparts - or kwee kong and or kwee pohs. Unfortunately , the audience here are not your counterparts thus not able to exchange any info on the prostitution business to benefit you. -
Originally posted by trashbag:
my national day will be spend watching dvd. I don't even want to watch the parade. been watching it for the past 20 years of my life sian already
nothing new, won't lose anything if don't watch. National Day is the show off day of the Pay and Pay. and on the eve the incapable jiak liao be will speak crap to the nation. -
I am all for foreigners and foreign talent working and living in singapore but at the rate this is going, singaporeans will be the minority in their own country.
No prizes for guessing what are the social, economic, psychological and political implications of such a scenario.