I’m sure everyone can think of at least a couple of foreign friends who are a welcome addition to our communities.
I remember having lunch at Burger King somewhere in Orchard Road, and I observed 3 foreigners- a black guy and two white guys- having a pleasant conversation as they ate. They then disposed of their food waste and put away their trays. I thought to myself, “Man, Singapore could use more people like this.”
I’m talking about the behaviour, not the nationality. We need more gracious, thoughtful behaviour. From everybody.
The frustration that citizens have is usually when the foreigners don’t make any effort to assimilate into the community- and this effect is worsened when the immigration happens en masse. This isn’t unique to Singapore- it happens in Australia, it happens in the US, it happens everywhere where there are immigrants.
The xenophobia, I think, is an unenlightened expression of fear at losing grip on the cultural status quo. I’m not trying to defend it- I don’t think it should be defended- I’m just trying to understand it. Why are some people so nasty? “Some people are just nasty” feels like an oversimplification to me, and I don’t like living life feeling like I’m somehow better than other people, because I’m not.
So here’s my guess:
Some among us are hateful because we are fearful, and we are fearful because we feel ourselves losing grip in our own home. And fear can lead people to do some pretty grotesque things.
It’s interesting to contemplate how, for example, LKY used to worry that Singaporeans were too complacent, too safe, too comfortable- and now we’re almost the opposite of that, we’re almost paranoid at the idea of losing our fledgling identity and so some of us carpet-bomb anything unfamiliar, new or foreign.
Safety and security at all costs! That’s what we’re thinking when we cast stones at foreigners. It doesn’t matter if we have to crack a few skulls or do things that are unethical. Where did we learn such nasty behaviour from?
They say children learn from their parents’ actions- I wonder if citizens learn from their leaders, too. I wonder if our culture and behaviour at large is a direct consequence of the ruthless pragmatism of our leaders.
But, moving forward. As JK Rowling put beautifully in her commencement address, there is a time limit for blaming your parents for who you are. Similarly, there’s only so long we can blame our politicians and leaders for our behaviour. I think one of the metrics to discern whether or not we have “arrived” as a nation is- do we take personal responsibility for our actions? We should.
I’d like to ask a couple of questions:
Can you imagine a Singapore where foreigners who come in are respectful of local customs and mannerisms? (Think of Neil Humphreys, for instance. Nobody thinks of him as an annoying foreigner that needs to get out. We think of him as a welcome addition to our family, don’t we? Why is that? Think about it.)
Can you imagine a Singapore where these respectful foreigners add to, rather than subtract from, our cultural identity?
I think it can happen, we just need a little more grace from everybody. Yes, it’s okay to be afraid of losing our culture. And if we may be brutally honest, the Singapore that we remember- the Singapore that is portrayed in National Day videos (with migrant workers conspicuously absent) is kind of dead and gone. It exists only in our memories.
But that doesn’t make Singapore today any less meaningful. That doesn’t mean we can’t be happy, we can’t have meaningful interactions with one another. We can, and that is a choice that we can choose to make. Government has nothing to do with this. The National Conversation isn’t just something between us and the Government- if we want Singapore to flourish, the National Conversation has to be the conversation we have with each other.
Don’t be so afraid of losing Singapore. Honestly, the Singapore you’re thinking of is already gone. Singapore is reborn at every instant. And we make it what we want it to be.
What do you want?
I was once having a conversation with a couple of friends at a coffeeshop (with foreign friends from PRC who run the show, who are pleasant and make an effort to communicate with us despite the language barrier) and it occurred to us that we’re not doing enough to help the foreigners assimilate into our culture. I’m not talking about our government. I’m talking about us.
We ought to talk to them, interview them, have conversations with them- ask them why they’re here, ask them how they find Singapore, ask them about life back home, about their hopes and dreams for themselves. We know so little about them. We demonize them because we draw this line between us and them- we are Us and they are They. This is a project I’d love to get behind, but I don’t really have the time to do it at this point- but I’m just putting it out there in case anybody thinks about it.
The common fear we have is the diminishing of our social capital. We don’t want to be socially impoverished, nobody does. The knee-jerk solution is to try and drive foreigners away. But that’s a woefully poor stop-gap solution. There are 7 billion foreigners in the world, and our borders are porous. Is this really a sustainable battle to be fighting, even if it were morally justifiable?
The more realistic and practical solution is to get to know our foreign friends better, to make them feel a little more comfortable here. America’s dominance over the world is partially military, but primarily cultural- the fact that we wear blue jeans is a testament to that. We have to legitimately win over foreigners to our side- and have PRCs and NRIs raving about Singapore the same way Neil Humphreys does in his books and articles.
We’re afraid of losing Singapore to foreigners because we don’t really know who we are. When foreigners go to New York, they become New Yorkers. A New Yorker might express annoyance at the presence of tourists and opportunist-type migrants, but he/she would ultimately be secure in the knowledge that New York is kind of eternal. (I might be completely wrong about this. New Yorkers, your comments?)
Anyway my ultimate point is that we can all be a little nicer to one another lah. Don’t so scared. Life will go on. And it is short. No point being mean or hateful to anybody, really.
Like Many Sporeans, I don’t have a problem with foreigners. I have a Lot of problems with my govt taking in so many so fast. Something they intend to continue doing for another 17 years (17 is their CLAIM. I am pretty sure they’ll herd them in much faster).
They intend to do so even though they haven’t been able to accommodate 5.3m. There is such a thing as social impact you know, and there are many who make no attempt to fit in. I take great objection to people who speak only one language and make no attempt to learn another. I speak two and a smattering of a third..
What I also take great objection to is the govt’s claim that having all these people will raise my standard of living. It hasn’t so far, why would it do so with yet more people! I also completely disagree with their reasoning on why we need to squeeze even more people in.
I talk to a lot of foreigners here, the guys who do grunt work. All those jobs we don’t want to do and do so badly. Yes they’re nice people, but I do think you’re over-simplifying matters.
I have intentionally chosen to step aside from discussing the intricacies of policy. I think everybody is in agreement that our immigration policies are imperfect and that our Government has made (and will continue to make) mistakes. Many others have discussed this in great detail. I’m just choosing to focus on the question of- how should we treat each other when we have been dealt a bad hand? Fire the dealer, sure, but aside from that? How should we play the actual hand? That’s what I’m concerned about.
Thank you for your thoughtful response!
Well said!
Sadly most people are reluctant to view an issue from a different viewpoint. We do need their help but we are not exactly the easiest hosts in helping these new citizens settle in, like you said. Every single unrelated issue is so quickly blamed on a certain nationality for instance. The vitriol you see online the moment a road accident happens – OMG it must be a PRC! When the married men was pulled off air – OMG must be a Filipino nurse who complained! (And most times, it had been a fellow Singaporean all the while). Heck, if you posted Neil’s photo somewhere on Facebook eating mee siam, some would still just call him a reject of his own home (especially those who has no clue who he is).
I knew a lovely PRC girl who said she came to Singapore with high hopes and was excited to make this island her temporary home. But within two short months she started to doubt her choice of moving over – her enthusiasm had been greatly trampled on by all the unnecessary hate she faced just because she’s not a Singaporean. And she wasn’t even a citizen – she was just on a one year contract.
Sometimes I’m unsure if most of today’s Singaporeans are truly just xenophobic or there’s something more to it. That most are just bubbling with hate for everything and everyone different from them. It feels as though more and more people believe they’re not accountable for anything they say. It’s not just about foreigners – Day by day I wake up to some hateful status on Facebook about a different gender, about some religion, about some race, about some nationality. About every single thing under the sun. And sensational topics always gain a huge following of people just jumping on the popular wagon, shooting different opinions down with personal attacks instead of constructive arguments. They fight for so called democracy but don’t seem to take different opinions well at all.
And they do these things on public platforms like Facebook – the whole world is watching the hate spewing out of some of our Singaporeans’ mouths. So ugly.
It’s a little tiring to witness.
Thank you for sharing, you give me hope. There are more of thus out there, I’m sure of it. <3
I left something out in my original comment – I know a lot of other commenters here will bring in the 7 million people by 2030 topic.
I wish to see them both as separate topics. The post here is solely about remaining gracious to your fellow human beings, not about government policies.
I’m against the 7million population too (unless proper plans are transparently discussed with citizens on how exactly this could work at all~), but that doesn’t mean I spit upon the faces of my foreign friends.
If anything, people need to take a step back and think. One may blame these discomforts on the policy makers, but don’t take it out on everyone else. These foreigners have no interest in our politics when they first came in – all they did was take up the opportunity that was presented to them and most of them truly believed they are on their way to a better life. The fault is not on them.
Hi Visa I agree with you. Let’s all get united & work together to make Singapore a better place. Not just in terms of the hardware only, but also the software.
Sorry Visa am not with you here. The timing of your post will be misused by those promoting the 7 million target. They will say see lah those who object are xenophobic and afraid of foreigners, which is Not true. The proper assimilation of foreigners is a different topic from Singaporeans objecting to the govt’s plan to bring in millions of foreigners and immigrants. The latter brings with it a host of social-cultural issues and problems that affect Singaporeans significantly. Moreover most of us are not xenophobic as we know that we need to have a good mix of foreigners for various jobs. BUT do we really need so many and can our tiny island afford to have so many? The emergence of some extreme comments stem largely from the frustration of seeing the vast and sudden changes in our country and from not being able to do something concrete about the neverending large influx of foreigners. It is primarily about the number not the people.
+100
On conversation-
In Singapore you can barely have a conversation with anyone without them taking out their phone and checking messages. Went for coffee with a friend after not seeing her for two years and she took out her laptop right in front of me and starting writing to someone on msn messenger. Outraged I said nothing but then I looked around me and noticed- all around me in the cafe were couples sitting opposite each other, not looking at each other but their phones or some other device. People in Singapore don’t know how to be present or respectful in each others company. I hate it. At least Westerners have courtesy in this department- in my stay in Europe I have never had anyone check their phones in my presence at all.
On the whole SE Asia is known for its “rudeness”- but maybe this is relative. What is rudeness after all, and by whose standards? Same with the idea of “standard” english. Why should we speak “standard” english indeed and by whose standards.
Wah why your friend like that one! Next time jio me kopi and we turn off our phones, ai mai
Your phone not Smart phone ah Visa, turn on turn off hardly a difference lol
ouch
I think most Singaporeans aren’t afraid of individual foreigners. They’ve been in our schools since the 80′s and we dont even see them as foreigners because they integrate so well. But when property prices double in 4 yrs, people start to investigate the reasons. And foreigners take the brunt of it although its really the lack of foresight on the part of policy makers. Had we had a larger supply of hdb’s and a more robust transportation system I don’t think anyone would notice the sudden influx of immigrants.
Indeed, many of us are afraid. Fear for lost of identity is, but one, of the fears. The practical fears are not discussed in your article, making your opinion appear skewed and narrow. Apologies, I’m not able to follow your train of thought in this post.
Put in the practicalities we observe during this influx for a more balanced view perhaps. The competition for space and jobs and the high inflation. Graciousness will not come by inducing feelings of guilt (for not ‘integrating’ with these foreigners) and lack of graciousness will certainly happen when the vicious effects of population expansion hits every aspect of our daily lives. For a start, stop the influx and focus on improving the quality of our lives, rethink our basis of having a consumption-fueled economy, strengthen the much weakened social fabric again. When people feel cared for, there’s a much higher chance they will reciprocate and spread it around. Babies will come naturally too.
Whatever happened to “when in Rome, do what the Romans do”?
People like Neil are few and far in between these days. Maybe the Japanese and Korean communities that mind their own business so well they don’t stick out like sore thumbs.
Here we have 3 dominant groups of foreigners who refuse to assimilate, speak their own languages and create their own ghettos. They laugh in your face when you nicely tell them not block the stairways or entrances/exist. They jeer back at you in their own language. Have you visited Geylang and Paya Lebar MRT area on weekends? You will ask yourself, even if I embrace and be gracious to them, do they want to live the Singaporean way? Unfortunately no.
May I suggest for you to also take a step back for some reflections?
While the folks who caused discomfort to foreigners are certainly not saints, neither are you (or me or Visa or the lovely PRC girl, for that matter). I have never seen any of my foreign friends, colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances being spat on the face by Singaporeans, simply by being a foreigner. And my views may be narrowed by what I have experienced (or not experienced). Are Singaporeans (or just anyone) this ugly in your eyes? Have you just discriminated your fellow human being, without even realising it yourself?
The first step to building a gracious society starts from every single one of us, as Visa have tried to point out in this post. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that we are all not saints to begin with. To keep the hope alive that we will one day be a more gracious society than we are now, we need to have the capacity to trust that the goodness of the human spirit exists in all of us. More or less of the goodness exhibited by any one of us is influenced by circumstances which we are subjected to. Many times, circumstances are external. Sometimes, circumstances are not within our control – like in the case now when the govt is insisting to carry on the ruthless artificial population expansion on our small island.
Are you (and Visa) willing to take this first step, to believe that a good heart lies deep in all of us — Singaporeans, PRs, foreigners alike? When you are willing to take this first step, perhaps you’ll understand and emphathise better with the behaviours that we are observing now. Perhaps then, we can take a real shot at the journey towards a gracious society, together. It will be less ‘tiring’ too, trust me.
Yes, I do believe in the goodness of people. It’s why I write at all- because I have faith that we can and will do better, it’s just an uphill battle- but we’ll get there, all of us together =)
It is an uphill battle indeed. We are in it together and it really doesn’t have to be this tough if the govt is with us on this.
I moved here from New York about a year ago. I moved in part because I always had the desire to live outside the US, and specifically here because my significant other is Singaporean and on contract for the next 3 years.
I think the bond that holds New Yorkers together is in part a mixture of two principles: 1) treat others the way you’d want to be treated, and 2) live and let live. There is a common understanding that, as written in our country’s constitution, every man is created equal and has the right to the pursuit of happiness. Everyone has a different path to happiness, and there is a sense of if you let me take my path I will let you take yours. There are just so many different kinds of people in NY that at some point, a person is going to be in the minority, so while that person is in the majority, they treat those in the minority with compassion. Every neighborhood is different and people eventually find their niche…in NY, there’s a little something for everyone. I moved around to a couple of places but eventually stayed the longest in the southern part of Harlem…people find the neighborhood that they love, support the people in that community, let other people support their communities, and collectively, it makes us, the city as a whole, stronger. I’m not going to pretend it is completely harmonious, neighborhoods change (especially in areas with a high rental population), and there is usually resistance to change, but in the end, everyone has the comfort of knowing that at least somewhere in the city, there is a niche to be found and they will love it there.
The reason I had the desire to live outside the US was to make friends of different cultures and learn about them. The ironic thing is, I have a much much higher percentage of white/American friends than I ever did in NY. This might be only where I am, but it feel like if you take the people at my workplace or even community, and put them in a large room, they will self-segregate based on race, they run to their own corners and speak their own language. I rarely hear English at work or on the streets. I tried to be proactive once…I saw one of my coworkers sitting with is friend at lunch, I came over asked if I could sit down, we chatted for 5 minutes in English, then he and his friend continued the conversation in another language as I sat there…yeah, that was awkward. Other times a group of them are already sitting together chatting in Chinese (the Singaporeans with PRCs) so it’s not like I can just sit down and join the conversation. So who is left for me to befriend? The other white Americans. To the comment above about people only knowing one language…it feels like people look down on me because I “only” know English. It’s irrelevant that I’ve taken classes in Japanese, Swahili, and German. In order to “truly” assimilate here, I can’t just know any other second language, I have to know your second language in order to be accepted by you, or even more unlikely, become friends with you.
Which brings up the question, I’ve heard over and over again that foreigners don’t adapt to local customs…exactly what customs have I not adopted? I honestly don’t know what you want from me…I stand on the left, walk on the right, wait to the side until everyone has exited the train before entering (these and I believe all other common courtesies), I even enjoy laksa once in a while.
This is interesting timing because the US is having a conversation about immigrants as well, though, it’s about how to deal with with the estimated 10-15 million illegal immigrants. The opposition to letting them become citizens is a mixture of xenophobia and the legality issue. I know a good number of people that have come to the US, jumped through all the hoops and spent thousands of dollars to become a permanent resident, so to allow those who have blatantly disobeyed the laws in front of those who have followed every minute detail is not acceptable to me. On the xenophobia side, I’ll admit it, I’d rather not have millions of people that cannot or can barely speak a lick of English become citizens, though I feel it is not truly xenophobia, it is not a fear of the foreign, in fact, it is just the opposite, it is a desire to incorporate and integrate the foreign. I value that my best friend in college was the first muslim Indian I ever met, I value that my closest friend in NY was a Vietnamese guy, and he introduced me to a group of friends who were from places all around southeast asia, they have given me different perspectives and made me a better person, and I hope that my diverse background has contributed to their understanding of the different. It would be impossible for me to learn all of their languages so we can use English as a common bond.
I just wanted to end with what I said at the top, which is that I’m a live and let live person, if our lives are so disparate that it’s impossible for us to mix, it’s okay. Just keep in mind I am not trying to take over your country, I am trying to make the best of my circumstances, and if things stay the way they are now, I’ll be gone in 3-5 years.
Thanks for writing this article.
Really cool to hear from you! I hope you stick around!
By the way, if you’re looking for people to hang out with, I know a whole group of people who’d love to have you. PM me on Facebook!
hi lush.
chinese people have a “closed” culture and i think this is dominant in singapore. obviously very different from how westerners socialise, we’re very cliquey. first you have your family, then you have your friends/workplace colleagues/ then you have strangers. we don’t befriend strangers easily or at all. i’ve been on both ends and overall i prefer the western way.. its less stifling. but then im a very westernised person
“We ought to talk to them, interview them, have conversations with them- ask them why they’re here, ask them how they find Singapore, ask them about life back home, about their hopes and dreams for themselves.”
–
My neighbours are Filipinos. They moved in a year after we did. On their first day, we went over to talk to them and welcome them to our block. They opened their door a tiny inch, and we said hi, we are from next door, wanna say hi!
They just looked at us suspiciously, and said what do u want.
We were abit surprised, and then gave a small hamper and said again, we just want to welcome u to this block. Is this your first house in SG? (said with a friendly tone, mind u)
And then they said yes, why? Like she wanted to fight. So we realised we were fighting a losing battle, and said ok, thanks and bye.
Everytime we come out of our flat, they will slam their front door shut. Every single day we will find litter outside our house, despite telling them nicely please don’t litter outside our house. And the countless noisy parties on Sundays held in their house.
So this is my experience with them. NOW I feel justified in thinking its us vs them. I didn’t use to think this way, but now I’m just tired of staying beside irritating neighbours. It’s making me think it’s just really THEM… S’poreans wouldn’t be THIS irritating maybe?? They definitely won’t litter everywhere… Sigh
Wow, that’s really sad. I’m sorry.
The Singapore I know has never been xenophobic. I doubt one can see so many different nationalities in such a compact space. That is due to our success in depicting ourselves as a truly cosmopolitan society. Of course, like every society, there will be people who may not be able to accept others who are not like them. Why should Singapore be any different?
The crux of the Singaporean psyche perhaps is the agony of being the brunt of stressful jobs, high cost of living while wages stay stagnant or some in cases even lower. These were widely attributed to the influx of foreign workers in all strata of society in the bid to be “cheaper, better, faster”.
Without condoning their bad behaviour, let’s look at the flipside. Are the foreigners here devoid of any undesirable traits themselves? Also, being in a work or common space with predominantly foreigners, one feels alienated once the comfort of familiarity takes over the other camp. I knew this is a joke, but certain people from a community told me, speaking English all the time within themselves, even with a non speaker of their native language present, will result in nose bleed. They even have tv shows with such potrayals. Laughs aside, I suppose when faced with such a situation, some choose to disengage and somehow develop some form of animosity.
The examples above are not meant to justify the bad behaviour of some Singaporeans who conveniently pin point foreigners as the culprit whenever something untowards happen. I feel, human beings are highly complex, it’s futile to come up with mere snippets to characterize their being.
Personally, I tend to gravitate and advocate towards the acceptance of our foreign friends. But, I’m also getting weary of our leader’s stance to bring in more and more for an economic gain which may not benefit the general populace as a whole. Personal space seems like a far fetched commodity which is increasingly set to vapourize with the recent announcement.
You are right in saying that assimilation is key. It is completely reasonable to expect foreigners, especially those staying long-term, to put in the effort to adapt their behaviour to fit in with our society’s standard practices. (The time factor means we’re more forgiving towards tourists.) As you point out, it takes two hands to clap: and the attitudes of the hosts are important too. However I tend to blame Singaporeans less for their unwelcoming behaviour towards foreigners – resistance is the defence mechanism of any majority cosily slumped in their natural habitat.
I think that the hostility that Singaporeans tend to feel and/or display towards foreigners is entangled with their dissatisfaction with government policies in general: we blame the government for the increase in foreigners just as we blame them for our lives getting financially (or otherwise) tougher. This pent-up negativity unfortunately is manifested in our attitude towards foreigners and cements the causal relationship between foreign presence and increasing cost of living.
From what I have learnt as a foreigner in London for 3 years, it is up to the newcomers to integrate themselves. International students integrate with varying degrees of success: some Singaporeans’ close social groups remain largely confined to other Singaporeans and Asians. On the other hand I went out of my way to get involved in uni societies, talk to British people, and very consciously deny myself from sticking with other Singaporeans. It was and still is a concerted effort for me to approach and interact with people whose ways can be so different to mine, but it gets easier every year. I appreciate what it feels like to be a minority: something the majority would never truly empathise with. More importantly, I accepted that I needed to take the first step much more than they needed or wanted to talk to me, and it was entirely up to me to do it.
I never saw the majority as unwelcoming in any way – that’s just the social dynamic of how things are. That said, I haven’t experienced outright hostility either, and I doubt many Singaporeans would behave maliciously towards foreigners. As you said, assimilated foreigners like Humphreys are more than welcome. ‘Adapt or leave’ doesn’t sound too unreasonable to me. The majority only needs neutrality and an open mind, which we already have; but sometimes this becomes emotionally clouded by misdirected finger pointing.
I agree that fear is probably the driving motivation for Singaporean’s xenophobia but I believe that the foreigners are more often than not used as a blame or a “cover up” for the real issue that is bubbling underneath. Personally, I think xenophobia addresses part of the fear, because ultimately it is easier for humans to hate on something or someone that deviates from their own perceived norms -”foreign” – but I feel like what drives the xenophobia we are facing now is more layered and complex.
Some points I think that might fuel the “xenophobia”:
(1) Sim’s point on the economic uncertainties we are facing
- rising flats’ prices, rising COE, rising cost of living and the increasing competition for jobs and employment
- faced with increased COL and bleak prospects for stable (or sufficient) (in terms of their perceived SOL and lifestyle), the arrival of more foreigners would only serve to fuel the fear that Singaporeans might have
- basically, they see the foreigners as an increased threat but i think the frustrations over the uncertainty of their future are misplaced in the sense that yes, the foreigners are a threat but then they are not the “cause” to these uncertainties and maybe, all that hoohah and stuff just kind of blinds you from the real problem?
(2) Real problem: economic uncertainty?
which i think the policy of allowing more foreigners (to reach 6.5m) is supposed to stimulate the economy?
but i guess it is kind of myopic and a short term policy in the sense that it does nothing to address the fears that Singaporeans are facing
- and i know this is kinda simplistic but the worker party’s win during punggol elections might kind of reflect the people’s need for change because PAP hasn’t been showing or offering effective or “probable” policies to address or alleviate the fears of economic uncertainty the ppl are facing; they are using cheap solutions that would only seems to position themselves negatively under the scrutinizing eyes of her people.
Ahh I wanted to add several other points but I guess i will just leave it here because it is late and I need to wake up early haha. ya idk i am becoming increasingly incoherent and resorting to chatspeak but okay just offering some food for thought, pls feel free to disagree.
Night!
aiyo my thoughts seemed so incoherent and disorganized.
There is a great difference between Australia and Singapore. I lived (still living in Sydney) in both and contributed to both with what I could (mainly educating their future generations of citizens and leaders.. a very important task as foreigner!).
The main difference affecting the two countries is the idea of superiority. Sure in Australia you can meet the racist bogan or the right wing person. Yet In Australia, if you are a PR, other than the right to vote, you are like any other citizen. In Australia we do not have the modern versions of slavery, as maids are in Singapore; workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India or any other humans with dark skin from those countries, are not perceived as a ‘savages’ to control, patronize and exploit.
In Singapore, the idea is that if you are Singaporean (and even better Chinese Singaporean), you must have more privileges than others despite the ‘others’ paying their taxes. In Australia, you pay your taxes and you receive your services, you contribute to the society and the society contributes to your well being. Although a foreigner has no right to vote, he or she has the right to speak (yes even at the Speakers’ Corner). In Australia a foreigner is a human being, not an economic subject, an object to be consumed by the modernisation god to which much of all Singaporean society is sacrificed.
Singapore in general is not a very welcoming place — quite the opposite, it has an undiscussed and unacknowledged tendency towards cultural and mental enclaving.
Singapore has deeper problems than foreigners, however. The genius of its system, political and meta-political, is to continue to direct attention to the ‘foreigner affair’.
Distraction is very important. As long as Singaporeans will debate about foreigners, project their frustration against foreigners, and complain about foreigners, well, they will forget about those deep, but well hidden, toxic discriminations, injustices and racism, which affect Singaporeans themselves–some more than others.
Foreigners are surely the best tool to avoid that Singaporeans look the mirror of their social soul and fabric to discover that the strongly imposed artificial harmony (religious and ethnic) is just a mirage under which there exists a dark, unchallenged, carefully censored discrimination culture.
+100
It depends.I am a Malaysian and I am treated much better in everyday life in Singapore than in Australia(Racial taunts,threats of violence)The laws in Australia are fairer to foreigners but in everyday life from my experience I felt more hostility in Australia as an asian and so do my middle eastern and Indian friends.
In Singapore the Indegenous people are treated much better and are more integrated into mainstream society than the Aborigines of Australia.
So it all depends on who you are and where you are.
Having lived in the Mighty island called Singapura, for the last 2 years, I find the talk about foreigners interesting. I, myself, experienced a bit of cultural shock for my first few days in Singapore. I would, therefore, not be surprised by Singaporeans, and others of the kind, experiencing a bit of it either from my expectations or from my behaviour. I had experienced these things in many of the other countries I had been to. I am sure others also experience them when they come to my country. What has happened to me, however, is – if the comments I always read are true – is a miraculous sense of respect for the tens of thousands of singaporeans I have delt with, interacted with, met with. I can state boldly that there was never a single day when a Singaporean abused me, refused to serve me wherever and whenever I needed the service, or dodged me deliberately just becuse I was a foreigner. Do they fear or respect my African complexion? I strongly believe the answer is simple: Singaporeans are a hospitable people. They are receptive. They are also honest, I have realised. And, more than some of the other few Asians I have interacted with, Singaporeans are outgoing. You won’t be bored or lonely being with them. They will ask you questions and listen to your jokes and stories.
However, I have continually heard of cries and policy debates about population pressures on the island, the strain on resources and infrastructure, and the role of foreigners in this. This is a double-edged sword. There are, I believe, Singaporeans outside of this island – some living comfortably and some living a bit less comfortably. Why these Singaporeans are outside is a matter you and me need not delve into too much, but it may be a fact – I have not, and need not have, figures of Singaporeans living outside for study, as business persons, on assignments, and more. Wherever they are, they also experience cultural shocks as they also shock others there. How many Singaporeans ever take time to interact with foreigners they have seen and ask them about some of the basic ways of living in thier homeland – the cultural baggage they are carrying – before blaming them for being disrespectful of Singaporean culture? How many Singaporeans have shared with us their experiences of cultural disconnect whenever they travel? Some Singaporeans have been frank to me to the extent of telling me “You are the first African I have interacted with” – does this mean they have been shocked by my presence anything? No. They are actually being frank, trying to learn what and how the African side of this planet lookds like. One responsible Singaporean even reached the extent of asking me whether he could find a good hotel to sleep in, in an African City. I did not take this as downgrading Africa but as expression of genuine ignorance, for the man had never been to Africa – or possibly has a wrong image of Africa. He found he couldnot even afford to sleep in the Hiltons and Sheratons and Imperial hotels in African cities, that many African cities are far better planned, more organised and lively than many Asian cities he had been to!! So, we need to distinguish ignorance from prejudice. This is the same issue about foreigners as well – if my thinking is correct here.
One thing is clear: are there redudant foreigners on the streets of Singapore who have been let in by a less sensitive government immigration policy as some seem to believe? If there are, then government has explanation why it continues bringing in more as others are unemployed – some times government decisions can be appreciated when they have been long taken. If there aren’t, and if most are employed and contributing to the economic transformation of Singapore, are there Singaporeans who are unemployed and who could do the work these foreigners are doing but have been displaced from jobs in their motherland? If there are such Singaporeans, then they should be given priority over foreigners, thereby reducing the number of foreigners coming in. If there are no such peoples (Singaporeans), then we think of a different question: can Singapore develop systems – technological, demographic, transformative work arrangements, etc – that can significantly reduce the demand of having these jobs done so that the need for foreigners is significantly reduced? What can go wrong or right if 50% of all foreigners (regardless of their socioeconomic status), by dint of some miracle or policy determination, were given only 2 years maximum to leave this country and never to return, as an experiment in the governance of a less foreigner-dependant Singapore? If answers to these questions remain difficult, then government will also have difficulty reducing the number of foreigners coming here to below a certain percentage per annum. This is possibly the dilemma facing immigration policymakers. Policymakers are not Angels but human beings like me and you. They think like we do, and have intellectual strengths and limitations like me and you. If anything, we are the policy motive – we, living in Singapore, like in any other country – are the reason policies are made. What we uphold, do, reject, demand, or appear to deserve today and/or in the future, determine the kinds of policies government will make.
So, the argument that Singapopreans fear foreigners is, in my opinion and based on my very observant experience, unfounded. There could be something deeper than these behaviours and so-called xenophobic acts of blaming foreigners for everything: it is like blaming your house-maid for taking long to wash the dishes when she oversleeps and then saying it is because she is from some wierd place on earth! Maybe you are underpaying her compared to her expectations, workload, etc. Maybe she is tired of some other work. Maybe she has some psychological stress, or some other sickness. Maybe you need to realise that your money cannot do the washing – there are things wealth can do and those humanity can do. Maybe she is naturally a lazy person. Not all that can be done with money can be done regardless of human physical involvement. Not all that can be done requires human physical energy. And not all human beings have the same physical (and mental) capabilities. Maybe we develop a technology by which we can do the work which these ‘dirtying’ foreigners, if they are a problem anyway, are doing. In my opinion, thinking that something wrong has been done by some fopreigners from dark lands, say Phillipines, PRC, etc, can be said, or thought, for human beings naturally like apportioning blame. Especially when others seem not to act as expected. But it is not a Singaporean disease; it is a human weakness. Many a society have this same problem, and are grappling with it.
great to hear from you! thank you for sharing.