Confused TNP Journalist Lediati Tan Misleads Singaporeans
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As I started reading the latest Kafkaesque masterpiece by PAP propagandist Lediati Tan, I couldn’t help but wonder if the PAP is unable or just unwilling to understand the problems plaguing Singaporeans. In her article on foreign workers, published in the 4th of September edition of The New Paper, our confused journalist went off on a surreal tangent and attempted to tackle the foreign workers issue using the renowned fantastical PAP logic. Reasonable Singaporeans of sound mind like myself are concerned about the suppression of wages and the all too willingness of employers to offer low or medium level jobs, which can be easily taken up by Singaporeans, to our foreign counterparts. In other words, the bread-and-butter issues. Ms. Lediati Tan seemed unfazed by such mundane concerns. Medical dictionaries define psychosis as “a symptom or feature of mental illness typically characterized by radical changes in personality, impaired functioning, and a distorted or nonexistent sense of objective reality.� As I continued reading her article, I became more and more convinced that our confused journalist must be going through a psychotic episode. Instead of tackling the foreign workers issues from the obvious bread-and-butter angle, Ms. Tan went out of her way to avoid all foreign workers who crossed her path. Many Singaporeans have voiced out their concerns about the wanton influx of cheap foreign labour, but those voices of reason have not advocated a boycott of services provided by foreign workers nor have we went out of our way to shun foreign workers. Thus, I was completely flabbergasted when Ms. Tan described how she incurred inconveniences when she avoided services provided by foreign workers. “Twice, I had to miss a bus and wait an additional five to 10 minutes because the first bus was driven by a foreign driver. In the office, the first thing I did was to hide my wastepaper basket under my table. One of the cleaners is a foreigner. I also had to be extra careful when using the toilets at my workplace as some are cleaned by foreign workers. Thankfully, the one nearest my office are usually cleaned by local aunties.� It’s just too difficult by Lediati Tan (Saturday, Sep 04, 2010, The New Paper) As Ms. Tan went on to describe how she failed to purchase a bag for her friend because the retail outlet was staffed by foreigners and avoided using the public toilet at the mall because she thought it might be cleaned by foreign workers, I got increasingly worried for the state of her mental health. For a person who uses such impeccable English; whose grammar is sensible, it seemed improbable that she could have missed the obvious angle. Namely, the concerns we Singaporeans share over the suppression of wages and the loss of our jobs to foreign imports who aren’t necessary more qualified, or talented, than us. She could have asked the million dollar question. She could have asked why, oh why, have so many foreigners taken up low-level jobs that could have been easily filled by Singaporeans? Bus driver, cleaner, sales assistant and restaurant servers. These aren’t specialized professions that require exotic foreign experts to fill! But she didn’t ask, did she? Instead she set out to do exactly the opposite of what a good investigative journalist, a proper one working in a country with a free press, would do. She avoided the pertinent questions and filled up the gaping holes in her articles with red herrings and conjectures to mislead the public. As I read her flimsily concocted conjecture that without foreign imports, Singaporeans will be bereft of the essential services provided by bus drivers, cleaners and restaurant servers, I became more firmly convinced of her state of dementia. A lay person, who is untrained in journalistic techniques, could easily see that without the foreign imports who are doing jobs that require no specialized talents, it just mean that the employment rate among native Singaporeans will go up! The fact that Lediati Tan failed to see the patently obvious could only mean that either her cognitive faculties had severely deteriorated or like her political masters, she was unwilling to empathize with her fellow Singaporeans. But the latter cannot be true, can it? Because Ms. Lediati Tan is not even a Singaporean. In her article published on the 1st of September in The New Paper, she herself declared that she “spent more than 15 years here�, but still holds on to her Indonesian passport. “Though I’m still holding my green Indonesian passport, I can barely lay claim to being a true blue Indonesian.� TNP’s Lediati Tan pledges allegiance to Singapore by Lediati Tan (Wed, Sep 01, 2010, The New Paper) Now it all becomes clear. And with that clarity comes understanding. Here is an Indonesian who spent 15 years here, claims she knows Majulah Singapura better than the national anthem of her homeland, and yet refuses to give up her Indonesian passport to become a Singapore citizen. At the same time, she earns her pay by writing articles approving the wanton influx of “foreign talents� such as herself. Such a person will never be able to understand the sufferings of native Singaporeans. Nor will she want to jeopardize her livelihood by doing so. By: Singa Crew Link to article: http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/09/11/confused-tnp-journalist-lediati-tan-misleads-singaporeans/
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Oh, that article, it was so dumb, I didn't bother to read it. Oh great, I just read your thread.
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Her experiment is really ... not smart.
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Wow..not a Singaporean still kpkb, but she smart, convert to Singapore citizen means gg for her. Got shit happen she just balik kampung to Indonesia.
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What she practiced was discrimination, not 'what if there are no foreign workers here'.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Her experiment is really ... not smart.
Why?
Is it because it's like pouring cyanide into a drinking well, then taking a drink from that well and telling the world that you can't help getting poisoned by cyanide.
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Lets not be too harsh on her .just have peace on her .She could be forced to write as she is new in the job .
I dun think her words represent the majority of Indonesian Singapore Permanent Resident at large
I talk to several indonesian born singapore PR and I am a indonesian born Singaporean .Most of them do not like the ways how the Top here handled this issue.
Just my humble opinion
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Originally posted by syncopation_music:
Lets not be too harsh on her .just have peace on her .She could be forced to write as she is new in the job .
I dun think her words represent the majority of Indonesian Singapore Permanent Resident at large
I talk to several indonesian born singapore PR and I am a indonesian born Singaporean .Most of them do not like the ways how the Top here handled this issue.
Just my humble opinion
+1I feel that the PR's that have already made it into Singapore should be embraced as Singaporeans. The damage has already been done and there is no use crying over spilt milk. The problem isn't them but the policies that allowed it to happen and sadly those policies were made by Singaporeans. To keep everything in context syncopation_music its the policy we are not happy about.
I personally have no bias against Lediati Tan though the article is abit hypocritical, as you said she could have done it to keep herself mainstream.
Kind Regards
Genie
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She has a job... and has everything the govt can provide... why should she complain?
Wait till she gets jobless first. Lets see if her comments are still the same. If still the same, I give hats off to her! -
My mum, a locally born and bred Singaporean, works as a cleaner and she is paid $500+ after CPF. So how much do they need to pay you to work as a cleaner? My mother is willing to accept such a pay to work as a cleaner, will you?
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Originally posted by gasband:
My mum, a locally born and bred Singaporean, works as a cleaner and she is paid $500+ after CPF. So how much do they need to pay you to work as a cleaner? My mother is willing to accept such a pay to work as a cleaner, will you?
Ask her if she is happy with the pay.... I bet she doesnt.. but she has no choice..
And why arent you helping her? Why let your mummy work as cleaner, somemore exploited to such low pay... ? -
Originally posted by gasband:
My mum, a locally born and bred Singaporean, works as a cleaner and she is paid $500+ after CPF. So how much do they need to pay you to work as a cleaner? My mother is willing to accept such a pay to work as a cleaner, will you?
Hi Gasband,Singapore has implemented a scheme to help people like your mom. If she is above age 45 the government will top the salary up to $1500.00. Hope that helps your family out and put a smile on her face.
Kind Regards
Genie
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Ask her if she is happy with the pay.... I bet she doesnt.. but she has no choice..
And why arent you helping her? Why let your mummy work as cleaner, somemore exploited to such low pay... ?$500 is a lot. If you are the hirer, how much would you pay for a cleaner?
My cousin worked part time as a waitress for $800, 6 days to fund for her education. There are people who are willing to work for a lower pay through hard work.
I don't agree with the government move of letting in more foreigners. Like I said in another topic, the government has made Singapore a place that can move forward without Singaporeans. I hope that the government would only bring in "talented" Foreign Talent with skills that Singaporeans does not possess. And also, bring down the cost of living so that the poor does not have to suffer that much with the help of the Government golden hand.
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Just because you and your family member is willing to be paid like a cheapo foreigner should not be inferred that ALL Singaporeans are like you and your family member.
If you can hold your breath for 5 mins underwater, does it mean that everybody else should do the same. What matters is the group psyche not your personal psyche.
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Ask her if she is happy with the pay.... I bet she doesnt.. but she has no choice..
And why arent you helping her? Why let your mummy work as cleaner, somemore exploited to such low pay... ?I wrote that in reply specifically to a point TS made "She could have asked why, oh why, have so many foreigners taken up low-level jobs that could have been easily filled by Singaporeans? Bus driver, cleaner, sales assistant and restaurant servers. These aren’t specialized professions that require exotic foreign experts to fill!"
My point was $500+ to my mum is alot. Thats because she did not really have to work. But at just 50+, she felt that she just want to do something or else she is too young to be rotting at home. I supported her by saying as long it is not taking too big a toll on her. Why LET my mummy work as a cleaner? My question is WHY NOT? Is being a cleaner a bad job? I am instead proud that my mum did not choose to just sit at home but instead choose to be active.
But my real point to the TS was, you ask when these professions require exotic foreign experts, PRECISELY because like what people here say, the pay is too low. If people like you are willing to take a cleaner job at 500+, I am sure companies will employ you. Please volunteer yourself.
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Originally posted by βÎτά:
Just because you and your family member is willing to be paid like a cheapo foreigner should not be inferred that ALL Singaporeans are like you and your family member.
If you can hold your breath for 5 mins underwater, does it mean that everybody else should do the same. What matters is the group psyche not your personal psyche.
And so if you cannot accept the low pay, why complain when others from other countries can? So how much must they pay you to be a cleaner?
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
She has a job... and has everything the govt can provide... why should she complain?
Wait till she gets jobless first. Lets see if her comments are still the same. If still the same, I give hats off to her!If she was jobless, her articles will not be published at all since she won't be working for any newspaper.
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Originally posted by gasband:
I wrote that in reply specifically to a point TS made "She could have asked why, oh why, have so many foreigners taken up low-level jobs that could have been easily filled by Singaporeans? Bus driver, cleaner, sales assistant and restaurant servers. These aren’t specialized professions that require exotic foreign experts to fill!"
My point was $500+ to my mum is alot. Thats because she did not really have to work. But at just 50+, she felt that she just want to do something or else she is too young to be rotting at home. I supported her by saying as long it is not taking too big a toll on her. Why LET my mummy work as a cleaner? My question is WHY NOT? Is being a cleaner a bad job? I am instead proud that my mum did not choose to just sit at home but instead choose to be active.
But my real point to the TS was, you ask when these professions require exotic foreign experts, PRECISELY because like what people here say, the pay is too low. If people like you are willing to take a cleaner job at 500+, I am sure companies will employ you. Please volunteer yourself.
Then there is a slight biaseness to your view that it is okay to work for $500. In your case, your mum did not really need to work but rather was more for passing time. That is why the $500 did not matter much to her even if it was a big sum to her.
You do know that there are others who need to support a family and themselves and who need a job just to survive day to day. These are the ones that have to face this problem.
I reckon that some people could probably afford to not work after 50, having saved up enough retirement funds till they die or had children to support them financially, then they would also not care too much about a $500 a month job just to pass time.
There is a big difference.
The media is quick to highlight senior citizens all working for a pittence but read carefully, and most if not all of them are working to "pass time".
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Originally posted by mancha:
What she practiced was discrimination, not 'what if there are no foreign workers here'.
If a commoner like you told people you avoided foreigners like what she did in her little experiment, you would have been branded xenophobic.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Then there is a slight biaseness to your view that it is okay to work for $500. In your case, your mum did not really need to work but rather was more for passing time. That is why the $500 did not matter much to her even if it was a big sum to her.
You do know that there are others who need to support a family and themselves and who need a job just to survive day to day. These are the ones that have to face this problem.
I reckon that some people could probably afford to not work after 50, having saved up enough retirement funds till they die or had children to support them financially, then they would also not care too much about a $500 a month job just to pass time.
There is a big difference.
The media is quick to highlight senior citizens all working for a pittence but read carefully, and most if not all of them are working to "pass time".
My point precisely to the TS. If TS is asking why we are allowing FTs to come in to work as cleaners etc, that is because the pay is so pitiful that anyone that needs to feed a family would not be able to survive on that. And so that is why FTs came in to work in those jobs.
Now if the argument that TS wants to go down is on how low wages are, and wants to compare our wages of cleaners, waiters etc to those in Europe or elsewhere, we will also go down a cycle of comparing too the tax structure of those countries.
I definitely agree that the rich-poor gap in Singapore is definitely widening and comparing to economies in Europe, on surface, they perhaps have a much better rich-poor gap, but they do also operate on a the people on the top and middle needs to feed the people at the bottom principle meaning higher tax to support the social welfare system compared to the 'every man for himself' system in Singapore. Whether a minimum wage system is the solution, whether to kick out all FTs is the solution will always remain a 'hindsight'.
I have always believed in the principle that work hard and be contented. I am not rich. I work my ass off. But with a little adjustment from time to time and knowing when to be contented, my life is very fulfilling. there are people out there who devote their time to fight for the cause of the people and I respect that and so if the people here are really so passionate about the people's causes, I respect them but if I am doing is idle talk and coffeeshop talk, I rather spend my time enjoying what little life and money I have.