This is SM Goh’s comments to student Lim Zi Rui at the Ministerial Forum organised by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Students’ Union.

Out of reflex, my answer to the above comments were – ‘Stop making us feel like we are serfs working for an aristocracy.’ A friend humorously said, ‘Just pay me peanuts (of the Durai kind).’.

I had to re-read Goh’s comments because I thought it was misquoted. After all, I would expect such callous remarks from the younger mini$ter$, who certainly didn’t have the acumen of the older generation in spite of all that… mentoring. (The dedication of the younger mini$ter$ have always been questionable because it is my considered opinion that these self proclaimed ‘elites’ only ‘served’ the nation with great reluctance after offered an exorbitant pay. That’s not mentioning their remarks is a testimony that they are not even fit to be a Member of Parliament, much less a leader of this country.)

Goh’s response is so very typical of the Tali-PAP – a party that always insist it is right back no matter what. Clearly our mini$ter$ do not really know how to handle unexpected situation and comments, in spite of their self professed elitism. I hope Goh (and his fellow mini$ter$) would reflect after the forum why the government’s gahmen’s ‘foreign talents’ policy had alienated some Singaporeans. Granted that the gahmen had the economic statistics to justify their policies, they must realise that statistics hardly matter to those who live in a reality different from what the statistics portray, or to those who perceived their situation differently.

Goh’s response also made me wonder whether that was really him since it clearly showed a failure to separate cheap foreign labour from the so-called ‘foreign talents’. This is obvious when Goh has asked Lim Zi Rui – who’s going to build your HDB flat? – to defend the gahmen’s policy of welcoming foreigners. Goh might as well have asked who’s going to be the prostitutes? It was the wrong question, if not the worst, to ask in defense of a policy that has gone awry.

The comment made me feel like an idiot because I (and I believe most Singaporeans) clearly know the difference between cheap foreign labour and those with skills we do not have. Singaporeans definitely understand the need for foreign labour. While we may complain that those at the food courts no longer cook local delicacies to our accustomed taste, about the cultural differences or even the dorms in the vicinity of our estates, we all know these foreigners are taking up jobs that few of us want to do – such as construction workers, cleaners, helpers in food courts, or even call center operators. Most of these transient workers don’t really bother us even though they put a strain on our public transport system. Even so, the problem with our public transport system is actually more of a problem as with the thrice damned profit driven public transport operators and we don’t reject those who come here to built our homes and clean our streets.

There is however a group of foreigners that really pisses us off. Those who compete with us for jobs we are qualified for. They take our jobs away because they are willing to accept a lower pay. The gahmen doesn’t seem to be bothered when we voiced our concerns. Instead, it chastised us for being lazy, complacent and demanding and lecture us on how we should live with the hard reality of globalisation. Yet at the very same time it expects us to work even longer years and accept our ever increasing cost of living. That’s not mentioning an experienced worker in his late 30s increasingly finds it difficult to get employed while inexperienced youngsters (not necessarily Singaporeans) are employed simply because they are paid less. (That’s not forgetting how they screw things up for us by saying how good our public transport is compared to where they come from. They might as well have said it is great we actually have MRT compared to Sudan which doesn’t even have one!)

While it maybe true statistically this country has created more jobs than Singaporeans can fill, what is there to assure us that companies are not abusing this policy to reduce cost and employ staff elsewhere? How many people have changed line (for e.g. driving a cab) or take up jobs that barely make ends meet so they disappear from the unemployment statistics to allow the Tali-PAP gahmen to paint its rosy picture?

The Tali-PAP gahmen can quit making it sound like Singapore can’t do without foreigners because it encourages some foreigners to act like we can’t do without them. In fact, some even dared to ask why they are not accorded the same privileges (if not entitlements) when they have not performed the same duties required of citizens. ^{[1] [2]}. While the Tali-PAP gahmen can do whatever it takes to make foreigners feel at home, there is clearly no need to be obsequious. It’s boot-licking attitude serves no other purpose other than embolden them to think we owe them or we can’t do without them.

Beyond that, the gahmen should stop sticking its head in the ground to some of the associated problems that comes with the influx of foreigners – such as housing, and even places in our universities. Regardless of whether these problems are perceived or real, the gahmen has done very little to address it. Take for example the COV (Cash over value) of HDB resale flats. At times, it is hard for people to accept the gahmen’s stand that COV has remained near zero for years statistically when residents regularly receive pamphlets in their letter box with COV offers ranging from $20,000 to even $50,000.

That takes me to the matter of the housing policy, which in my opinion it is nothing but system of modern serfdom or slavery. Certainly the influx of foreigners isn’t the only issue that plagues us. I won’t go into details on the housing policies, because the Reform Party did a better job in analyzing this whole issue about housing. (Really, Mah Bow Tan Mabok Tongue should go to an SMC like Hougang, and show us whether the Hougang’ers buy his bullshit about the housing policy. After all, it was the Mini$ter Mentor Lao Lee who said that if he can’t defend his policies, he should get voted out.)

If Goh really want to know how to make us feel belong, take a hard look at the damage done by the so-called ‘foreign talent’ and housing policies. They have made home feel nothing more than hotel where we need to put up a smiling face to welcome all these guests (foreigners) while we work our asses off. It is made worse by the Tali-PAP’s corporate style of running the nation. Living in Singapore no longer feel like being at home. Indeed, it feels like being at work perpetually! And the worst part of this job is, you can’t find alternate employment, you don’t even get paid and you own the boss rent for the place you stay in. Not to mention you are called upon to be its security forces from age 18 until at least 40, if you are not an officer.

Home? Feel belonged? Ya, right.