The above comment was made several days ago at the Sinda Youth Leaders Seminar last Saturday. It almost escaped my notice. I often consider myself to be a master in “talking cock” (i.e. saying things that is full of nonsense), but this really takes the cake. If it isn’t “cock”, it would be propaganda from some long gone fascist regime, which often vilify certain groups and prop them up as a bogeyman.

As an ethnic Chinese, I felt threatened by the above comment in two ways. First of all, the Chinese community is the majority in Singapore as a result of history. The above statement gives me the impression that if anyone among the Chinese community speaks out against the immigration policies, this person is thus considered to harbor an agenda against the other communities in Singapore and is capable of turning on them.

How is this helpful to our nation building at all? After having come so far to build our little nation to the point whereby Chinese, Malay and Indians can sit and eat at the same table without fear of offending each other’s religious or cultural convictions, this comment has turn the clock all the way back to the 60s of the previous century. All the hard work the different races have painstakingly put in to live together in mutual respect and peace, if not in harmony with each other, has gone to waste.

Frankly, the prime suspects that would contemptuously speak out and hurt the sensitivities of our people (and not only against minorities), would be some of the foreign workers or new citizens that the ruling party has let indiscriminately into our country. Singaporeans wouldn’t even dare say something like that when they consider the Sedition Act hanging like a sword over their heads. These newcomers would have very little knowledge of our common history and the pains our grandparents and parents have all gone through. That is evident in a recent case where a mainland Chinese worker made derogatory remarks about one of our Malay brothers in a Chinese forum. If I recalled correctly, that chap was let off with just a warning. Now contrast that with the treatment of Lai Shimum, a poly student who lashed out against migrant workers and then got pounced on by a Member of Parliament [MP] from the ruling party. Further contrast that with us being asked by yet another MP of the ruling party to “reflect” when we are called “dogs” by a foreign student enjoying a scholarship given out by our country.

That brings up my next concern. Even though the Chinese are a majority in this tiny red dot, we are a minority in the Malay Archipelago. While I was born in the years after the last major racial riot in Singapore, my Malaysian Chinese friends have shared with me their understanding of the May 13 Incident in Malaysia which spilled over to Singapore. My mother spoke about the horrors of Maria Hertogh riots which she experienced as a child and how important it is for us to respect the other races. Thus, I have often cautioned my friends to be wary of the “anti-PRC” postings (i.e. postings that are hostile to those from mainland China) on shit-stirrer (if not downright xenophobic) sites such as “Temasek Times”.

There are two reasons why I do so. First of all, some of my friends often wondered if the people behind these sites have some nefarious agenda of their own. In one of the outrageous “conspiracy theories” proposed: these sites are actually run by certain “pro-government trolls”. Certainly, they deliberately cater to those who already have some grudges against the foreigners on their own, and they appear to voice the grumbles in some of our hearts. In short, these sites focus the irrational anger and hatred on certain groups of the foreigners. That amplifies the voices of certain extremists so that they drown out the reasonable concerns of those who wants a closer examination and re-evaluation of the immigrant policies. The ultimate objective would be to condition Singaporeans into believing these people to be harmful, fringe elements of our society so that we readily accept whatever law enforcement actions taken against them. In the end, all dissent against the immigration policies is put down once and for all because no one wants to be associated with these “extreme elements”.

Next, as a person of Chinese descent, to encourage or embrace “anti-PRC” sentiment is self defeating. There is only a thin line between Singapore and PRC Chinese (regardless whether they are new citizens, PRs or just migrant workers). We are different and yet similar. What happens if anger against the mainlander Chinese boils over and turns into anger against all ethnic Chinese as a whole? I would have sowed the seeds of my own destruction. Though most of us of age 40 and below would have experience any violence directed at the Chinese in Singapore, violence against the Chinese in this region is not unheard of. One of most recent happened in Jakarta in 1998.

While it may appear that I have a similar objective as the government in ending the anti-foreigner sentiments among Singaporeans, it is certainly not done to justifying the current immigration policies. I simply felt it has to be done because we are above that. A person of Vivian Balakrishnan’s brilliance should be capable of something better other than creating imaginary bogeyman in a vain attempt to justify the ruling party’s broken immigration policy. Unless his reputation is undeserved, just like some of his peers has been found wanting…

Recommended Reads:
A Singaporean In Australia: Vivian Balakrishnan – The Snake in the Cabinet