Xenophobia is a non-issue here. The government is over reacting because our exceptional reputation is at risk. Just imagine and I bet it has happened when foreign leaders meet with our leaders and query our recent anti-foreigner sentiments. Can you imagine visitors asking President Obama about rising high profile gun incidents in America? America is being America but Singapore is turning into something else and these visitors unthinkingly thought that we can have our cake and eat it. You can't.
This government forgets that its policies are causing us to become just like any other global city, albeit trying to the among the best. They forget that you cannot be uniquely Singapore as we have come to be known from how we got here when they execute strategies for us to wear it like London or New York for global citizens work and play here. You must choose. As usual they want to have everything. It is all rhetoric because when life is lived you start trying to have everything but eventually are forced to choose when you have become so exhausted and stressed. There is work-life, lots of it but just ignore the balance and cut out the babies to get more life.
Our leaders conveniently forget to consider that in other societies if foreigners were accepted at such rates and numbers, there would already be riots in the streets and the government voted out of power long ago.
We are still exceptional but we are gradually losing it. We might be over paying for the many things we can see today with the precious unseen intangibles of what is Singapore.
I wish these ministers would shut up. They have no damn moral authority to talk about xenophobia to us. They created the situation, and we are not xenophobic. The badly behaving foreigners, if we kick them it is because our feet couldn't reach the government shins. Well the government is finally reacting but wrongly.
Update: 10am. What others are saying
Kelvin Yong Likewise the behavior of some of our ministers and MPs while tackling issues with opposition MPs. Unprofessional and so lack of intelligence, depth and grace Mr S!
Vasu Dev
Ok ok let's put this into perspective. You're at home in your beautiful house. Your father decides to invite a talented plumber to help fix the plumbing. He does an ok job and is invited to stay. The plumber then moves into the room next to
yours. Then he complains that your music is too loud and you should make less noise. He complains that your food is smelly and once ever so often he litters the floor and spits out if your balcony.. You complain to dad but he calls you xenophobic!! WTF!
Ting Yu Xu Did the pot just called the kettle? What was the cause of the rise of such xenophobia?? Before they start accusing their native for being anti-foreigners, did they remember themselves for often giving the foreigners sugar and giving their natives the cane?
Since the gov aren't fighting for us, we've got to defend ourselves and our people!about an hour ago · · 26
Mark Lim Did I slam foreigners? No!
I slammed on the policy that brought them in. I slammed the authority the sleeps on issues caused by foreigners!!
Agree. It angers me when they try to label and slam xenophobia on us.
ReplyDeleteAll people are doing is trying to reassert their national identity.
They are proud of it, and want the newcomers to know.
Some approaches may not always be pleasant and right, but that's what they are doing.
You are right too that if we were in China, a peasant revolt would have happened long time ago. The history on the Boxer Rebellion happened in Qing Dynasty that causes the collapse of the last Manchu emperor is because of their weak and selling out to the foreigners. If the Boxer rebellion didn't happen, china would have been heavily colonize by all the foreigner leagues of nations by now. The nationlistic chinese have just made it easier for them to get rid of the western influence, particularly the opium penetration. And they paid a heavy price for that.
Once again, it show me they have misdiagnosed the situation. Mr Shan should go read up on his chinese and understanding before slandering the citizens.
I would suggest that PAP in the name of the call for national
ReplyDeleteunity,change its style and start praising Singaporeans instead,
so telling the world that we have the greatest people who have the track record of accepting all types of people from all over the world,Asia,Europe,Africa,North & South America,Australia/Oceania,I am not sure whether we have FTs from Antarctica here though.
I am confident that our citizens will response positively as it shows a new spirit.
Is our PM an innovative guy who can do this?
Our leaders conveniently forget to consider that in other societies if foreigners were accepted at such rates and numbers, there would already be riots in the streets and the government voted out of power long ago
ReplyDeleteI tottaly agree I lived in a western country for several years and no political party would dare to say disparaging comments towards their own ppl like this govt. They would be voted out. As for the immigrants , they usally behave themselves in western countries unlike the ones in sgp.
http://badcanto.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/hong-kong-netizens-condemn-china-for-expanding-individual-visit-scheme/
ReplyDeleteTrying reading this instead. The HK netizens are "CONDEMNING" the entry of 4.1m mainlanders from their neighbours too. Why don't Mr Shan go eat that and learn the nuance of foreign relations before going on high brow! Singaporeans have been very tolerant until you crossed the threshold and still playing blur sotong.
AnonymousAugust 29, 2012 1:34 PM
ReplyDeleteThat is why actually Singapore is the model of the new world,sadly PAP takes all the credit by itself all these years without any acknowledgement to the Singaporeans,but blame them for being Xenophobia???
It is really hard to imagine,but I do hope that they change soon,the time is short and pressing.
The deaf frogs in white refuse / fail to see that they are the one-eyed dragons. Stop croaking and start taking responsibility and be accountable!
ReplyDeleteDon't be fooled. The govt has not changed spots. The record shows that it is completely capable of conning you into thinking that things would change for the better, but the hidden agenda is always to extract what they want from you and then turn the table once it has achieved its objectives.
ReplyDeleteAll these drama you see now being played before our eyes is simply a much more elaborate con job because the stakes at the moment are EXTREMELY HIGH FOR THE GOVT in the run up to GE2016 as it is in serious risk of loosing a huge chunk of its MP now that more and more Singaporeans can see how worthless they really are - nothing more than puppets on strings pulled by the party. A big bag of balls of educated welling selfish fools.
The wayang would definitely be step up as 2016 approaches, and Singaporeans would be damned fools to still fall for it.
One word best describes LHL NDR speech - rhetorics, pure and unadulterated. The card up its sleeve is none other than the foreign imports, the 'new' citizen which would be used to boost the party's GE vote. That's why this tactless and insulting piecemeal comparison about how 'bad' Singaporeans are compared to one filipino nurse. Lee has conveniently forgotten how Singaporeans came forward to donate generously to the mother of Huang Na -enough for her to build a double storey house back in China and the Thai girl who lost her legs in an MRT accident, about the Singaporean undertaker who had repeatedly provided his services FOC to foreign workers who died helping to build the city.
LHL has NO EQ. This is quite clear.
ReplyDeleteLike father like son. His party's intention is to continue to subjugate Singaporeans to their wills and fancies. Can we continue to allow that seeing what that has led to. They have run out of ideas, that's for sure.
Perhaps, the only way for he and is party to eat humble pie is for Singaporeans to deliver the message with a tight slap at GE2016.
After so many wayangs and false promises, the insincerity of the govt towards Singaporeans is clear as day.