Several hundred years ago, there was a peaceful Malay village on the island of Singapura. Life in the idyllic community was good. The surroundings were clean and neighbours were friendly. Material wealth was not something that you come by very often but people are more than happy with the abundant harvests of fish that they gather every other day.
But one day a group of foreigners arrived on the shores. They had come from China in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
At first, the villagers weren’t too happy with the sudden appearance of these slit-eyed savages. They were considered uncouth, unhygienic and inconsiderate. They spit indiscriminately, pollute the air by burning paper as a form of worship and had little consideration for the peace and quiet on the village. Worst of all, they rear and feed on pigs – an animal considered dirty on the predominantly Muslim island. The newcomers couldn’t stand the locals and their laissez-faire lifestyle either. It was a potential hotbed for conflict.
But the village elders relented to their existence anyway. This is after all God’s great earth and people should be fee to make a living where they persevere to do so. Besides if these new comers could bring prosperity to the island, why not?
The immigrants proved their worth. They worked hard and turned the puny village island into a majestic metropolis. As time progressed, the Chinese population soon overtook that of the locals by a vast majority. They soon assimilated and the races managed to co-exist peacefully. There were racial incidences every now and then but in general, everyone is aware of the need to exist as one family lest the island be returned to its past status of an insignificant fishing village. This is why we have decided to officially celebrate
The story above is obviously an exaggerated parable. It may not exactly be an accurate reflection of the past but it pretty well reminds us on how this nation was created on the blood and sweat of foreign immigrants. The economic miracle that is Singapore would not have been possible if the locals have refused to look past the perceived differences and embrace the arrivals of these foreigners. Our continued existence today depends on how these races can continue to live in peace.
But a recent incident seems to suggest that we have forgotten this reality.
A group of residents in Serangoon Gardens are furiously signing a petition that has gathered several hundred signatures. They are up in arms over the fact that a nearby school will be converted into a dormitory for foreign workers, most of whom from my understanding, will be arriving from China. Amongst the reasons given are that these Chinese workers are going to dirty the area with their notoriously uncouth habits and pollute the peaceful environment in the idyllic neighbourhood of Serangoon Gardens. Talk about De-javu.
The humour may be lost to a reader from the majority race. But to the casual observing Malay, the irony is impudent: here is a group of people, protesting the arrival of people, from a land where they forefathers had come from!
So racism is not about race after all. The incident is a timely reminder that we have the insatiable need to abhor one another regardless of our skin colour. Hate completes our emotions in mysterious ways. Race is but a convenient excuse to despise. Was it not a wise man who once said that if the human race were to wake up one morning speaking the same language and having the same skin colour, we will find a reason to hate one another by noon?
When a particular community do not hate people of other races, they will hate each other. When an inherently racist Chinese do not hate the Malays, he will hate perhaps another dialect group. When the Malays do not complain about alleged mistreatment by the Chinese, The Javanese might perhaps complain about mistreatment by the Boyanese.
This is why I have always chosen to ignore whenever a Malay brethren points to racism as the reason why Malays cannot get ahead in the rat race. I think it is complete bull crap. Discrimination is everywhere and happens to everybody even amongst people of the same race. I have addressed this concern some years ago in my entry titled The Feisty Minority. Unfortunately some people in our community still choose to use racism as the convenient scapegoat as an excuse for their failures – even in the context of present day.
As for these foreigners, I say give them a break. Just because you live in a posh neighbourhood like Serangoon Gardens does not mean you are entitled to special privileges. We will all have to rub shoulders with people from China one day. It’s the reality here. Besides, they are working in the construction industry – a sector Singaporeans have traditionally shunned. They don’t leech the island of jobs, do not demand special privileges and will leave once their endeavour is done.
All that this futile petition has done is to expose the kind of people that live in Serangoon Gardens. Or is the same mentality permeating throughout the entire island?
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Racism is both natural and expected. There are bound to be inherent yet unaccounted dislikes towards a particular race or sub races, very much like how one inexplicably develop a dislike for one of their colleague. Sometimes we cannot choose who we hate. However, we can definitely choose whether we act upon our feelings or not.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Serangoon Gardens it seems as though they have chosen to act against it.
At the same time, like you have mentioned it yourself, Ridzwan, the causes for such open aggression towards foreigners may well be economical in nature. Many years back, no one is afraid of being economically replaced as the nature of their income is not dependent on the "quality" of labour that the foreigners provide.
Today, it is not the same case at all. With every foreigner that takes up a job here, it means one less job for Singaporeans, one more shop in Singapore catering more for foreigners (with overseas idd call cards and food and so on) and one more Singaporean feeling the push to go overseas.
When the foreigners landed in Singapore years back, they were assimilated into OUR society. Now when the foreigners landed here in Singapore we are being displaced.
Of course a more enlightened soul would see that the best way to survive is to learn to adapt and change and always be employable and learn to work with foreigners and so on. Of course that is the best way to SURVIVE. But is it the best way to build a Singapore FOR SINGAPOREANS?
(",)
I once pointed out to my Dad, that us Chinese are the most racist and the being a Cantonese (a Chinese dialect group), we are also racist against our own.
ReplyDeleteMy justification: the Chinese have throughout history referred to non-Chinese as man2 yi2 (barbaric and uncivilised), and in recent history, as gui3 (ghosts). That's not very flattering of non-Chinese people. Meantime the Cantonese would refer to fellow non-Cantonese Chinese as lo's (a Cantonese word that marginally translates as 'chap') - for e.g. chiewchow lo (Teochew Chap) or gweilo ('ghost' chap - i.e. an European) etc, but just never a fellow Cantonese.
So you are right to say, the human race always find some ways to despise and hate something... :)
respect!
ReplyDeleteIts called xenophobia, not racism.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I've always envy the minority Malays in S'pore. I migrated from Ipoh, Malaysia, some years ago. Most of us are going nowhere unless we have money to set up business. And business is indeed a very risky thing. All savings can be wiped out easily. No thanks to the discriminary 45 years and still on-going NEP favouring Malays.
ReplyDeleteHere, the government never leaves them out in anything despite the fact the treasury (taxpayers) is Chinese.
The government deposited millions into MENDAKI for Malays'education. Primary to JC education is free. Polys and ITEs cater to most Malays unable to make it to JC. These cost taxpayers a lot of money. Malays are assured of subsidised HDB flats when predominantly Chinese pay their own in private condos. Thousands of Malay language trs are paid by txpayers to teach Malay in state schools. Suria TV and Malay radio station are state subsidised as well.
Malays have some difficulty competing for employment in the private sector. Many are employed in the public sector paid for by the state as well.
How I wish the Malay dominated government in Malaysia could treat the minorities like how they are being treated in Malaysia. I can go on and on listing what the unbiased and supportive government in S'pore does for its minorities. But is it necessary when we all have eyes to see - mosues, Malay village, etc.
In Malaysia, Chinese are termed pendatang asing. Our forefathers shed blood fighting the invading Japanese and the occupying British. In fact, the Malays worked with them. In ancient history, Malaya was a vassal state of China and without China's protection, today Pen Malaysia would have been Siam. Like the Petani States. This is history.
The Chinese pay taxes but their chn are literally shut out of the public sector and institutions of higher learning. Scholarships, licences, low cost public housing are also out of their reach (maybe the leftovers).
The Muslims who migrated from Indonesia (Achenese, Bugis, Boyan, Javanese, etc.), Indian Muslims, etc., are classified as indigenous. Christian Filipinos are Melayus as well. Therefore the classification is untenable. We all know the Red Indians, bushmen or orang asli are the aborigines or natives. Anyway, the NEP in Malaysia is created by the majority for the majority unlike the US.
How interesting. But many S'poreans don't realise this unlike their Malaysian counterparts.
I think the issue at Serangoon Gardens may be due to perceived class issues. The Chinese Singaporeans are afraid of being mistaken for the Chinese labourers - after all they can speak English, and have attained some status in Singapore, but these Chinese workers from China have not.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Norisha's comments about feelings of displacement. But I think the minorities will feel it more than the Chinese Singaporeans. Why? We look different, our religion and culture is different, even if we also speak English and relate to things Singaporean. Chinese Singaporeans, at least, can communicate with their China counterparts. We can't. Have you tried asking questions to the China-born service staff at Giant for instance? They cannot understand anything we say, and vice versa. So there is bound to be some friction as their numbers increase. Minorities will begin to feel "pushed" out of their own country.
ramadan blog -
ReplyDeleteany solution(s), please? singapore suffers from acute labor shortage in certain trades.
the majority of domestic workers come from indonesia and also the philippines; the shipyards and road constructions from the sub-continent. the only thing is u don't get to see them like those in the retail trades.
shd we recruit more from indonesia? or india?
anyway he who pays the piper calls the tune isn't it? that's economics. surely, u yourself won't like to be told who u shd employ as maid - indonesian, filipino, sri lankan, etc., right?
think abt it.
sporean
Racism next door?
ReplyDeleteThis controversial e-mail by "A Worried Student" who said he attended the courses on July 6 at the UiTM (university) Shah Alam. http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/07/btn-brainwashing.html ),
"..There were three separate talks, the first one being titled "Pendidikan", second one titled "Ancaman Keselamatan Negara" and the third one titled, "Patriotisma"...
".. The first speaker, Dr. Idris bin Md. Noor was was supposed to talk about education as that was the title of his speech, but the content was far different. ..In less than a few minutes, he suddenly touched social contract in Malaysia...
He criticised it with all his heart, saying no one should discuss about it as it is unquestionable. Fair enough, I thought at first. Freedom of speech right?
"...While he was browsing through his files on the laptop which was projected on the big screen, it was no surprise for me that I saw files entitled "Ketuanan Melayu" (Malay supremacy). He also then went on about the Malay's obsession with magic and ghosts.
"He said that (they're) all wrong beliefs through the perspective of Islam because if they really could use magic and other dark arts for fighting, then they should kill Karpal Singh (DAP Chairman) with it.
".. He then started to become more impassioned in his speech towards the end, like someone campaigning for a political seat yet failed, and resorted to a multi-purpose hall with bumiputra students. He said so many atrocious things that I will list them down in point form.
- Explained how the Malays aren't racist but others are racist towards us.
- Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysia race) does not exist, neither does Malaysian Chinese and Indians, only in the strict Malay, Chinese and Indians. (Interestingly, behind a booklet provided to us, one of the objectives of the programme is to produce a -"Bangsa Malaysia". Obviously, he was ignorant).
- Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian language) does not exist, it is Bahasa Melayu (Malay language).
- Nothing wrong with waving the Keris.
- Bumiputra hanya 55% di Malaysia, (Sons of the Soil make up 55% of the population), (they should) give birth to more people!
- The University and Colleges Act was partly made to ensure a Malay Vice-Chancellor in Universities which should be the way.
- Blogs are "berdosa" or sinful.
- Christians will not like Muslims.
But that isn't even the best part. The best part is, he showed a short film on the dangers of Zionism and the illegal occupation of Palestine which was probably the only part of the speech I agreed with and I thought to myself this could be the only fact of the speech.
But surprise, surprise, at the end of the film, there was a montage of so-called Zionist supporters with the pictures of Anwar Ibrahim, Tian Chua, Teresa Kok, (opposition politicians) Hishamuddin Rais and Ezam Md. Nor (who recently defected from Anwar's party to UMNO).
Then a question popped up in my head. Is Ezam still a Zionist supporter since he is in UMNO now? Does that mean the government has a Zionist supporter as well as the opposition? And expectedly, the speaker was being more anti-semitic than anti-zionist.
He even explained how the Pakatan Rakyat (Mr. Anwar's opposition coalition) ruled states are all going down the drain and he says, "this is what you get if you vote for the opposition!"...
This was supposed to be a speech touching on education and look how it ended up. It did not even smell anything of education. It was a speech that was not meant for national unity at all. How could it be when you spread hatred?
I could only sit and ponder quietly while all this was happening. But the speech was not the saddest part. The saddest part was that the majority of students in the hall were cheering him on."
Written by A Worried Student
vv says:
ReplyDeleteTo the 'anonymous' commentor who mentioned sumtin abt education for de Malays in S'pore being 'free'. Pls note that the socalled 'free education' for malays in S'pore has ceased to exist since 1992. Yes it ws good while it lasted, but after that de Malays face as many challenges as other races may face in watever their endeavours are Thank u.
To sporean:
ReplyDelete"anyway he who pays the piper calls the tune isn't it? that's economics. surely, u yourself won't like to be told who u shd employ as maid - indonesian, filipino, sri lankan, etc., right?"
I did not understand what you meant, and cannot see the relevance to service staff being unable to communicate with non-Chinese speaking customers. Pls. elaborate.
Yes, I do have a relatively simple commonsense hiring standard for employers in the service sector. Have a minimum language standard when it comes to the hiring of service staff.
The common language between all of the ethnic races in Singapore is English, and foreigners who are in the service industry should be expected to communicate in English.
If China-born people are unable to speak in English, then the employer should look elsewhere for its staff. There are the Malaysians, Indonesians and Indians, most of whom can speak English at some passable level. But bottom line is, there should be a common English standard when it comes to the hiring of staff in the service sector.
Having said that, did you read the New Paper article that reported a Malaysian immigration official suggesting that private colleges in Malaysia have separate dormitories for its African students, after having friction (or near riots) between Malaysian and African students.
ReplyDeleteI was really horrified to read that article. Segregation is not a method of fostering social cohesion. And this happens in schools where there is supposed to be collegial unity. Scary.
The crux of it lies with the location. I sincerely doubt that this issue would have arisen had the location been Choa Chu Kang, Gombak or somewhere less posh.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why people love to see things through a racial prism so much.
ReplyDeleteIf someone from one race doesn't like someone of another race, there could be multiple reasons why this is the case. Instinctively blaming racism, while convenient, is simplistic.
Anyhow, the correct term for local Chinese disliking PRCs because they are foreigners would be "Xenophobia". And it might not be Xenophobia, but dislike for some other aspect of theirs.
Btw, most Malays in Singapore were immigrants too.
On Free Education for Malays:
"Since independence, education for Malays, from primary to tertiary levels, was free... In the early 1990s, segments of the Chinese population complained that, given the visible emergence of a Malay middle class, it was inequitable that the latter's children got free tertiary education while students from poor Chinese families continued to pay fees. The government agreed, in principle... however, it pays the fees on behalf of the students... tertiary education [still] remains, in substance, free for the community as a whole."
--- Multiculturalism in Singapore: An Instrument of Social Control, Chua Beng Huat, Race & Class.2003; 44: 58-77
vv says:
ReplyDelete"To the 'anonymous' commentor who mentioned sumtin abt education for de Malays in S'pore being 'free'. Pls note that the socalled 'free education' for malays in S'pore has ceased to exist since 1992."
The facts stand. Non-Malay students pay both supplementary fees as well as school fees. However, the state exempts Malays from the latter. Not a small sum if you multiply by the no of mths, and no of students over time. Check it out. Hearsay is not good.
When my Indonesian maid came over she could hardly communicate with us. Today, after a year, she not only can communicate in chinese but also simple english. Given time, she picks up the languages from the market, hawker centres and from communicating with others. People can learn so let's give them a chance, pl.
Furthermore we don't want to tell businessmen how to source and pay labor. labor is a COST OF PRODUCTION. that's economics. it could be the overall cost factor & attitude perhaps that labor is. labor pays for their returns (profits). why shd they spend on some labor that ultimately doesn't return? this is no charity, isn't it? again, this is a free world, people can boycott and go elsewhere to purchase what they want. so it's abt choice - both ways. question of supply & demand. we won't want to dictate or interfere with how people conduct their businesses. i tell u it's not easy running a business otherwise many would have jumped into the bandwagon. businessmen pay taxes to the govenment. taxes are revenue for the state to build infrastructure, pay bonuses, pay civil servants, etc., right?
finally, all singapopreans shd understand that s'pore is bereft of mineral or forestry resources whasoever. neither has it the economies of scale (sizeless) to compete. so we shd all contribute in one way or another to grow our economy for the good of all sporeans. why bother? let 2nd chance or banana leaf or mustapha employ whoever they want and live and let's live. after all, given some time, foreign labor, can and will pick up communicative english,in a short span of time.
i don't know if anyone has watched the movie "Mad abt learning English" screened recently?
Why do people still look at it from a racial prism?
ReplyDeleteWell I tell you why.
When companies stop explicitly mentioning that they will hire only Mandarin speaking workers.
When the Government stop spending millions of taxpayers money on speak Mandarin campaigns, despite not all taxpayer being Chinese.
When the Government stops being pretty obvious in importing foreign “talents” from only India and China (Malays and Indonesians not smart enough?)
When all these stop, maybe we can stop looking at things from a “racial prism”. Somethings you will never understand unless you are a minority. As a minority, most are afraid to speak out. But we are silently glad that there are still some amongst us who are still brave enough and speak up from a “racial prism”.
To Agagoga,
You said: “Btw, most Malays in Singapore were immigrants too.”
That is an interesting fact. Have you done some kind of research on the Malay population here? While there are Javanese and other Indonesian origin ppl among us, how did u derive with the word MOST Malays in Singapore were immigrants too? Or were you also taking into account the prehistoric creatures that crawled onto the island 3000 years ago from the Indo China archipelago as migrating Malays also? If this is your logic, then the Chinese in China are immigrants too, immigrants who walked over from where Adam was born somewhere in the middle east?
Are you sure, the Malays here pay tertiary fees? Are you a Malay? Have you spoken to a Malay? Or better still can you show me a Malay parent who HAS NOT paid for his child’s poly or university fees?
If you can’t then don’t shoot off from something that you googled from the internet. Sometimes what you read, or what the government claims is very different from what is practised. I thought you are wise enough to know this.
To any Malay parent here:
If you guys enjoyed FREE education for your children from 1992 onwards like what these ppl are claiming, please do enlighten me.
Nature creates Races, Colours, Creeds, Languages, Differences including Genders and Beauties AND GREEDS.
ReplyDeleteYOU WILL QUARREL; when there are no foes to pick on, one will pick on ones' friends and relatives even kins. Don't believe? LOOK AT YOURSELF, meself too! Beasts(animals)including humankind, can never be enlightened.
patriot
To Fazlur
ReplyDeletei'm glad singaporeans could speak objectively & clear the air and be open abt things.
"When companies stop explicitly mentioning that they will hire only Mandarin speaking workers."
#we're a free economy and these are private and not government companies. we shdn't dictate as to how and who they want to hire like 2nd chance or mustapha. if it brings them more profit we're sure they'll go ahead and hire whoever. we can't stop the west from learning mandarin these days, can we? if u are unaware the global mandarin market is really surging given the tremendous potential of china's huge market in the offing.
"When the Government stop spending millions of taxpayers money on speak Mandarin campaigns, despite not all taxpayer being Chinese."
#singapore has neither mineral nor forestry resources. revenue must therefore come from the private sector to pay the public and quasi-public sectors as well as maintaining and building of new infrastructures. out of 100% taxes from the private sctor, simple maths will tell us how much come from where and which community or communities are in need of more help eg town council, edu institutions, etc. in fact, much of the revenue has been channelled towards the various causes that benefit the Malays since time immemorial. we all accept that as part of singapore. Did u know that Dr Mahathir was once quoted as thanking the malaysian chinese for contributing the bulk of malaysia's tax revenue.
"When the Government stops being pretty obvious in importing foreign “talents” from only India and China (Malays and Indonesians not smart enough?)"
# thousands of domestic workers from indonesia come to work in s'pore voluntarily. malaysian malays are not likely to come cos back in malaysia they are given the crutches. however, i think we do have some in our higher institutions of learning eg dr farid.
"As a minority, most are afraid to speak out. But we are silently glad that there are still some amongst us who are still brave enough and speak up from a “racial prism”."
#malays don't speak up cos, they can, like others, see how the non-malays are really treated by the neighbouring authorities. our average malay breathern's per capita income is much, much higher than that of their counterparts in either malaysia or indonesia (resource rich countries governed by malay themselves). can't be a bad government in spore, right?
To Agagoga,
"You said: “Btw, most Malays in Singapore were immigrants too.”
#i'm proud our malay brethern have arrived. all able-bodies malay males today serve 2 years ns unlike elsewhere where "dislike" is the reason often cited for their exclusion in their uniform groups. if justified, then taiwan, china and s'pore will have to go without such people? frankly, i'm for much assistance and more handouts for our native aborigines, the orang laut. other descents - indian muslims (mamak), javanese, boyanese, bugis, acehnese, baweans, etc., i believe are equally capable and proud to hold their fort.
"Are you sure, the Malays here pay tertiary fees? Are you a Malay? Have you spoken to a Malay? Or better still can you show me a Malay parent who HAS NOT paid for his child’s poly or university fees?"
#Free tertiary education has indeed
been discontinued since 1992 i believe whilst state bursaries exclusively for needy malays are ongoing. the government has deposited huge sums of money prior for mendaki's educational use. malays continue to enjoy free school fees from primary to jc today whilst others pay both sch & miscellaneous fees.
thank u.
Fazlur: I was referring to Singaporeans (and specifically Singaporean Chinese) disliking PRCs.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to say that many companies saying they will only hire Mandarin-speaking workers is a sign of racism, I could say that restaurants going Halal is discriminatory also. Besides marginalising devout Sikhs, it discriminates against non-Muslims who want to eat pork and drink alcohol. Though I will note that a friend's friend was a non-Chinese who could speak Mandarin, but was denied for the job anyway. So in that case, yes, it's racism.
I think you will find that as a proportion of the population, minorities and specifically Malays get a lot more back in government spending than they pay in taxes.
Singapore offers the ASEAN scholarship which is taken up by many Malaysians. Malaysian Malays are also welcome to apply. There're reasons why Malaysian Malays rarely come to Singapore to live/work, you know.
And with regard to speaking out, it is non-minorities who have more to fear from speaking out, since anything critical could be labelled "racist" and land us in jail.
I know that most Malays in Singapore were immigrants because according to TJ Newbold, when Raffles landed in Singapore in 1819 there were about 120 Malays. Also, between 1901 and 1947, the increase in the Malay population in Singapore was due mainly to immigration, which dwarfed the natural rate of growth of the population (in fact, before 1911 the natural rate of growth of the Malay population in Singapore was negative). If you're interested you can check the book "The Population of Singapore" by Saw Swee-Hock.
The thing on Malays not paying tertiary fees was taken from a publication by Chua Beng Huat, a Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. The extract I got was lacking a bit of context. Here's some fuller context, from http://sasw.chass.ncsu.edu/s&a/people/lecturers/esperanza/class_materials/ant346/multiculturalism_singapore_huat.html:
"Since independence, education for Malays, from primary to tertiary levels, was free while Chinese and Indians paid fees. In the early 1990s, segments of the Chinese population complained that, given the visible emergence of a Malay middle class, it was inequitable that the latter's children got free tertiary education while students from poor Chinese families continued to pay fees. The government agreed, in principle, that the children of Malay middle-class parents should pay tuition fees at tertiary level. However, it pays the fees on behalf of the students, while the fees paid by the parents are channelled into a Malay community fund. Thus, tertiary education is no longer free for the individual student from a middle-class Malay family but remains, in substance, free for the community as a whole. The issue signals that the question of Malay privilege remains a potential area of disagreement, if not conflict."
So while individual Malays pay tertiary fees, the community as a whole doesn't.
Language: The difference between an Indonesian maid and PRC immigrants is that the latter know Mandarin and can thus communicate with enough people to get by. So they don't feel much pressure to learn English.
Merlion adding to others' for Fazlur's knowledge.
ReplyDelete" . . . importing foreign “talents” from only India and China (Malays and Indonesians not smart enough?)"
Just want to add some facts. It's about saving face, right? Everyone knows their politicians from Malaysia always use Singapore as their political punching bag and condemn our practice of meritocracy (out of envy) - would they then want to come here and work? It would be like slapping the other cheek, wouldn't it?
Btw, all is said this tiny dot does provide employment to thousands of Malaysians. Check it out during the wee hours of the morning at the Causeway and the 2nd Link. You will be "pleasantly" shocked that the massive traffic jam is in the direction of Singapore. Thousands of Malaysians come her to make a livelihood and take the bread home.
There are always facts to provide the truth. In the digital age others trying to rewrite history are usually embarrassed when evidences archived outside their territory (in other countries) suddenly surface.
Pedra Branca is a case in point, right?
Norisha wrote, "With every foreigner that takes up a job here, it means one less job for Singaporeans".
ReplyDeleteTrue, every job filled up by foreigner means one less job for the local. That is definitely a fact.
However, let's say the job is not open up for foreigners at all. Tthere may be three possibilities:
(1) The job remains vacant because those are the jobs that Singaporeans DO NOT want to do because of the perceived low wages and tough labour
(2) The job remains vacant because there are simply not enough population to fill up all available jobs in Singapore due to the ageing population
(3) The job is finally taken up by a Singaporean with the employer offering probably 10 times more of wages, so as to attract Singaporeans to be willing to do the work. The end result: the 10-times-more cost is transferred back to the end consumers, who are still Singaporeans.
My point? It is short-sighted to claim that "foreigners take up the jobs of Singaporeans". Take a hard look at why this is happening in the first place before pointing fingers at foreigners. All countries will be more than happy to have their own people doing the jobs if not for various limitations and economical reasons, which in turn still benefits the citizens in a bigger picture.
Fazlur wrote, "When companies stop explicitly mentioning that they will hire only Mandarin speaking workers."
ReplyDeleteI'm so sick of people saying this job requirement is racism.
Has it ever occurred to you that this is simply due to business needs, simply because many companies deal with China (which is a huge market), and the people in China still generally only speak Chinese?
If you pay enough attention to all job advertisments, you should notice that there are also many jobs that require "Japanese speaking" or "German speaking" or "Korean speaking", either because these companies are Japanese/Germany/Korean MNCs, or they deal with these countries a lot.
So these are racism too? Why can't you see it as a requirement for job skill rather than racial discrimination?
Please look at things from a different perspective sometimes instead attributing everything to racism.
This is a strange place indeed.
ReplyDeleteIf Mamak Ahmed Ismail had his way and all the Malaysian Chinese and Hindu Indians were driven out of Malaysia this is what is going to happen. Forget about the hunger & starvation that follows without the bread (revenue) made by the non-Malays.
The so-called assortment of bumiputras (Malays) will then go for one another's throat. The Indonesians (Javanese, Acehnese, Bugis, etc.) will most likely go after the Mamaks (perceived to be smarter, darker & most importantly they originate from the Indian sub-continent).
Having driven the Mamaks out, the various pribumis (Indonesian originals) like Bugis, Javanese, Mudurese, Achenese, etc., will then go for one another's throat. This is Malay politics.
We can't run away from facts and events documented in the net. In the province of Aceh, the natives (Acehnese) killing the immigrant Javanese (Java). Mind you they are all Indonesians! The Dayaks in Kalimantan killing the immigrants Mudarese & Javanese.
Whilst the Javanese, Madurese, Bugis, Boyans, Baweans, Acehnese, etc., are the de facto pribumis (originals) of Indonesia how is it that together with the mamaks, these Muslim migrants call themselves bumiputras (pribumis)in Malaysia? Strange isn't it. The entire world knows that the bumiputras of America are the Red Indians, Australia, the Bushmen, China (Chinese), Orang Asli (Malaya), Ibans (Sawarak), Kandazans (Sabah), Orang Laut (S'pore), etc.
Samy (knows the answer) - Bumis have free crutches leh. Forget abt berasal dari mana. Itu tidak mustahak. International norms???????
Well I think you guys just proved the author right. At the end of the day we are all just simply a racist bunch.
ReplyDeleteBe it you are a Chinese from China, Singaporean Chinese, Singapore Malays or whatever race that you people have mentioned.
And please stop this issue about the school fees. I am a non-Malay myself and I don't give a hoot that they had or are having free education. I was deprived of those privileges like many others but it does not mean that I'll use that against them like forever.
Stop being petty with all these stupid racist remarks. If you are unhappy that certain races are given more privileges here then ship off. See if you can find a better place to live in harmony other than here.
@Anonymouslyed: Great, when anyone says anything we disagree with that has a potentially race-related angle, we label them racist.
ReplyDeleteWith the "if you don't like it, get out" attitude, it's no wonder people are politically apathetic. Why bother trying to improve the country if trying to change things for the better means you're told to leave? This is like Malaysia: "If you don't like the bumiputra policy, get out"
Dear Mr Ridzwan,
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, would it have made a difference in response had the workers been Bangladeshi? Burmese? Nepalese? Vietnamese Chilean? Mexican?
The issue is one of zone planning, and hardly one of racism. If you see racism in everything, crying wolf constantly, don't expect people to come to your aid when the wolf really does come.
"Anonymouslyed said...
ReplyDeleteWell I think you guys just proved the author right. At the end of the day we are all just simply a racist bunch."
You have deliberately twisted the whole picture upside down.
Singapore does not have an official so-called NEP to discriminate against the minority non-Muslim Chinese & Malay citizens. The policy is By the majority Muslims FOR the majority Muslims, going on indefinitely. The policy is not just abt equity proportion by race but goes down to the monopoly of public service jobs, low cost housing, licences, scholarships, places in tertiary educational institutions, etc. ALL these are PUBLIC HANDOUTS funded by the taxpaying Chinese & also Indians who are expected to fund for themselves in the business world. Not all Chinese & Indians are born businessmen. Capital & risk are big factors.
Secondly, when life is good you remain. Malaysian Chinese & Indians have been migrating in droves from Malaysia since the NEP started. Surprisingly, with the free handouts and priviliges granted to the Malays, Singapore's Malays choose to remain here. This is very telling in migratory analysis. You bet - life here must be better off for them than elsewhere. The authorities treat them like native aborigines, the orang laut. As someone earlier pointed out - the average S'porean Malay's per capita income is much, much, higher than that of Malaysia's and Indonesia's. The facts speak. Period.