Tag: xenophobia

Disjointed Thoughts – July 2012

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Well, it’s been a busy month. I haven’t had time to blog, and couldn’t think of a lot to say of each of the following. But I do have something to say and I finally found a window to put it down in writing.

A Wang Quancheng, chairman of the Hua Yuan Association, the largest organization representing mainlanders said this: “Of course, the new arrivals are rich or else the government would have to feed them. Some locals are very lazy and live off the government. When new immigrants come, they think it is competition, taking away their rice bowls.”

Some times, it is hard not to hate some of these people. First of all, it is my considered opinion that social assistance is next to non-existent in Singapore. And I said it is next to non-existent because you may argue that there’s a myriad of such assistance around but it means shit to the needy when they don’t know where, or how, to get it. On top of which, that’s not mentioning the “hoops of fire” they need to jump through like some circus animal just to qualify for them.

Indeed, if it is true that lazy locals can live off the government, I wouldn’t be seeing old folks going around collecting paper boxes, or some aunties and uncles going around asking us for the tin cans on our tables in hawker centers. Mr Wang can also explain to me why I saw this old lady who looked unwashed and does not seem to be of sound mind walking around Ayer Rajah Food Center drinking leftover coffee. Maybe she’s not of sound mind, but perhaps she might not have gone bonkers if she didn’t have too many concerns.

Government lackeys and PAP supporter can go ahead and call me a xenophobe for all I cared. it is my considered opinion that perhaps Wang Quancheng need to understand why some of us hate the likes of them. That said, I am not surprised that Wang has a low opinion of some Singaporeans. After all, who has been spinning a tale that Singapore can’t do without foreigners? Who, has been telling the foreigners that without them we will lose our jobs? Who, has always sing the praises of “foreign talents” and made it sound like Singapore are all incompetent good-for-nothings and yet at the same time say our great our universities are and giving bursaries to train the very people who would look down on us later?

What happened to the spirit that we sang of in the patriotic song ‘We are Singapore’?

Please, don’t play this song in the National Day Parade this year. It’s a joke to sing it with its original lyrics. The lion no longer roars. In fact it whimpers in anguish, agony and pain. It has how retreated into a den and awaits its death while hyenas like Wang Quancheng circles and laugh (in true hyena style) victoriously at its plight. Now, we longer dare proudly say we made it even when people don’t think we can. Now, we are officially saying that we will never make it on our own. How pathetic have we gotten?

When will we awaken from our slumber, Singaporeans? We might be wounded and in pain, but we should have more fight left in us. Hyenas can be numerous, but WE. ARE. LIONS. (Now where is that big hole for me to kick this Wang in?)

~ * ~

Someone by the name of Rachel has written to ask Ion Orchard and LTA whether the weekly gathering of foreign (Filipino) women dancing around Orchard Road is… legal.

Thank you very much, Rachel for proving to the world just what kind of idiots some of you are. I certainly have my own gripes about too many foreigners taking up some of the jobs which manpower Singapore can provide, and foreign assholes like Wang Quancheng above. But what you did really takes the cake in racism and xenophobia, even when I think my gripes are actually justified.

There isn’t a finer example of what scoring an own goal looks like than this. Just what exactly is the point of making this complaint? For your information, I noticed that a lot of old folks gathered at void decks to do their morning taichi as well, and in one case I even saw women practicising in sync with swords to loud Chinese music in the evening. A lot of our teenagers gathered at the large underground “cavern” (i.e. the underground crossing) near the Esplanade to do break dancing too.

Had there been a case whereby Singaporeans are disallowed from doing the same I would have understood the point you are trying to make, Rachel. After all, everyone of us have problems with unfair and unequal treatment from the government and the authorities (in particular the law enforcers) towards Singaporeans – such as how that Romanian trash got away after a hit and run, and how two foreigners managed to jump bail after beating up some of our fellow countrymen. That said, I must point out that we all have a problem generally with just unfair and unequal treatment whether it is real or perceived and regardless of their nationality – take for example the case of Woffles Wu. But in the continual discussion and discourse of this matter, we should not allow the PAP or its lackeys to label us all as “xenophobes” and use that as a means to shut us all up using that as a label much like how homo-nazis silence their detractors by labeling them as bigots, haters or homophobes.

I noticed that some of us are also angry with how the PAP labels anyone who has a problem with its immigration and labor policies as “xenophobes”. And knowing that, just why the hell are some of us still walking into the trap? What good is going to forums of Chinese nationals for e.g. and then digging up their anti-Singapore postings? Note, while Obi-Wan Kenobi once said the best thing to do to a trap is to spring it, the point I am trying to made is there is no need to spring the same trap all the time. That’s not forgetting that those traps may hurt some of us who are trying to get to the same destination using another route or from another direction.

~ * ~

Singapore Ducktours will be stopping its HiPPO River Cruises in the area after it did not win the bid to run water taxi services. It took issue with the emphasis on bid price instead of the bidder’s track record and argued that the requirements – including the S$3 price cap on the standard service. The bid was awarded to Global Yellow Pages Limited & Leisure Empire Pte Ltd and Singapore River Cruise Pte Ltd.

Interestingly, the Non-Executive Chairman and Independent Director of Global Yellow Pages Limited is Mah Bow Tan. So that probably explains why he has been absent for 12 out of 25 Parliamentary sessions from the inauguration of the 12th Parliament last year until May 14th this year. He is almost as busy as our ex-Minister Mentor.

A URA spokesman explained that the price cap on the river taxi services were needed to ensure affordability and encourage people to use the services when moving around the Singapore River and Marina Bay area. He reiterated that the provisions of other services such as sightseeing cruises and themed boats were not subjected to price control under the URA’s tender. This was to allow the interested operators to work out a financially viable proposal, he added.

Let’s look at the facts for a moment. There is more reason for tourists than locals to use the river taxis because of the sights in that area – the Merlion, the floating platform at Marina Bay. Marina Bay Sands, the Helix Bridge, and even a view of the Gardens by the Bay. If tourists can get that from these river taxis, then Ducktours’ gripes have merit since it would be driven out of business unless it can provide a more personalised service to them (e,g, like taking the tourists under the Merlion’s water jet for a splash). But if river taxis are going to take us on a roundabout route around these, then they are of no use for our day to day commuting since it’s clearly not going to operate like buses on water?

The URA spokesmen is farting out of his mouth, it appears. If the river taxis are going to be a mode of transport for locals, then it must take us across from Marina Bay Sands to Clifford Pier in under a minute and it should be air-conditioned. Otherwise I can just walk for 15 ~ 20 minutes to get from MBS to Raffles Place. Preferably, it should be able to take me from Marina Bay Sands to Riverside Point at Clarke Quay or to the future Sportshub near Tanjong Rhu in less time I would take to transfer from MRT to bus or a taxi. If not just why the hell I want to dally my time away on it and pay $3 when I could do so in better comfort on alternatives?

I don’t see how are the winning bidders going to survive. I would be pissed if public monies are used to save the operators when the current winning bidders go bust. Still, I think Ducktours just sealed its own fate by making a fuss out of it. It should have just make contingencies to scale down its operations and find creative ways to stay profitable. When the current winners go busts, it can then come back with a vengeance and take over the assets. At that point, it should be able to dictate terms and even get all the existing equipment for fire sale prices. The government might even have hailed them as a savior since it would be helping the government cover up the consequences of yet another of their stupid decisions.

~ * ~

These town councils will be raising the service and conservancy charges (S&CC): Bishan-Toa Payoh, Choa Chu Kang, East Coast, Holland-Bukit Panjang, Tanjong Pagar, Tampines and West Coast. Oh dang, that includes mine.

By the way, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council was reported to possibly lose its S$8 million investment (6.7% of its sinking funds available for investment) on invested in Lehman Brothers’ Minibond Notes, DBS High Notes 5 and Merrill Lynch’s Jubilee Series 3 Notes. I am not surprised that it is raising the S&CC at all. Ironically, I recalled that when Dr. Teo Ho Pin was confronted in November 2008 about these losses he said, “They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money.” Guess that didn’t work too well these days. Work harder, Dr Teo! I don’t really care about the whopping rise in electricity tariffs or the spending on lift maintenance post-upgrading. After all, those guys in Aljunied-Hougang apparently didn’t have to pay more. But from your previous answer I guess you will be telling all your constituents that they should be grateful that the increments aren’t more than what they are right now.

As for the spike in cleaning costs with efforts to improve standards and the lot of workers, well… I recalled someone was telling me that we need low costs foreign workers to maintain our living standards. I suppose that didn’t work as planned. Of course, the PAP will tell me that low cost doesn’t mean no cost and costs will always increase. Meantime, we should bite the bullet and keep our wages low because that would drive inflation. I am not really sure how the logic here works but I am quite sure if I have a lot less money to spend then I won’t be consuming the goods that are produced which means companies are not going to make enough profits to increase wages and… erm, nevermind. Feth! That probably explains why they can consider removing GST for gold purchases but not that for food stuffs.

Either way, I have expected the S&CC increment to come sooner or later. After all, I have never truly imagined that the money from the GST vouchers really go to alleviate our lot in life. When the idea for the GST voucher was conceived, the plan to “recover” that money has always been in place. Just look at the electricity bills for starters.

Did anyone really think this government will give us money? I am quite sure only a particular Wang Quancheng thinks so. But then again he’s probably so rich he gets no GST vouchers at all. And I sort of understand why he is unhappy with poorer or the so-called “lazy” Singaporeans. Sour grapes, man!

Random Discourse – Resentment Against Foreigners and Bogeyman

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” The person who contemptuously speaks about immigrants could also be capable of turning against the minorities here at home. ” – Vivian Balakrishnan

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